Southern Living October 2019

THE FIRST TIME we went to Old Baker Farm in Harpersville, Alabama, it was a cool Saturday in October, and our kids were little. My wife, Susan, came across the place online while looking for ideas to get them out of the house and away from their glowing screens. They were too young for us to just open the door and say, “Go outside, and don’t come back until dinner,” (as my mom used to do) and too old to take naps. Like Jack Russell terriers, the kids needed to run around; otherwise, they’d get destructive by around 10 a.m. Then Susan found the solution: fresh air, some dirt, and a chance to experience something every kid in America should do at least once—pick their own pumpkin. As we drove down…

BEAUTIFUL SPACES – INSIDE AND OUT WHEN FENNEL MAULDIN purchased his great-grandmother’s old home in the late 1970s, poison ivy and privet hedges had run so wild that as he cleared the Leighton, Alabama, property, he uncovered a garage, an outhouse, and a car. After that initial cleanup, Mauldin restored the interiors of the 1870s Italianate house. Next, he started from scratch cultivating the 100-year-old home’s first-ever garden. It took him more than 20 years to create a basic skeleton for the 7-acre property. Then in 2001, he brought in gardener Anthony Brewington, a North Alabama native who had been living and working in Atlanta, to start consulting on the project. As the two developed more of the expansive gardens, the plants began to require daily attention. So when a house went…

1 START WITH A WHITE BASE The quickest way to keep your bed looking pulled together is to purchase a matching set of white sheets and pillowcases. They won’t fade in the wash and can be bleached to stay looking crisp. 2 LAYER ON A COVERLET Top your flat sheet with a heavier blanket or bedspread in a textured pattern (such as matelassé or waffle weave). Pull it all the way to the head of the bed, and fold the flat sheet down to the top third. 3 MATCH THE DUVET AND SHAMS Add pattern neatly onto the top and bottom of your bed by selecting a coordinating duvet cover and shams (the pillows that rest in front of the ones you sleep on). You can work a third pattern into the mix with a…

COME AUTUMN, Washington, D.C., is ablaze in bright yellow from the majestic ginkgo trees that line the avenues. The light green leaves begin turning gold in October and last until mid-November, when heavy rains shake them from their branches, blanketing the sidewalks with fan-shaped foliage. This radiant show has been coloring the earth since almost the beginning of time. Robert Shaut, director of tree planting at Casey Trees (a D.C.-based nonprofit dedicated to protecting the city’s tree canopy, including ginkgoes), explains, “They are ideal for growing in urban environments. They’re adaptable, and that’s why they’ve been around for millions of years.” About 200 million, to be more exact—in fact, ginkgoes are living fossils, because the earliest traces of their unique leaves date back to the Permian period, when they lived…

“TOD WANTED US TO MOVE out West to Colorado, Montana, or Wyoming so he could fly-fish, but I told him that wasn’t going to happen,” says Jenny Childress, a born, raised, and never-leaving East Coaster. Refusing to give up on his fishing dreams, Tod narrowed his search to Virginia. And then, like many other house hunters, he turned to the Internet. “It took me hundreds of hours of research on the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries website (dgif.virginia.gov) to find land with stream-bred (not-stocked) trout, info that I then cross-referenced with real estate listings,” he explains. His diligence paid off. Tod and Jenny toured one home with an agent, taking his fishing rod along. “It was February. I put my fly in the water, and the fish started coming…

WHY WE LOVE IT This plan has been carefully designed to accommodate mega views and endless visitors. Designers Luke Sippel and Bill Holloway of Lake and Land Studio oriented the main hangout spaces of the 3,500-square-foot plan to suit any scenic backdrop—whether lake, beach, or mountain—from the open-concept kitchen to the living and dining areas surrounded by porches. Upstairs, you’ll find four bedrooms (and a hallway nook with built-in bunks) to sleep all the kids, grandkids, and friends you’re hosting. Think rustic charm meets creature comforts—hey, who says you can’t have it all? WOW FACTOR This one’s easy: porch space—all 1,200 square feet. “It is just full of places where you can have totally different experiences,” says Holloway. So choose your ideal escape: Take a snooze on the cozy side porch, or spend…