Local Houston County residents Terry and Kitty Barfield embarked on a mission to preserve the family’s history when they restored a beloved piece of Kitty’s great-great grandmother’s house. The home, which was built in 1853, has been passed down through many generations. Kitty talks about her great-great-grandmother, Martha Davis Tharp, and her history with the house. “She must have been used to the very finer things in life,” Kitty says of Martha. “She built the house to look like the old governor’s mansion in Milledgeville, Georgia.” 

    Martha built the house as a wedding gift for her son, William Allen Tharp, and his bride, Martha Feagin Tharp. It was complete with five large bedrooms, a living room, farm office, dining room, grand hall and a breezeway that led to the kitchen. Each bedroom included a walk-in closet and its own fireplace. The exterior was fixed with brick columns and railing outlining the large front porch. 

    Prior to the Civil War, Kitty tells me, “[Martha] decided that she would have her own business, and that’s what she did. She went around Houston County with her best craftsmen and had them building homes and businesses in Perry and around Houston County.” 

     Kitty talks about Martha with admiration for the legacy she built. “She must have been an absolutely amazing person,” she says. A firecracker of a woman, Kitty adds, “She could be seen riding a horse checking her job sites with a pistol in her lap.” 

    Martha and her brother owned land at Houston Lake. The difficulties of the Civil War forced them to be creative to preserve their assets. “She came up with this idea to let her craftsmen build rafts,” Kitty says. “They put their cotton on the rafts and floated them back into the little coves so the northern troops didn’t know they were there.” When the war ended, their hidden treasure was the only remaining cotton in the town. 

    Because of her vigilance and innovation, Martha saw to it that her business, her livelihood and her family prospered through good times and bad. Desiring the best future for her family, she put each of her children and grandchildren through college. “She was way ahead of her time I believe,” Kitty says. Martha’s family respected and revered her. Long after her death, they continued to tell their children about the woman that shaped their family’s legacy. 

    Martha Feagin Tharp left the house to her youngest son, Earnest Feagin Tharp. Earnest and his wife, Lucia, had a daughter named Margaret who later had Kitty. It seems natural then that Kitty grew up with unwavering respect for the family house and the history it represents. Although uninhabited for years, it reminded Kitty of the family that paved the way for the generations to follow.

     “I’ve always loved history,” Kitty says sweetly. But this piece of history begged to be preserved. With rotting walls and termite-ridden wood, the house would not survive much longer. 

    “I just can’t stand to see history fall in,” Kitty declares solemnly. Following her nursing career and ten years as store owner of Elegant Designs and Christmas Treasures, Kitty spent five years working for the Georgia Trust’s historical preservation. Here, Kitty’s passion for history grew in leaps and bounds. She found that she could no longer stand idle and watch history fade in the distance. 

    Kitty’s devoted husband, Terry, also felt a pull to preserve the history. He threw himself into the project reveling in the opportunity to restore this treasure. “The kitchen was detached from the house for fear of fire,” Kitty explains. Situated eight miles from their property, they moved the kitchen portion of the home to their land. 

    The structure was in such bad condition Kitty reports, “The movers said you could have rolled this little building down a hill and it wouldn’t have remained intact.” Deteriorating by the minute, the building seemed like a lost cause. But Terry and Kitty believed otherwise and were determined to set things right.

    As the pecan farmer of Blue Jay Orchards, Terry chose a special place for this new addition on the edge of the orchard. “My husband’s a really good wood craftsman,” Kitty says. He set out replacing lumbar, whitewashing the exterior and installing new windows.  “He can do electrical and plumbing and everything,” Kitty says proudly. The son of a building inspector for the city of Warner Robins, Terry builds with a passion for accuracy and a taste for perfection.

    Despite the intensive labor this project required, Terry was determined to complete it himself. Kitty mentioned hiring help and tells me, “He said, ‘No. This is something that I want to do.’ He felt such a closeness to this little house.” Terry honored Kitty’s grandmother, who meant the world to them both, with every minute he spent restoring this home. 

     Kitty talks of her time with the Georgia Trust and how it sharpened her natural decorating skills. “I did sales in the museum store,” she recalls. “I coordinated all of the rentals. We did a lot of weddings and receptions there.” Kitty put her design skills to work at these events, enhancing the space with beauty pristinely tailored to each occasion. 

    She designed weddings, honorary receptions, a governor’s dinner and more. “I love to be creative. I got that from my grandmother Tharp.” Kitty brought her taste for design to the little building where she added a homely finish. 

    After three years of hard work and constant labor, the building was completed in October 2020. “It’s my oldest living relative is what I think of this kitchen now,” Kitty says. A symbol of generational prosperity, it sits comfortably on their welcome property. With a new roof, beautiful whitewash and a scenic porch, the old building underneath is hardly recognizable. 

    Kitty reflects on the house and the history of her ancestors that it represents. “It’s amazing how our lifestyles have changed,” she muses. With no stove, her ancestors cooked over an open fireplace. “You had to make do with what you had. It’s such a neat little building, and the history’s so rich.”

     Following the renovation, the Barfield family celebrates Christmas here every December. Their daughter, Kathryn, and her husband, Joel, cherish the moments they spend together at the site. “She’s an interior designer,” Kitty says of her daughter. “She said when we’re gone she will use the old kitchen as her interior design office.” It brings Terry and Kitty great joy knowing that this building will continue under the watchful care of their family. 

    By rebuilding a portion of the family legacy, Terry and Kitty honored the history of their past and kept the story in motion for their family’s future. They share the gorgeous renovation with family and friends when hosting holidays, ladies’ luncheons, club meetings and other gatherings. 

    “We were able to save something that most people would have just let fall in and wouldn’t have given a second thought,” Kitty says. “My grandmother and great-grandmother would be so proud.” Each moment in the quaint space is a reminder of the family’s history, the joy they find each day, and the promise of a brighter future.