H R NG ADVERTISING ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE If only houses could talk

Sometimes we may pass a building every day for years without giving it a second thought. Such structures may reveal interesting stories if given a second look.

Bob Meyers

Today, I will describe two buildings side by side on Birmingham Highway in Milton, across the road from Scottsdale Farms, one an attractive white brick house and the other brightly painted green and white with a porch situated under a tall shade tree. The two houses are joined by the history of one family. What stories might these houses tell?

In an earlier column I profiled the life of Billy Albertson (1932–2021) a sharecropper’s son who lived to become a beloved local personality, famous for his vegetable garden on Hardscrabble Road. Billy’s garden was a symbol of friendship, neighborliness, and conversation by those who stopped by to chat, help in the garden, to buy fresh produce or to buy goats that Billy raised.

Circa 1950 Billy’s parents, Egbert Tabor Albertson (1892-1975) and Ola Bell Etris Albertson (1891-1969), purchased a 3-acre farm from Billy’s older brother Judge Albertson and his wife Lula Mae across Birmingham Highway from today’s Scottsdale Farm. Judge and Lula Mae moved to Atlanta for Judge’s new job. Since the family had been sharecroppers and moved from farm to farm every few years, the move to their own farm on Birmingham Highway was a welcome chance to settle down. The green wooden house was already on the property. As a teenager, Billy lived in the house with his parents and sister Betty and brother Bobby. For a while as a teenager, Billy worked at Judge’s mobile sawmill. After an accident at the sawmill Billy began his life’s work as a butcher, initially at the Crabapple Sausage Company, eventually at A&P grocery stores. Billy lived with his parents in the house until he married Marjorie Mary Cornelison (1935-2008) in 1955. About five years later he built the home on Hardscrabble Road that would become his landmark farm.

The widowed Egbert lived in the green painted house until his death in 1975. The house remained vacant from that time on.

Next to the painted green house is a white brick house built in 1956 that Denise and Janet’s cousin Shirley Pilcher and her husband Ronnie lived in for 60 years beginning in 1971 when Ronnie got out of the Air Force. Shirley and her father J.T. Albertson bought the house property from her grandparents Egbert and Ola in the 1960s, attracted by the fact that their Albertson kin lived next door. The house was red brick until painted white about a year ago. The house has been kept up to date and is today a comfortable residence.

In 2015 Luca Gianturco, owner of Scottsdale Farms, bought both houses and surrounding property totaling 10.5 acres at the time, which he enlarged by purchasing parcels in subsequent years. He did not tear down the painted green house even though it would have required substantial renovation to make it inhabitable for two reasons. First, Luca has a keen sense of history, and the painted green house has stories to tell. Second, it serves a useful purpose as a storehouse for the bales of hay cut off the land around the house that he uses at Scottsdale Farms. He did put a new roof on the house to keep its contents dry.

Billy’s daughter Janet Bobeng has fond memories of regular Sunday family gatherings in the 1970s.

“Dad had 10 brothers and sisters, and some would always show up,” she says.

Up to 20 people sat on folding chairs under the large water oak tree in the front yard. A long wooden table was piled high with food brought by the guests.

“Those were special days,” recalls Janet.

Shirley Pilcher has a slightly different memory of those Sunday gatherings which she always attended since she lived next door. She says, “after the guests left, grandmother would cover the leftovers with a large cloth until evening when I would return to indulge in homemade biscuits and raw onions. It was such a happy place.”

In 2016, Luca bought some goats from Billy Albertson to serve as an attraction at Scottsdale Farms. Billy, and his daughter Denise Huntley, brought the goats to Scottsdale Farms and showed Luca how to castrate the goats. Billy looked across the street and told Luca that he had once lived in the green colored house. He took Luca on a tour of the property, and Luca took a picture of Billy and his daughter in front of the house. The photo has become a family gem. For Luca the picture brings back pleasant memories of the visit, and for Denise it evokes special memories of walking through the house with her father. Billy showed her where important events took place and the kitchen where Billy’s father made biscuits for the family.

So, when you are driving along country roads and see old houses or barns in lessthan-ideal condition, know that those old greying structures may have some tales to tell, if only we could get them to speak to us.

Bob is director emeritus of the Milton Historical Society and a Member of the City of Alpharetta Historic Preservation Commission. You can email him at bobmey@bellsouth.net.

Mayfield:

Continued from Page developments, rejected the permit. But Roberts, a developer by profession, said the situation got him thinking about what was going to happen to the Mayfield area. He said for nearly 100 years, Mayfield had been a center of commerce for Milton’s farming community.

The area includes several buildings that are historic and architecturally significant to the north Atlanta area, he said.

In a report, the Milton Historical Society lists 10 sites of historical significance in the area. One includes 800 Mayfield Road, now known as Milton’s Cuisine. In the letter describing renovation to the property, which would become Mr. John B’s, the owners describe the Crabapple community as a “melting pot of the better sort.”

“The old pioneer spirit lives on with just enough of the new for added zest,” wrote the owners, the Pittmans. “A place where you are still accepted for what you are rather than who you are. It is probably one of the few areas this close to bustling downtown Atlanta where you can still dress as you please, reflect on places of your childhood and return to everyday life feeling refreshed.”

Roberts took a cue from Canton Street in Roswell and other areas around the country that have become successful but have preserved a way of life. His thoughts prompted him to ask the City Council consider a moratorium for the area to stall development, which was approved last summer and extended in December to June 20.

“I didn’t want to see it developed over a number of years in a hodgepodge way,” Roberts said.

Preserving history

Seven of the buildings are at a potential risk, said Kathy Beck, archivist for the Milton Historical Society. They were front and center to her presentation given in February. Beck said they represent the city’s agricultural life.

About half of the buildings were historic homes. Beck called three of them the “Mayfield trio,” located on Mayfield Road. The trio consists of the Oliver house built around 1905, the Sutton house built in 1920 and the Byrd house, built by JJ Rucker in 1908.

JJ Rucker is the descendent of Simeon Rucker, one of the area’s earliest White settlers who founded the Rucker Cotton Seed Company in 1930.

The other two buildings in Beck’s presentation were commercial, opposite the Mayfield trio, and are related to the Ruckers — the cotton gin’s records building built in 1900 and the Rucker Warehouse built in 1902.

Beck described two other historical structures at potential risk, the John B. Broadwell houses on 765 Mid Broadwell Road, built in 1935.

The district encapsulates more than just local history, Beck said, in that it parallels Georgia history.

“When you look at Crabapple and those buildings … they're all right there together,” Beck said. “Just visu -

Stakeholders state preferences

The maps presented March 2 were created from comments provided in the previous workshops.

The first meeting, held in January, sought feedback based on three map designs developed by TSW. The maps were theoretical in nature and gave the public an idea of what would be allowed in the district under the current zoning code. Only one map preserved the area’s historic buildings, making it clear to stakeholders that the code allows for their demolition.

Stakeholders said the biggest threat posed to the District at Mayfield is loss of character and history and defined the site as it is currently with historic cottages, historical commercial buildings and new commercial/office space. The audience also said density is a threat to the area, which could be exacerbated by townhomes.

Most advocated for programmed open space and desired a pedestrian connection from the library to Mid Broadwell Road.

At the second public workshop meeting in February, Jefferson McConkey, a landowner and developer in the area, read into the record his vision for the district.

“The District at Mayfield should become Milton's idyllic interpretation or version of every dreamer’s best backyard,” McConkey said.