Scary Orange Carnage

This house had a certain scare to it, and from a distance it looked like a candidate for demolition. Then my grandmother called...

In reality, my grandmother didn't call me on the phone because she is in Heaven, but I had this thought: "I wonder what Mema would say about this house." I wish I could say that this house was love at first sight, but it wasn't. I first noticed this home in 2019 when one of my dearest friends of 30+ years purchased a brand new home about 250 yards in front of this seemingly abandoned orange stack of wood and bricks.

When visiting my friends on Main Street in Watkinsville, GA, we would sit on the back deck wondering what was to become of this orange carnage. The mid-century "scary house" as we called it looked to be a dumpster for the crew building Wisteria Ridge, a luxury apartment home community of 80 family apartments on the lot adjacent to the scary house. We would often see piles of wood, orange cones, and large plastic bags, and every once in a while a backhoe with a life-form driver digging in the backyard. From the road the home is hidden in the trees and barely visible, but I felt that there was something special behind those hidden doors.

"I wonder who owns the scary house," I said squinting to look through the heavy vine-scaped trees. "I don't know, but I pray the Lord will bring us good neighbors." Allison would say with the palm of one hand facing the house as a gesture of prayer.

For the next few years, we would visit our friends and see the apartment complex take shape. Many of the trees were removed and the "scary home" became more and more noticeable. In October of 2021, we visited friends at 111 N. Main St. and I said, "hey, it looks like my grandmother's home in Florida." My grandfather was a mid-century architect and he built my grandmother a funky mid-century home in our Tallahassee, Florida neighborhood. Coincidentally, it was also known as an ugly house, but I loved it. It had secret stairs, a laundry chute, and an intercom system. The memory of my grandmother's home made me question if this mid-century had the same style.

In January of 2022, after living and working in a 40-foot motorhome for a year and a half during Covid, my husband's employer called him back to the office. We were sad to sell our RV, but it was time to settle in a home again and I told my husband I felt it was time to move back to the Athens area. We were always visiting friends in the area and I had lived in 5 Points for 10 years after graduating from UGA. I love Athens, Watkinsville, and all of the culture packed in these communities. It was an easy decision to move back, but the only challenge was finding a place to live.

Thankfully, I have wonderful, generous friends who live in downtown Watkinsville and one of my friends offered to let me stay in her cottage apartment while I looked for my new home. Downtown Watkinsville is a dream of a place to live with shops, restaurants, and a beautiful park all within a few minutes' walk. I felt like my friend had purchased the last affordable home on Main Street back in 2019. The home prices were up 30% and most properties were out of my price range. One day while driving to my friend's house on North Main Street, I found myself driving down the long driveway to the scary house of orange carnage. It was dark inside and I have a serious fear of bats, so I didn't take the step of going inside. The triple roofline reminded me of my Grandmother's house and I thought,"maybe this is the perfect home for me".