A Little History

The house we are remodeling belonged to James' grandparents so I thought it was important to document the history of the home before we get into the renovation process. The house was built in 1956 and the Goforths (Charles and Chapyne) purchased the house in the late 60's when Carol (James' mom) was in high school. The house is only about 2 1/2 blocks from where James grew up and where his parents live today. We were absolutely delighted when James' mom talked to us about purchasing the home from the estate after his grandmother passed away last summer. We are honored and excited to establish our own family in a home with a great legacy and many wonderful memories.

An intriguing part of the story is that they purchased the house from the famous cajun TV chef, Justin Wilson. I believe he was truly the original Emeril and had a wonderful show every Saturday on PBS. You may remember him from his thick accent and trademark sayings like, "I gar-on-tee!" Here is a link to some great videos of Justin in case you want to add a little more cajun to your day.  http://www.squidoo.com/Justin-Wilson-Cajun-Cooking (Don't you just love him!) The original cabinets were said to have J&S engraved into them for Justin & Stephanie. We were hoping there was still an original cabinet somewhere in storage, but we haven't located it yet.

Knowing the history of a home is invaluable when tackling a project like ours and we have been even more blessed as James' grandfather was an engineer at heart and kept the original blueprints from the house. We found them in the hall closet and they have certainly been helpful in the renovation.