|
With the permission of the
gentleman who has leased the property obtained a slow methodical step by
step work toward restoration will begin. My immediate family, my husband,
son, son-in-law, daughter, in a labor of love will be paying for the
preliminary work: brochure, mowing, cleaning, painting, weed control
spraying etc.
There will be a sign placed at the corner in Grainola which sets on the
highway. It is five miles away. Hopefully this will catch the attention of
anyone passing. I have no doubts as to having people there. That part of
the place's history is written into the vibrations of it. Small signs
pointing the way. A sign at the entrance, "No insurance yet. Enter at
your own risk."
First things first. Spraying of the weeds with a herbicide to kill the
roots before any mowing is done. First step of mowing will be paths to the
old well, the cement pad for the old garage, and, of course, to the rock
porch at the front of the house.
The windows and doors must be boarded up. The wood at the back of the
front porch, on the front of the house must be painted. Plain white is
what the house originally was with no contrasting color on the trim.
Art work carried there for exhibit from two to four Sunday afternoon will
be hung on the back of the old stone porch. Parts of the floor of the
porch have been vandalized and some sort of solution to make it a smooth
surface will need to be considered. There is a gentleman who installs
cedar floors for outdoor porches and he suggested this be done.
After these basic things are accomplished meetings will begin to be held
with the local people, probably on Sunday afternoon in order to talk about
fund raising projects. The roof over the front porch needs to be
replaced, in fact, the total roof, but the front porch first.
A person who does hazardous cleaning will have to be hired for the
interior before anyone can be allowed inside the house.
Brochure Old Jones Place
The Artist, Donna Jones Flood is the granddaughter, niece and daughter of
the men who originally built The Old Jones Place.
These Jones's were descendants of the Jones's out of Jonesboro, Georgia.
Yes, that “Gone With the Wind” location.
This estate was built in 1920. Originally there were two tenant caretaker
homes, three car garage, a large airy chicken house with lift up windows
to cool the birds in the summer, a large dairy barn, a big corrugated
metal hay barn where the tack was stored also, a well house, and a small
stone creamery.
The stone wall at the back is one hundred feet long and over six feet
tall. The artist's father, Lee Otis Jones, picked up the stone off the
80 acre pasture created a meadow which has been used for hay production
for many years. He used a wheelbarrow and pry bar to pick up the stone in
order to build the wall. He also did the heavy work on this rock porch.
The old stone chimneys he did also. On an adjoining leased land he built
a house for the “fairies” as Bellzona, his Mother requested. The
watershed down from that he also built. It is no longer functioning.
The place stayed fully furnished and was used as a guest house for many
years. The Old Strike Ax Ranch on the next section is where the artist's
father and his family lived.
Seed money from the Artist's sales will be used to initiate a restoration
of this historic Jones Place hopefully for the use as a Genealogical
Library and as a place to exhibit the saved Antique photographs of the
family dating back to 1700's. |
