Welcome back! At first, we were going to blog about one room at a time; however, we’ve come to realize that isn’t going to work. It is taking too long to get the blog out, especially since we have been coming across unexpected issues. So, let’s do this a little different, there will be blogs about the rooms, but they won’t be from start to finish in one blog. Like we said, this isn’t how we wanted to do this, but as the title indicates, it’s a journey.
We are going to start with a tour of this beautiful old house. Of course, the first thing we saw was the outside. This big beautiful yard gives us so many ideas. We can’t even start with all the inspiration that the whole of the property has given us.
Look at that front porch! We absolutely love it!
The last two pictures are of where our sign will eventually find its home. There is a small flowerbed in it.
The first room you enter is the foyer. If you are standing with your back to the front door and look straight ahead, there is a doorway that leads to the back part of the house. In this room there is the stairway with a small closet under it and a large room off either side of the foyer.
We walked into the room on our right-hand side. There was a beautiful dark brown fireplace mantel. Now this mantel isn’t the original mantel, but from what we can tell, it could be a replica for the type of mantel that would be in this house from the 1880’s. It also has two large windows, one with shutters on the inside and a closet. This room will become our shopping area, which we call “The Bazaar”.
Now on to the room across the way. This room has one large window and a doorway at the back of the room and it also has the same type of mantel as the other room, but this one is painted white. This room will become the café.
Let’s walk through the doorway at the back of the room. This is a small galley kitchen area. We are assuming that this was the kitchen area when it was still a residential property and not a commercial property. It has four normal sized windows in there and leads to the back part of the house with the doorway to the foyer. It has a small bathroom type sink with a cabinet above. No matter what this room was, it will be the kitchen of the café.
In the back hallway, there are three normal sized windows, a back door that leads outside to the handicap ramp, and there are four rooms off this hallway. If you stand in the hallway with your back to the front of the house, there a small bathroom behind you, two large rooms on the right and a larger, handicapped bathroom in front of you.
Let’s look at the smaller bathroom. It has a sink, mirror, and a toilet. This room will become our laundry room.
Coming out of the small bathroom and to the right is a large room with one large window. This window has a shutter on the inside. This room will become the salon area.
Going back out into the hallway and turn back to your right, we walk into the second large room on the right. This room also has one large window with an inside shutter. This room will become our aesthetics room.
Now on to the bigger bathroom. We are keeping this as a bathroom, of course.
Now let’s go upstairs.
Once upstairs, you are now in the landing room. This room has two normal windows and a large room off either side.
With your back to the front on the house, we will walk into the large room on the right. This room has two normal sized windows and two small closets in it. Once upon a time, there was a small fireplace in here, but there is no mantel. This room will become our photography studio, wellness, and sound therapy room (one service at a time in this room).
Now, back into the landing room and on to the last room of the house. This room has two normal sized windows and two small closets. This room will become our office.
We hope you’ve enjoyed the walk-through. The next part will be posted soon and it will start to detail to work in progress. We thank you for taking the time to read about our journey. We love the fact that people have taken an interest in the J.W. Houston House, which we affectionately call “The Manor”.
If you would like to help you can contact us in the ways listed below. Thank you, Collierville, our friends, our family, and our employees for your time, support, and your love! All of our information is below if you would like to follow, volunteer, or donate to the preservation of the J.W. Houston House.
or if you would like to help with a donation: https://www.spotfund.com/story/5dfade47-dc05-493c-91b2-e45356b9a24d?fbclid=IwAR10zSj5PoDijNSZO8Tz1ScdSAUxt3nculDSGeVVLaaDY461G3P42dWed5c&SFID=HoustonHouse
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