#1,614 The Homewood House.
Alright, do y’all remember this post from 2011 about having supper club at Homewood, poolside at one of my favorite houses in Laurel?
This gorgeous 1926 whitewashed brick home makes you feel like you’ve walked into Europe when you step out of your car in the pea gravel driveway. It’s in Mississippi’s first subdivision, along with 6 other gorgeous homes, all very different from its (well-appointed) neighbor. I’ve loved it for years. Everyone remembers the couple who lived there all their lives and their children who’ve now grown up and moved away. The widowed owner passed away last year and the house has been sitting vacant and lonesome since it was listed… Until now!
Josh and Emily are closing on it next month! They got it for an unbelievable price (the Jones County average per square foot!) and it doesn’t even seem real. We took another tour of it with them today and I snapped more photos to share with all of you—house lovers like me. It’s impossible to explain the scale of its beauty. There are secret gardens and hidden courtyards within brick and ivy walls, porticos and patios, an outdoor fireplace with a chimney and hearth, a guest carriage house, a master bedroom with an en suite living room. I’m dying to see what Emily does with it after seeing how they transformed their downtown loft into what looks like a page from Restoration Hardware + 10 foot tall original French advertisements from the 1910s and 20s. I’ll save that for another post.
But get a load of this. Imagine it after the house is empty and she works her magic from a blank canvas.
The view of the back of the house from the gardens:
The carriage house from the front:
Walking into the front door, you see those French doors straight ahead.
And those French doors open to this (!!!!) :
See that black wall oven? That was originally one of the many fireplaces in the home. They’re going to get an oven for the island and convert that back into a wood burning fireplace. I can’t deal with it. It’s too wonderful.
The view from the master bedroom, overlooking the grounds:
Anyway, what I’m saying is… I love beautiful old houses and I can’t wait for the dinner parties we’ll be having. And the sunburn I’m gonna be getting in that pool.
In other news, we did some major work in our backyard today in preparation for the construction starting Monday morning at 7 am.
See! We have GRASS. On that side of the yard. Note to future self: I did not Photoshop the grass. Swear.
King dog Baker helped monitor our progress.
We had to uproot a 20 year old camellia tree that’s right against the back of the slab and transplanted it beside our bedroom window. If I’d have known it would totally transform my feelings for the yard, I would’ve asked Ben to do it for me a lot sooner.
I’m hoping it takes. I might’ve watered it too much when he planted it, but maybe it’ll make it!
