Stage One

Emma Conway had fallen in love. NO, not with a man. She was still looking for the ideal partner. No, she had fallen in love with a house. She had found it while doing the research for her postgraduate dissertation in architecture, the title of which was "Folk Architecture in the Arkansas Ozarks". She had scoured those mountains and valleys for months for intact examples of pioneer homes and in one secluded glade found the old Twiddy House. It was a perfect example of a two story double pen house with an open dogtrot. It had been built just after the War Between the States by the prosperous Twiddy family who had lived in it for all the generations since until just recently. Sadly, their original prosperity had dwindled and they had not been able to keep the house up to its original standard. First the porches had rotted and the owner had just torn them down rather than rebuild them. Then the county had put in a paved road, requisitioning their front yard to put it on. Now there was no place to put a porch if the Twiddys had wanted to. Finally the current generation of Twiddys had moved out, abandoning the old homeplace after stripping it of the fine paneling, the ornate fireplace mantels and anything else that they could sell. The result was just a shell of the old house, stripped to the bare boards. And then they put the land up for sale. After inspecting the house Emma realized that what was left was still in excellent structural condition, despite a leaky roof and rotting siding. There were no termites nor wood rot in the frame. There was little usuable land around the house as it nestled in a hollow between mountain ridges. Enough for perhaps a driveway and a small garden spot but most of the land was on the sides of the mountains. The house had never had indoor plumbing and the ramshackle old privy still stood in the yard. The house was not wired for electricity either and the old double root cellar had only a gravel floor. But those problems could be fixed. What was more important was the price was very cheap. Only $15,000. After all how many people wanted to live in the middle of nowhere with so little usable land? But Emma had fallen in love with both the house itself and its setting. She loved the feeling of being nestled in the mountain's arms, the views were wonderful and the area abounded with all sorts of birds and wildlife. Birdwatching had been one of her hobbies for years. Yep, for Emma it was a nobrainer. She had to have this house. It didn't take long for the paperwork to get finished. Now Emma was the proud owner of the Conway-Twiddy House. (pun intended)

Front view


Rear view


View through the dogtrot