My Great Grandmother’s house

tkscovill ♦ August 13, 2012 ♦ 3 Comments

Today we went to lunch at my great grandmother’s house. This house is very special to our family. My great grandfather built it with his own hands in 1928, and then the two of them continued to raise their children there. Here are a couple photos that hang on the wall inside what is now a seafood restaurant.

This is how I remember the house.

my great grandparents, their five children and my uncle in 1935

I am still learning the history of this house and of my great grandparents. What I know is that they lived in this house for many years. Then my great grandmother sold it one day and moved into a much smaller house across the street. My mother and aunt were with us today and they both had a few memories of various activities here. I have only one vague memory of a family crab feast outside in the yard. I have been told that they raised vegetables and chickens and owned most of the land on what is now a full block. What I also remember is the front porch. It felt grand and magical for some reason. Now it is a room for feeding customers who come to eat crabs.

This is what the house looks like now. The porch is bricked in and it has obviously been painted blue. Inside, the bricks are still original, along with a beautiful stairway and hardwood floors.

Notice the original stairway in the background.

Back side of the house where people get to go orders and where the stairway to the basement hides behind a secret door….

Even though I don’t have many personal memories of this house, I know it is part of my family. It felt strange to be there with so many other people and with so few of my family members. It also felt strange to look at it and see the porch closed in and the bricks painted blue. But I’ll get over that soon enough. The woman who waited on us said the house is “haunted,” and that she has seen a woman standing on the stairs many times. The owner told us he just bought a new boat and didn’t realize that the boat was named Addie until after he bought it. Addie was my great grandmother’s name. He said he is satisfied that she is happy with what he is doing with her house.

In the off season I will go back and just sit there and remember what I can about this very powerful part of my mother’s family. And maybe if I am lucky I will see  Great Grandma Addie standing on the stairs nodding her approval.