It was a cold clear Christmas Eve and we were living at a house we called BonnieBrae. We had not been living there too long, only a few months. We believed we had sold our wonderful farm, Heathfield. It was supposed to go through on January 1 of that year Was it 2000? Or 2001? So we bought another house and moved into it before the actual settlement of the sale of Heathfield. A word to the wise: Don’t ever…
My dear friend, Mr. Dingus has died. You know how people say “Oh that is the end of an era!” when someone important dies? Well, his death is the end of an era for our whole family. We will all miss him terribly. He seemed to be a constant presence in our lives from the early 1970s until we left Heathfield. Mr. Dingus started his company Fauquier Enterprises, in 1974. My husband was an architect who loved to design and…
When I look at old photos of my life at Heathfield, it is as if I could enter that life again. It is physical pain, a longing, and a deep feeling of wishing I could go back. But of course, none of us can go back. We need to go forward. My life is wonderful now, but it was also wonderful back then. It is hard to say what is most important my very long and eventful past or my…
Being given the privilege of living in a place that gives you energy and good vibes every day is the best. Houses have personalities, and property exudes atmosphere and vibrations we may not always recognize. We just get a sense of a place. It can be intense. The property where I live now is wonderful. The rolling hills of Virginia are personified right here. It starts as you enter the driveway shared by a couple of other houses, that goes…
