Saturday, December 29, 2001 Dilapidated building becomes a charming getaway By Melissa Clement Staff writer PIVEY’S CORNER -- Tom Jackson had no plans to refurbish a home across the pond from his farm in Sampson County. When tenants left the dilapidated house, he bought it for the land. The original small structure was built a hundred years ago, and was expanded over the years, the last time in 1960. There were leaks in the roof and knee-deep trash with odors so strong he could smell it across the pond at his own farm house. "The house had had been abused," he says, "There were rats big enough to put saddles on." ’’ He planned to tear it down, stack the usable lumber and burn the debris. He cleaned it, took out the windows and the doors and let it air out for a year. Then he started to dismantle it. "When I got down to the original house I realized it was sound, so I decided to use it for storage. When you live on a farm you never have quite enough storage space.’’" Tom Jackson relaxes in the house he remade. He tore off three rooms that were damaged beyond repair and then he and his wife, Jan Mann, began talking about it. "‘‘We thought it might be nice to have a sort of a little crude camp, maybe just hot and cold running water, for our friends when they come here. We could do the cooking at our house and our friends could sleep here. We don’t have a guest house." "‘We got started on it, and Jan, who grew up in the hotel business, said, ‘You know, if we would put a little more effort in this, people might want to come out here and spend the weekend.’”" She was right. After many hours of cutting, scraping, patching and painting, the house was ready for occupancy. Sometimes it is rented for a weekend or longer. Other times it’s used by friends and sometimes Jackson and Mann use it as their own weekend getaway. "‘‘We just sit in here on a nice rainy day and watch the crackling fire and hear the rain on the tin roof,’’ he says. ‘‘We planted natural food sources around the house and now we watch the wild creatures -- rabbits, squirrels, birds, deer, foxes, frogs, beavers and bobcats. Most of the time you can see live creatures from every window.’’" When they rebuilt the house, they used materials that are native to the area, such as yellow pine, red cedar, sweet gum and walnut. The kitchenware is Jan’s handthrown and decorated pottery from her Wildflower Pottery. One of the first jobs was to have the inside and the outside of the house professionally sandblasted. Only the slightest bit of original paint was left on the wood to keep the antique appearance. Then Jackson added a 24-by-14-foot porch overlooking the pond. He calls it is the centerpiece of the house. In one corner of the porch is an outdoor shower made from old louvered doors that let air in but protect the bather from view. "‘‘I can’t tell you what a pleasure it is to take a shower on a hot summer night here. It feels like you are standing in the rain",’’ he says. The other three sides of the house are wrapped with a 4-foot-wide continuous porch. The back portion leads to a shelter where wood and an outdoor grill are stored. The porches keep the rain off the windows and doors and give you a good vantage point to see nature, Jackson says. There are no steps. Instead he constructed ramps to help in moving furniture, firewood in a cart and people in wheel chairs. "‘‘And don’t tell me it’s not easier than walking up and down steps,’’ he says. ‘‘You can walk at full spee"d.’’ At the entrance is a bell that looks antique but was made from a cut away oxygen tank and a trailer hitch ball. Leading from the front porch door into the living room is a small entryway with pegs for coats and an antique stained glass window framed with yellow pine. The inside seems larger than it is because Jackson removed the interior walls in the living room, dining room and kitchen and left the original fireplace in the center. Only the bath and two bedrooms are separate. The fireplace sits on a bed of slate that came from the school he attended as a youngster. The lights in the kitchen and porch also came from the school. The ceilings in the kitchen and living room are about 8 feet high, and the center dining room ceiling is 12 feet. One corner of the kitchen was rain damaged. Jackson took ceiling boards from another ceiling and replaced that ceiling with new pine lumber. The floors are a shiny new yellow pine. He used No. 2 pine that has more knots. Not only is it cheaper but the knots give it character, he says. He used the same pine to make tables, some painted and some stained natural. The dining room table is thick old pine with thick hand turned legs. Punched tin pie chest doors are used for dining room wall cabinets. The sink in the kitchen is 40-inches high, while most are a standard 36 inches. He says that’s because he and Jan are tall, and even shorter people find it easy to work on a high sink. The base of kitchen table belonged to Jackson’s father. Jackson replaced the worn top with a new one he made from a red cedar tree he cut down and aged for a year. Cabinets in the kitchen hide a washer and dryer. The living room chairs were found in a dump, repaired and covered in burgundy corduroy. Jackson said the house was expensive in time but cheap in materials because he did all but the roofing and sandblasting himself. He gets materials from dump piles, second-hand stores and anywhere else he sees that may be useful one day. A old claw footed bathtub cost $100 and the labor to clean it. A reproduction of the same tub costs over $1,000. An old bathroom sink cost $5. Much of the material came from houses and an outbuilding he has moved onto their 300-acre farm. He constantly scours the country side for unused structures he can use. Much of it comes from his Sampson County Jackson relatives who have lived in the area since the 1800s. Jackson is a “Jack of all trades.” He teaches English at Fayetteville State University and has worked as a photographer and writer with the Wildlife Resources Commission. He designed and built displays and exhibits at the Museum of the Cape Fear. He is an organic farmer who grows elephant garlic and herbs, greens, edible flowers and specialty produce to sell in the Triangle area. He is now working as a consultant on a nearby Victorian farm house that is being restored and rebuilt for modern convenience. He found a surprise when he tore apart some of the dining room woodwork. Written on a board was the signature of his late father, W. C. Jackson, who had helped with some of the construction in years past. He signed his name below his father’s and replaced the board, covering both their names. Sometime in the future someone else may uncover the boards and find the surprise. For more about the Jackson Farm Guest House visit http:www.jacksonfarm.com Staff writer Melissa Clement can be reached at 486-3528 or clementm@fayettevillenc.com >>  Next Article

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