Calhoun's Quarters
A love story
by Calista Sprague

Houses, like people, possess distinct personalities. Some are welcoming, some austere, some are elegant and others charming. Just as we are attracted to certain people, so can we be drawn to a particular house. We can be wooed by a house. We can even fall in love with a house. So it was with Merrell Calhoun and the house at 171 N. Jefferson Avenue in Talbotton.

The love affair began as an innocent childhood crush. Young Merrell grew up in Talbotton, passing the house almost every day en route to his boyish adventures. He has fond memories from the late ‘30s of the yard in profuse bloom with jonquils and Mrs. Olive, then owner, inviting him to pick a bouquet. “We’ve got more than enough,” he remembers her saying.

Merrell left Talbotton after high school to attend college and launch a career in advertising. In the early 1960s he married Connie Anderson and the two settled down to start a family in Atlanta. After rearing three children and retiring from a successful career in advertising, Merrell and Connie developed a growing interest in antebellum architecture and restoration.

Memories of the Talbotton house and a desire to acquire acreage eventually inspired Merrell to investigate a possible purchase. “The house was empty, and we came down several times, explored the grounds and peeked in windows,” Merrell smiled. “I always just loved this house.”

The History
Part of the joy of restoration for the Calhouns has included piecing together the house’s history. Gathering information from town records, from items on the property and even from inconsistencies in the house’s construction, Merrell and Connie have lovingly compiled a narrative
of the home’s ownership, renovations and additions that span almost two full centuries.

Built in 1836, the Calhoun house first belonged to Joseph F. Pou, a lawyer who moved his family to Talbotton from South Carolina. “There is evidence to suggest that this house, which is a four-on-
four, was once a two-on-two,” Connie pointed out excitedly, explaining that four-on-four (which refers to four large rooms down stairs and four up) as well as the smaller two-on-two configurations were popular in home construction during that era.

“Mr. Pou may have originally built a two-on-two home or moved one to this site,” Connie continued. “It was common in those days for people to find a house they liked, put it on a mule trailer and pull it to another property.” Connie pointed to a section of hardwood floor under a parlor
window that had obviously been patched at some point. “Patterns in the floor boards indicate that there were once fireplaces here and on the opposite wall in the dining room, so the house would have originally faced Adams Street, rather than Jefferson.” Differences in ceiling construction and floor planking from one side of the house to the other corroborate the Calhoun’s suspicions.

In the early 1860s, Mr. Pou left Talbotton with his children after the loss of his wife. Seaborn Thornton purchased the home, later acquiring 8.5 additional acres adjacent to the original two-acre tract. The Calhouns say that during the late 1870s, the home underwent “dramatic growth in size and elegance.”With the eventual passing of the Thorntons, he in 1905 and she in 1921, the house stood empty for two years.

Then during the wee hours of a night in 1923, a devastating fire drove the Olive family from their Talbotton home. Local townspeople came forward to help the Olives—Dixon and his wife Mary along with daughter Elizabeth and baby son Dixon Jr.—settle into the empty Thornton mansion, donating clothing, food and housewares. Dixon Sr., who ultimately purchased the home, ran a successful dairy farm on the property, and to supplement his income also planted more than 50 pecan trees that continue to actively produce today.

In the Olive’s care, the home received its first electrical wiring and indoor plumbing. An indoor kitchen was added to the back of the home, connected with a breezeway to the old kitchen house (later used as a smokehouse). A bathroom was also added at the rear of the house.

The Purchase
Merrell Calhoun called Dixon Olive Jr. in June of 2004. Merrell spoke of his love for the home, his memories of the Olive family and his desire to restore the home to its former grandeur. Olive was not interested in selling, but did stay in touch with the Calhouns, inviting them for a tour of the house a couple months later. Then on October 7, 2004, Merrell’s wistful longing became reality when he and Connie signed the closing papers. The house he had admired since he was a child now bore his name.

The Restoration
The Calhouns are quick to clarify that the project was not a remodel or renovation. It was, instead, a “meticulous rebirth.” The restoration, taking place over a period of two years, was overseen by Murray Calhoun IV (no relation). Murray came recommended by local historians Clason Kyle and John Sheftall, with whom Merrell and Connie shared a love of history and architecture.

“When we bought the house, we invited Clason Kyle over. He brought John Sheftall, and they seemed to enjoy looking through the house and talking about the different features,” Merrell recalled.

Murray began the project immediately following closing. “We had so much fun,” Merrell grinned. “I drove down twice a week just to talk to him. He had a lot of good ideas.”

One of Murray’s good ideas came in the form of cabinetry. “I asked Murray to put a row of cabinets here and there,”Merrell said, motioning to short stretches of wall both left and right of the kitchen doorway. “I came back and found these beautiful cedar cabinets. I said, ‘Murray, you’ve gone overboard. I can’t pay for those!’ He said, ‘No, I found this rough hewn cedar in your barn. It was the least expensive way to go.’"

According to Murray, the house was in surprisingly good shape. “We saw a lot of the typical things, like the front porch was rotten. Some things on an old, two-story antebellum, a roof just can’t protect. But the overall home, being made of heart pine, was constructed well, so there weren't a lot of structural problems.”

In addition to 4,728 square feet of peeling paint, cracked plaster and neglected floors, the house’s main systems needed attention as well. The electrical wiring and plumbing were updated and central heat and air conditioning added.

“The first bathroom, that was added in the ‘20s, was just stuck on to the back of the house,” Merrell explained. “The parts that were added on to the house were built with lesser quality materials than the original structure, and they didn’t hold up as well. The cast iron tub had fallen completely through the floor. So we took some area from the porch and some from the kitchen and moved the bathroom.” Murray installed a new lavatory, a space-saving corner toilet and new tub in the new room. A closet and corner of one of the generously sized upstairs bedrooms were also closed in and plumbed to provide a much needed second-floor full bath.

But the floors, themselves, rated as Murray’s favorite transformation. “The floors in that house had never been refinished,” he said. “They were dark brown, almost black. We sanded just enough to bring out the true color, and they were just beautiful. That was pretty exciting.”

Working on the Talbotton house was a pleasure for Murray from start to finish. “The most enjoyable thing was working with Merrell and Connie just because they were so hell-bent on doing it right and preserving the house. It was a great collaboration. Everything that we did was well thought out and well discussed. We didn’t do anything on a whim. It was a lot of fun.”

“It’s been a fun ride to restore something of historic value,” Connie echoed. “Merrell has so many fond memories of this house, it’s especially been a fun journey for him.”

The House Today
Calhoun’s Quarters stands stately amid pecan grove, magnolias, hollies and camellias on 14.5 acres. Visitors are greeted by a white picket fence and path that leads to a generous front porch with
six handcrafted, two-story, fluted Doric columns. The front door opens to a large foyer with a grand piano and wide staircase. Doors open to a library on the left and a parlor on the right, beyond which lie a bedroom on the left and the dining room on the right. A large eat-in kitchen is accessible through the dining room and a doorway at the end of the front hall.

The top of the stairs open up to a floor plan identical to that downstairs, a wide main hall flanked by two large rooms on either side. At the opposite end of the hall, a door provides access to the Juliet balcony, which crowns the front door.

The rooms are furnished simply, minus formal draperies and ostentatious décor, flaunting instead original moldings and window panes. The home is filled with personal treasures collected by the Calhouns. “This house was filled up literally the moment we bought it,” Merrell laughed. “We had stuff left over from our Atlanta home, stuff from our families and stuff we found on the property,” added Connie.

Although some items found their way to the home by default, others hold much greater significance. For instance, one of their sons, a metal artisan, handcrafted a headboard for the master bedroom, and Connie’s childhood bed can be found in an upstairs bedroom.

Time in Talbotton
“We come when we can,” Connie said. “And we like to stay for long weekends when we come,” Merrell added. The Calhouns use the house as a family get-away. Three grown children and their families come and go, and Merrell and Connie relish visitors.

“We’re just delighted to have people come down and see the house,” Connie said. “Groups from Northside Methodist Church have been down twice. We were planning a tour, and the church secretary called me one day and said, ‘You’re the most popular people I’ve ever seen in my life. I think we need to schedule a second tour.’”

When asked if the two ever see themselves living in the grand home full time, Connie answered, “I have a friend who has a place in Florida, and people often ask her why she doesn’t live there. She always says, ‘Then where would I go to get away from everything?’”

Thanks to the Calhouns’ persistence coupled with the fine craftsmanship of Murray and his workers, Merrell will likely rendezvous with his antebellum love for years to come. And who knows, perhaps the house is already wooing yet another Talbotton youth who will help see it through the next century.

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