When built, this vernacular Neoclassical Revival house was among the finest Black-owned residential properties in Thomasville. It originally featured a stuccoed facade and a cement fence along the street. W. E. Gibson, the builder, was an expert brick mason, and he and his wife raised two children here. When their age made the stairs an issue, they sold it in 1949. It remains a neighborhood landmark.
Stevens Street Historic District, National Register of Historic Places
I always dreamed of owning a two-story Victorian home, having grown up in Savannah, GA, which had lots of them. Instead, I wound up buying a one-story home in rural eastern Liberty County, when an opportunity presented itself, in1986, that was affordable, and offered other amenities.
When I had a stroke in 2019, which left me with some left-side weakness in both my left arm and leg, I was very glad to have minimal movement restrictions with my one-story house; although I did have a small wheelchair ramp added in my carport, along with a side railing, to aid getting in my house. Fortunately, I have not needed it much in the past several years. But I cannot imagine having to go up and down stairs every day.
We do not think about these things when we are young and can move about freely! I am sure that never occurred to the folks who built this house, even though it served them well for many years.
I can thus empathize with the owners, who had to eventually sell and move. I am sure they were not happy having to do so, but knew they had to.
A wonderful line from one of my all-time favorite books, “Stranger in a Strange Land,” by Robert Heinlein, speaks of a place being “choked with experiences,” and thus in need of “letting go.” I have never forgotten that line.