I remember the day I showed up to look at Holley House when the scaffolding was up to build the porch. Honestly, I thought I was on the set of the mini-series, The Pillars of the Earth, starring Ian McShane and an all-star cast. It was a movie set in the middle of the 12th century. The scaffolding was strikingly similar to the scaffolding our project manager, born in Puerto Rico, and raised in Honduras, created to build the upstairs porch and brace the downstairs porch. He built in a step for each place he would need to crawl and it was all out of repurposed lumber.
I watched in awe as he perfectly notched out 12 foot posts to create the roof, and pour footers. He built reinforced beams where I am sure you could safely park an 18 wheeler.
Holley House has been very much like the Cathedral in the pillars. The rebuilding has had set-backs, and crisis, and a lot of blood, sweat and tears. The nervous breakdowns nearly had in this building are many, but the rewards are even greater. It has been rebuilt to meet code, it is being outfitted with updated technology, and I hope that it will be so grand when it is complete!
I have never designed a house with 48 rooms- all at one time- all different. It is indeed a challenge, and I am beginning to wonder if I am going to need a padded room before it is all over! The details are more than I can even count at this point. Each day, we make more progress. My Mother, who has done an incredible job rebuilding this building without sacrificing quality, and her carpenter have been relentless in rebuilding a building that will stand the test of time. We hope that this place will carry on the legacy of hospitality and kindness and love that my Grandfather, Dr. A. F. Holley, breathed into the walls when it was his hospital and that my Grandmother, Lenis, poured her heart into from the time she was his hospital administrator until she retired at 82 from Holley House, the retirement home.
This afternoon, my Mother sent me the photo of the new porch without the scaffolding. And we all celebrated the scaffolding coming down! Now, the roof can be completed, the ductwork can go in, and my drywall guys, painters, and flooring installers can come to town and get busy completing the vision that will be the new and improved Holley House. This run, it will serve as a home to my Mother and Stepfather and it will be a Bed and Breakfast that will hopefully bring interesting characters to my home town and into our lives. THE SCAFFOLDING IS DOWN!!!
