Old Houses in Honea Path, SC

Back in 1981, thirty-three years ago, dear husband was working in Honea Path, SC. Honea Path was a mill town of about 3500 people back then, maybe less now.  We lived in a neighboring town and he worked odd hours (a lot of hours) so I got it in my head that I wanted to move to Honea Path,  I found the perfect house!

 

I was a silly young bride who didn't realize how hard it would be to work on such a big house.  The house was for sale for only $25,000 back then and needed paint and a new roof.  I took dear husband to see the house and he noticed all the work that he would have to do on the few hours he was home and train tracks across the back yard!  Then a train came roaring by!  That was the end of that!

Today we came through Honea Path again and we had to drive by the house.  It looked great and the tracks had been taken up in the backyard.  Quite a few houses had had renovations.  Here are just a few pictures we took today on our way home..  

This would have been our neighbor's house on the right.

And past a few houses down on the left we could walk to this beautiful little Carnegie library.

This is a really cute Chippendale style house that was always just beautiful inside.  It is so good to see that someone has made the right choices renovating this house.  It is now a real estate office.  I love the green color it was painted and the rocks added to the porch.

This house has always been known as The Pink Castle and was once a B&B. It is located across the street from the old elementary school which is now a beautiful community center.  Next door is this elegantly simple house.

Take a walk down the street and you come upon this wonderful house with the big porches!

And talk about relaxing on the porch!

Next door has a porch .... and a rock wall!

And this one is being renovated.  It was DH's favorite because of all the potential!

 

And the beautiful intact porch railing!

There are many more homes in Honea Path that have been renovated and are beautiful.  None in these pictures are for sale.  I notice renovation everywhere in Honea Path. 

It is time to drive on home before it gets dark.  Time to put the camera away. 

Hope you enjoyed our stop!

Lottie

A Few Old Houses in Due West, SC

Hello bloggy friends!  You know how I like to take my camera when I travel and pick a street with beautiful old homes and snap pictures to share on my blog.  Sunday afternoon was sunny and warm on our trip to Due West, South Carolina.  Due West is a beautiful college town surrounded by farmland (mostly hay and pasture) and woods.  The area is famous in history because a historic treaty was signed with the Cherokee at a trading post just "due west" on the Cherokee trail.

 But hardly anyone knows that story now.  Due West is famous now for Erskine College, which is ranked very high in the nation for small private colleges, and although it has a great seminary, lots of my friends sent their children to Erskine because of their super science labs!

The above picture is not one of the modern labs but the literary society.  But this post is about the houses.  This is a "little" town with only 1,200 + people living here excluding students.  I don't remember seeing any for sale signs on any houses.  Here are some of my favorite old houses on Bonner Street 

 

This house is being restored.

I thought this cottage was adorable!

This beautiful cottage is on the corner of Bonner St.

Big yellow house next to the library on Main Street.

LARGE house on corner of Main and Abbeville St.  The house faces a beautiful old church!

Abbeville Street and faces the beautiful brown house below.

I love the windows on this brown beauty!  The street beside it goes to the next block beside the post office and dining hall for Erskine College which welcomes residents.  

I love taking my camera and walking down the sidewalk along a historic neighborhood and taking pictures from different angles.  And then I love editing out cars and telephone poles and posting the pictures on the blog. I truly enjoy it!  It is the closest thing I have ever done that could be called a hobby.  Everything else has just been work(or housework).  But this is my last trip.  I'm done.  

We have a house that awaits us to restore.  My husband doesn't enjoy the trips anymore and he is constantly thinking about what needs to be done on our house.  It's not much fun (or sometimes safe) to go alone besides I can't always drive some days.  So, I may resort to taking pictures of birds at the birdfeeder and putting them on the blog!  May take a break from blogging until I get a life. :-)  Hey, I may take some photography lessons!

Anyway, I hope you are having a great day and enjoyed the house tour!  

Love,

Lottie

Drive to Abbeville

Its Easter and its just the two of us again.  We took a drive out to Abbeville  to see the spring flowers.  Would you like to join us?   Come along and enjoy the spring blooms!  Dear husband will narrate today.

I so anticipate the warmth of spring.  We all seem to be having an extended winter.  When I see the thrift bloom in front of old houses in the country, it lets me know all the other blooms will follow.  Sometimes you just see thrift where a house ceased to stand and it is only a reminder of what was once there. ...dear husband

 

Here is thrift on the wall where it accents the house .

But then I look closer and see the flowers in the back!

  
I don't know what these are called, but ...

 

I am so glad the grass hasn't been cut.  

The shamrocks are out and will be blooming soon! 

Dear Husband took the pictures and wrote the blog today.  I'm so thankful for him.
I hope you enjoyed our Easter drive.  Thank you for coming along! 

Love,
Lottie

A Walk Down the Boulevard - Anderson, SC

Today was a beautiful day and DH and I took our walk in the historic
section of Anderson, SC, on what begins old "East Boulevard".
The street was opened in 1905 and goes by Anderson University. 
Come along with us and enjoy some of the most beautiful homes in
Anderson!  The first three are also for sale so I will provide links so
you can tour the inside for yourself. (I have no connection with
anyone involved with selling or buying these homes.)  All my factual
information is from a self-guided walking tour brochure provided by
Anderson Heritage.  And the commentary along the way is just DH
and I talking...  Come on! Let's go!

We start our walk by parking our car in the parking lot of the church
by the Brown house.   The Brown's built this house in 1910 and the
family lived in it until 1979 when it was deeded to Boulevard Baptist
Church.  The church used it for lots of gatherings, especially
wedding receptions.  One of my best friends' has beautiful pictures
taken here from her wedding reception.  Lots of good memories!

In 1997 the house was sold to a couple who poured their hearts
into restoring it.  It is for sale now.  Go to this link for more pictures
of the inside and information.  (608 Boulevard)

DH and I have always admired the beautiful clay tiles on the roof of
600 Boulevard.  The house was built in 1919 and has a gorgeous
library.  You can see the pictures of the inside at this link.  In the
1960s the house was given to Anderson College (now University)
for the president's home.  Now another house on the grounds of
AU is used for the president's home and this one is for sale.

501 Boulevard is the last of the For Sale houses on today's post.
I encourage you to go to this link so you can see the inside of this
home because it is just beautiful!  I remember many many years
ago visiting this home before it was renovated and the stairs and
rooms were very dark! Now it is a jewel! Oh, and it was built in
1907 and has a wrap around porch on the other side of the picture.

402 Boulevard was built in 1930 at the beginning of the depression
by the co-owner of the local Coca-Cola Bottling Company. The
construction provided many local jobs and produced one of the
finest homes I've ever seen.  This house was later owned by Callie
Stringer Rainey who did much for the arts in Anderson.

504 Boulevard was built in 1909 and the first house in Anderson

to have central heat. Love the doors and windows!

404 Boulevard was built in 1934 and has 11 rooms and 6,500 sq. feet.

I love the shady lawn and relaxing look to the home.

  

 There are many beautiful homes on Boulevard!

 I have been a guest in this home and although you can't tell it 

from the outside, this is one of the most comfortable homes I 

have been in.

Boulevard has lots of beautiful smaller homes, also. 

We started walking back to the car and arrived at the Brown house

that was the first in this post.  I was standing in the drive way when

I turned around and it was "love at first sight"!  There, across the

street was the cutest cottage!  Of all the houses I saw today on 

our walk, this one would be the one that was my favorite!

Which one is your favorite?

Thank you for coming along on our walk today!  Have a great week!

Love,

Lottie

PS: Love the house you're in! (Smile)

A Walk Down Marshall Street in Anderson, SC

Everyone knows we love old houses!

We were searching for some shade today to take our walk and

found this beautiful green home with lots of shade trees.  These

two homes across the street from each other have beautiful  

gambrel roofs but each has its own distinctive style..
(Since this post I have found a web site 
with information on houses on this street.)
Click here.    Lottie

This is the side view of the same house as above.  The bay is
built almost like a silo.  I assume it is for the stairs.  Pretty neat!   

 

What a beautiful home!  The curved stairs remind me of the Gorgas
House in Tuscaloosa, Alabama.

The swing on the porch looks so relaxing!  It really makes you
think of summer.  Love the balcony on the second floor.

And this is my favorite! I love the heavy columns on the porch.

The house is not for sale.  The sign in the front yard just tells

you who the roofers are that put on a new roof. 

Thank you for coming along on our walk today!

Love,

Lottie

P.S. There are many, many beautiful homes on Marshall Street,
but I couldn't take pictures of them all.  Sometimes cars were
in the picture or bushes and trees covered the view.  Sometimes
my camera was out of focus.

Some Beautiful Homes in Salisbury, NC

Old houses are beautiful!  We were in Salisbury, NC last weekend
and we stopped the car and went for a walk with our camera.  Here
are just a few of the beautiful homes we walked by.

Have a good day today!

Love,
Lottie