Pope house – Page 7 – The Hermits' Rest

One of the reasons I had so much fun yesterday is that I got to order a lot of the things for my new office. I also got a lot of news about the renovation, so that made my day fun to get through.

I believe we are getting the one at top center. Kathleen wanted it to be very rustic. This is easy to install and waterproof, too.

The renovation team has decided that the floors in my future office are not salvageable. I am not surprised. This room seems to have gotten the most abuse during the years, and the floors looked practically worn through in some areas. Others had been badly repaired. So, I reluctantly agreed to have the same vinyl planks put in there that Kathleen will have in her office. I’ll cover it up with the giant and inexpensive rug I bought (that I can’t find a picture of, so it will be a surprise).

But, that’s okay, because when I look up I will see this symphony of rustic beauty! It is nice and big, which I need for the size of the room and its ceiling height, and it was not too costly (but not “cheap” – just right). You may have noticed it does not have one bit of bling on it.

A most beautiful, yet rustic, light fixture. With many bulbs.

Don’t worry! I found a place to buy chandelier crystals online, and they weren’t too expensive. Eighteen of those will be coming in the mail very soon, and I’ll just add them to the lamp. I’m creative. I will also order some replacements for ones that got knocked off my very similar chandelier at the ranch. I must know what I like.

Now, we certainly don’t want my office to be boring, with all that brick and wood, right? Of course not! So, I have selected extra shiny tile to go under my fake woodstove and on the floor in the tiny bathroom. I will smile at it every single day, and it fits my office decor colors of red, orange, and pink. You know, because those are my favorite hair colors…

AND we were told that we could not repair the ceiling in the entry hallway of the Pope Residence, because it would look too patchy (thanks, dumb stairway). So, we’re going to put up a lovely copper-colored metal ceiling in there. We will put it in the bathrooms, too, since they don’t have the cool wood ceilings that are in the rest of the house.

I have to admit, making these selections is why I loved my real estate redevelopment work so much. I’m glad to have another opportunity to select quality materials that will enhance a beautiful building.

While this is my personal and ranch blog, I just can’t resist sharing something we are doing in one of our businesses, Hearts Homes and Hands, which is a personal assistance service for Milam and surrounding counties.

We just opened the business, and are currently sharing the lovely old church building where we run a real estate business and host meetings/events. It’s fine, but not terribly accessible for people dealing with physical handicaps, and we’re a bit cramped.

The old Pope residence, most recently the Taylor residence.

So, we were pretty excited when we were finally able to close on this amazing old house with a cool history. We’d bought it from a really great family that was having trouble keeping up with the payments, due to family illnesses and other issues. We were happy to help out and even more happy to finally own the first brick home built in the city of Cameron, in 1905.

Here’s where the Pope family are buried, in the old part of Cameron’s main cemetery. Mandi and I searched for this last year.

The house was originally owned by a doctor Pope and his family, who were beloved in the city’s early years. Their piano-teacher daughter lived there until the late 1950s, using the bottom floor as a boarding house for income.

Many changes had happened to the house over 115 years, and when we got it, there was a lot of paneling, wallpaper, and interesting interior changes. The biggest change was when the previous owners hired a contractor to install a staircase. It wasn’t exactly safe. (The house had an exterior staircase, since the upstairs started out as a home and the downstairs a doctor’s office, then a boarding house for many years.)

Post Categories

Tag: Pope house

Shopping Spree

I Want to Show You This Historical Beauty!