Continuation of The Rabbit Hole

Issue: August - 2022, July - 2022 | Photograph By: Ryan Karcher

The following is a more in-depth history of the Highlands family retreat  Our tour, from past to present,  conducted and narrated by Kennard and Lisa, continues with their own slightly-different version of how The Rabbit Hole got its name. First, Kennard: “I called it The Rabbit Hole when we were very young. It was probably inspired by images from fairy tales. The entrance and landscape resembled an overgrown hedge. It looks like you are going down into a burrow. I said, ‘Look we are going down into a rabbit hole.’”

And Lisa’s recollection: “My grandmother brought us up to Highlands from New Orleans every May. When we drove in on one of our summer visits, I said, ‘This is just like the rabbit hole in Alice in Wonderland.’  

Bottom line, brother and sister agree on the important thing. They were young when the naming began, so it would seem they both get christening creds. To this day, when both go through the entrance, they feel like falling down a path to Wonderland.  Blood pressure lowers, cares melt away, the temperature drops, and they both breathe in the blissful peace and tranquility that only The Rabbit Hole can provide.

Their remote paradise has a profound effect on all who enter, though the Rabbit Hole is rarely open to the public, even though the Circus did keep their elephants there when they came to Highlands almost a century ago (1923). Elephants aside, the family is pulling back the curtain to share its secrets in the Laurel residential feature, This Is My Home. 

It’s time to exit the ordinary world, and take a delightful tumble into a wonderland. But, like the phoenix, The Rabbit Hole had a miraculous resurrection. There was dark before a phenomenal dawn.

A tragedy turned ‘round

1n 1963 Lisa and Kennard’s mother and grandmother officially purchased The Rabbit Hole from Lilia McCall, their grandmother’s sister-in-law. For Lisa and Kennard (then youngsters), it has always been in the family, as they have been coming up to the property even before then.  At that time, neither of the houses on the property were winterized so it was open for the Summer and Fall and then closed for the Winter.  Elizabeth Neal, her husband Bernard, and Kennard and Lisa lived in Rome, Georgia, at the time.  When school finished, Bernard would drive them up and get them settled for much of the Summer and then return to Rome to work during the week and come back up each weekend to join them while they visited and played with their Grandmother and friends. 

But tragedy struck in the year 2000.  The main house caught on fire.  Fire fighters from several counties responded and valiantly sought to control the inferno.  They were able to keep the fire from spreading to the surrounding dry woods and the town.   However, 95% of the house was destroyed by fire, though a few sections of it were repurposed in a re-build of the original. 

Lisa says, “In the rebuild, the chimney stood solid. Mantle pieces were repurposed from basement beams. We reupholstered furnishings with the same fabric prints. The floor plan is a bit different, but we honored the old house while upgrading  much of it to a modern 2000 home, not the 1879 original. Mother passed in 2014, but she got to live in the rebuilt house, so we established a lot of new memories.” 

“After the house burned we took a vote: take the insurance money or rebuild? It took all of 10 minutes to decide . . . Rebuild! In the meantime, we stayed in the second house on the property known as The Barn, while the main house was being resurrected. In the end, I inherited the modernized main house and my brother kept the charming, vintage barn, though it wasn’t winterized, so visits were limited to summers.”

Kennard says, “The Rabbit Hole property is 10 acres of land with two residential houses – the Main House and the second house known as The Barn. Because the land was secluded in its own forest, very few in the town  even knew it was there. When the house caught fire, it was a shock to the town.”

And it was certainly a shock to the family who were in their homes in other states at the time. Kennard says, “The main house was a special looking residence, but all its interesting aspects erupted into a roaring tinderbox. We got news the property was on fire. The Highlands volunteer fire department was first to arrive.  Once the house was ablaze, it was a fireball. Highlands called 7-8 neighboring communities fire departments. They had just enough fire-fighters and water to contain the blaze and protect nearby homes and businesses. I remember walking through the ashes and seeing the blackness. I looked up in the sky through what used to be the roof. All that remained was the chimney. We were blessed that no one was hurt. The firemen did a tremendous job. They saved what they could and protected the neighborhood.”

Kennard added, “When we decided to rebuild, we wanted to try and match the style and look of the original as much as we could.  Modern building codes required a cement foundation rather than the tongue and groove wood logs used in the original.  . On the outside, we mimicked all the old gables and shingles and replicated stone porches. On the inside we used the same types of wood including large beams.  None of the bedrooms in the original home were the same size or even rectangular shape = and our architect was able to replicate that unique feel.  We were pleased with the transformation . . . old-to-new, yet it still looked like our venerable home.” 

The original house and its belongings  (as described by Lisa)

“Our new home expresses the same comfy, inviting feel of the first. Our ten acre patch of Nantahala forest shades the house, thus dimming the light, which gives it a homey and cozy glow.

      Growing up, we always had a puzzle going. The wood paneling cast a warm, creamy light. Downstairs bathrooms were decked out with bead board and vintage charm. Each of the seven bedrooms with matching baths was of a different color. 

When it came to refurbishing the new house there was plenty to do. My mom wanted to repair and replace as much as she could. Original furnishings were totaled or spotted with burn marks. My mom spent a lot of time cleaning and restoring. For irretrievable pieces we collected similar ones from our other homes or bought replacements. 

As for some of the prized pieces . . .  I arrived at The Rabbit Hole as the fire was down to a smolder. My mom had called and said, ‘Save the samplers!’ Not thinking about anything but rescuing what I could, I stumbled into the coals and grabbed embroidered pieces that my great grandmother stitched, literally pulling them out of the fire. I retrieved several, then went back for another load when a beam fell on my head. When you’re 37, you think you’re invincible. Understandably, the firemen weren’t too happy with me. I also saved photos of grandmother when she turned 80. Furnishings could be replaced. Samplers and 80^th Birthday photos couldn’t.

If we had been in residence when the fire broke out, my kids would not have survived. There was a roaring explosion over their bedrooms. 

How did the fire start? An old flue was in the process of being repaired. An hour or so after it was worked on, either the furnace, the flu, or the wiring . . . maybe all three  . . . sparked the fire. We don’t really know the exact circumstance, but the end result was clear enough.”

A quick walk-through of the rebuilt house

When you enter the front door, you walk into the front hall. The living room is to the left, the dining room on the right. Down the hall is a bar with another hall that connects to the powder room. That area opens into the kitchen. 

There are two bedrooms on the first floor. My mother and father stayed there.  The children and guests got the upstairs.

My Mother and Grandmother loved renovation projects.  Every year or so they had contracted additions to the original house or the barn.  They added  rooms, nooks, crannies, closets, bathrooms, shelving and such. The original house resembled a labyrinth. That labyrinth was not re-created in the new house. We made sure there were plenty of doors to escape fires should we ever face a similar crisis again.

One of the unique features in the original house was that it had two sets of stairs and one of the staircases was a split staircase going in two different directions.  Mom was insistent on including those in our rebuild. 

The second floor is where Lisa and her husband Clay stay, along with their children and guests when they are in residence. 

Making the barn people-friendly, according to Kennard

Kennard is not sure whether the second home on the property was originally a working barn or whether it was always a residence, but for as long as anyone can remember is has always been called “The Barn”.  The story goes that at some point, likely in the early 1900s, the owners gave the second building to their daughter as a wedding present.  As children Mother and Grandmother would let their out-of-town friends stay there.  Occasionally I would too, and enjoyed it because it had bunk beds and this great back porch that overlooked much of the property.  My mother had two children – Lisa and me – and when we decided to divide the houses, I chose the Barn.  It is not quite as big as the main house but has all the same type of charm and mountain home feeling that lets me get away from the big city whenever I can come up.

Fire destroyed the main house; it was a flood that severely damaged the barn.  One fall, before the home had been closed for the winter, the kitchen pipes burst, and water flooded large portions of the dwelling.  The Neals and Allens had finished the renovations to the main house and now it was time to turn to the barn.  Kennard describes that we replaced what we could and then tried to add and expand so it looked similar to when I was young…yet more accommodating.  It still has the charm but with more modern amenities.  When I asked my children what additions they most wanted, their first response was “wi-fi”.

Kennard and his wife Joy and their children do not get up here as much as his sister and her husband Clay.  However, one of the things that they love most about The Rabbit Hole is that it is so convenient to town, yet it feels so far away.  Although we cannot use it all the time, when we do we feel it is such a treasure.  I asked him if he planned to sell.  His answer was quick and to the point: “We‘ve gotten many ridiculous offers for it . . . commercial/retail interests, housing developers, historical societies, preservationists, etc. But the answer has always been , ‘No, The Rabbit Hole is not for sale.”.

Kennard continues: walking the barn property

Start at the top of The Rabbit Hole land. Stroll down the driveway. You won’t see houses for a while. Eventually, you’ll come to a clearing. The main house will be on your left, and further down, you’ll see the barn at the end of a circular drive.

  . The Barn layout: as mentioned, my mom and grandmother loved to build and renovate. When I was young the barn looked like a 2 story flat structure, but it actually has 3 stories. The master bedroom and living room was on the main floor, and the children’s bunk-bed bedrooms were upstairs. There’s a steep slope on the  property such that there is actually a third level.  Here in the lowest level was where the kitchen and dining room were. When I was in my teens, my grandmother decided to move the kitchen and dining room upstairs and built the structure you that you now see as you head towards the front of the barn.

As you approach the barn, you will likely come in through the kitchen.   With the new addition, the old front door is never used. If you did enter through the kitchen, you’d go up to the side porch, into the kitchen and towards the rest of the house. 

Through the kitchen, you’re headed for a large dining area with an old wood table. There’s a patio outside the cooking area. French doors open to outside dining. From the dining room you come into a main living area and that’s the old part of the house still on the existing foundation. 

Much of the original paneling remains. However, we painted the main living room to lighten the atmosphere. It has a welcoming coziness and a fireplace that can tell many a tale. This is the barn’s primary gathering spot. From there, we take the hall to a master bedroom on the right. A staircase leads up to three more bedrooms and baths.

From the living room, you can go one of two ways –  you can go down a staircase to where the old kitchen was (now a family room for the children) or you can continue to go straight into a smaller upstairs family room and then to the back porch. 

The barn’s back porch is my favorite spot on the whole Rabbit Hole.  It  overlooks the rear of the property and a tennis court. If we kept walking off my property in that direction we would be at Bryson’s, although you wouldn’t know it when sitting on the porch

My other favorite place is the master bedroom. It has the original brown paneled walls and ceiling, adding warmth and coziness. The barn is not winterized, but perhaps one day it will be, so we’ll be able to stretch our visits beyond May through November.

Kennard’s one last tale to tell

“Way before our time, in the early 1900s, the circus came to town.” In Ran Shaffner’s Heart of the Blue Ridge, you can see the photos of elephants parading down Main Street. The photograph of pachyderms resting in the shade are posing on The Rabbit Hole grounds.

Who knows what the white rabbit might surprise us with on his next excursion down The Rabbit Hole!