The Lost Beauty

By Beth Yarbrough

Yesterday’s interview with Watson Brown on the merits of historic architecture included his observation that even the simple farmhouses had character. I was reminded of an old beauty not far from me in Cleveland County. It was demolished last year, but here was my commentary on it not long after I took this photo several years ago.

What is it about a farmhouse at sunset?

This place lives not far from me, maybe 20 miles up the road. Surrounded by fields, except for the clump of old trees that give it shade, it is hard to miss and easy to love, especially during that brief window of time when the sun's rays slip below the canopy of leaves just long enough to bathe the front porch in light.

Even if you know by looking that it stands empty at the moment, there is no less a sense of how many suppertimes it has seen or how many generations it has welcomed at the end of a day. The pride of a job well done seems to be written all over it.

Architectural pedigrees and storied pasts have their place, but so do the humble structures whose resumes simply read "Home."

This house was part of a modern working strawberry farm. Just as my post indicated, it did stand empty, but I was heartbroken one day when I drove by and it was no longer there. Maybe there was a good reason, but it has been my sad experience that more often than not the reason is thinly supported and not really a good one at all.

Photo by Beth Yarbrough.