NOTED: On Politics

NOTED

On Politics

A lesson in kindness on a trip to Raleigh

by BLAND SIMPSON

On the last Saturday in March 1963, my father came and collected me in Chapel Hill, and we headed east on narrow, lonely NC 54 to go to Raleigh and get into politics. Just a few hundred yards shy of Nelson (then no more than a solitary filling station), we stopped to help a woman standing alone beside her car on the road shoulder — she had a flat tire and stood there desultorily making no move toward changing it.

Nor did I, but my father did.

I stayed in his car, a big Buick LeSabre, as he got out and walked slowly back to her, waving, smiling (I watched out the back window), and then bending to the task, which seemed interminable, the getting out of the lug wrench, the jack, the spare. Not that I felt unsympathetic — I was simply too excited by the fact that we were heading for Raleigh and the Hotel Sir Walter on downtown Fayetteville Street, where we would soon meet our visionary governor, Terry Sanford, and Vice President Lyndon Johnson.

This flat that needed changing: my father, who never seemed to be in a hurry, was in even less of one now — he had been diagnosed with MS and now walked with a slight limp and carried a black, silver-handled cane. Still, he was relaxed and confident, and he was quite strong — those many years he had gone swimming in the ocean at dawn, the quarter mile between our Kitty Hawk cottage and the old Kitty Hawk Fishing Pier and then back, all helped him. He had no trouble with the tools, or the flat and the spare, and he clearly had no worries about what time we might see the governor, let alone the vice president.

When at last he got back behind the wheel of his own car, I saw that he had scarcely broken a sweat, had not gotten his suit or shirt dirty at all, and only his hands, sooty from handling the tires, needed washing.

“Why did we have to stop?”

“She needed help, son.”

“Somebody else could’ve done it.”

“You don’t know that — not a lot of traffic on this road.”

“But sooner or later —” “No,” he said evenly, “it fell to us.”

To us. Suddenly he had brought me into his Good Samaritanism, as if I, who would have let the brief mission go to someone else, had been a party to it, and I was all at once both proud to be his son and proud of something I did not even do: we had helped a woman in distress. “And now she’s on her way again,” he said.

Next thing I recall, we were in Raleigh, at that time just a great big country town, and he had found a men’s room off the Sir Walter’s lobby and washed his tire-dingy hands, and then we were in a hall upstairs, where a very short line was controlled by a couple of Secret Service men and state troopers, almost natty in their gray shirts and crimped, charcoal Smokey hats.

At our turn, the governor and the vice president seemed extraordinarily relaxed, informal, friendly. Just the four of us in that room, where, mostly, my father bantered with the two leaders — he already knew well and supported Governor Sanford, and the ham-handed Texan seemed little different from the soybean and cabbage and hog farmers my father

politicked with back up in Pasquotank County, where he was solicitor.

“Are you a good Democrat?” the vice president asked me.

“Yes, sir.”

Soon we were off to a cocktail party at a home elsewhere in Raleigh. I watched the clock move slowly toward the time of the Jefferson-Jackson Day dinner, a fiftydollar-a-plate affair being held in one of North Carolina’s most modern buildings, the glass-walled, swooping-arched Dorton Arena at the fairgrounds, where they held rodeos and rhythm-and-blues concerts when the politicians were not in there holding sway.

I devoured, if not inhaled, my highpiled barbeque plate, dearly wishing for another one, had they not been so expensive. This was hardly my first mouthful of chopped pork cooked with holy smoke, but it was certainly my first taste of political fundraising. Yet my relish toward my plate held no candle next to Lyndon Johnson’s toward his crowd — he was proud to be here, he said, proud to be an American, and so was President John Kennedy, and they were two proud Americans who couldn’t wait till the 1964 election, when they would be back in North Carolina, this proud American state, which they intended to carry by a landslide, because North Carolina was full of great Americans, like every one of you all here tonight!

We shook a lot of hands, talked loud and proud about the day, piled back into the Buick and kept on talking. “Would you like to go to Washington?” my father asked me after a while, meaning to go be a page in Congress. Yes, I would, of course I would, I said, in the grip of a political swoon — why shouldn’t I wish to go to Washington? I had worked in Raleigh, had met the governor, had now shaken hands with the vice president, and yes, I would very much like to go to Washington. And so we rolled our way on back the thirty miles west to Chapel Hill, and every once in a while when we would laugh, he would pat my knee, as he always had when it was just us two riding in the car, and I am glad I did not feel I was too old for that.

For the main event of the day, as it turned out, was not the politicians or the Hotel Sir Walter or the cocktail party, or the lusty handshaking and backslapping of the hundreds at Dorton Arena bonded by barbeque and yellow-dog Democratic faith. But I knew what it was before my head hit the pillow that night.

It was my father, and his kindness to the woman beside NC 54 near Nelson.

It was his kindness to me, a mere fourteen-year-old boy who scarcely knew how to act with him, as he spoke with me in the car, treating me as an equal.

It was his kindness, period.

Excerpted from North Carolina: Land of Water, Land of Sky, Simpson’s latest book, which comes out this month.

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Advice on Nighttime Caregiving

by BENJAMIN CUTLER

Know the bulk of night will be sleepless and embrace it with the weariest part of yourself.

Nothing but bitter tea will do, steeped too long as you pour another glass of water

another mouth will drink, as you console another crying child who values sleep

on different terms, as you — deep in the black hour when familiar constellations

wend into a strange topography — walk the dog who will thank you without language: she who eats

white clover by night, sniffling through dark grass sweetened with dew.

Now sleep or wake — let go of what you hold. The untouched tea is as cool as morning.

C.J. Dykes in his Cary garden. Opposite page: Bees enjoy a Joe Pye Weed.

C.J. Dykes cultivates a flourishing sanctuary Earth SPIRIT

by COLONY LITTLE photography by JACLYN MORGAN

For C.J. Dykes, gardening is both a passion and a career. His interest surfaced early: according to family lore, at age 5, Dykes dug up flowers that his mother had planted, finding new locations where they would best thrive. “My mother liked to piddle around in the yard,” says Dykes, “but I took it to a different level.” As he grew up, these backyard experiments evolved into rose gardens and vegetable gardens around his childhood home in Maryland. This interest led him to study agricultural science and environmental horticulture at the University of Maryland, College Park. And for the last 35 years, Dykes has worked for the Wake County Public School System as a landscape supervisor, where he manages plant selection and contractual agreements for 200 sites in the county’s system. Dykes moved to North Carolina in the late 1980s, and in 1992, Dykes and his partner, Bryar Cougle, moved to Cary, where they began to develop the land surrounding their home. Dykes was careful to maintain many of the native plants that were already there. “I was able to save native azaleas, gingers, Hearts a Bustin, euonymus,” he says. “I have a Fringe tree, a lot of Dogwoods, and Sourwoods, which you don’t always see on people’s property.” The front yard features more than 70 rose bushes, and the hardscaped backyard is surrounded by native shrubs, ferns, and palms, along with perennials such as daylilies, hostas, and irises. Deeper into the backyard, visitors are guided into a mature woodland garden via woodchip pathways. The gardens are enhanced by a menagerie of sculptures: fairies, angels, and dragons, plus the green visage of a Celtic god and a smiling Buddha. These figures both provide visual contrast and reflect Dykes’ diverse spiritual influences. “I consider myself an earth spirit,” he says. “In my garden, I’m closer to creation than any other place in the world.” Dykes’ gardens are a popular place for hummingbirds, butterflies, dragonflies, rabbits, and an occasional deer. Dykes also welcomes human visitors and gladly offers garden tours of the property. He hosts regular tours as part of the Cary Garden Club and the Raleigh Garden Club, and has even hosted tours for the national Garden Conservancy. “I like sharing my passion,” says Dykes. He’s also a member of the Gardeners of Wake County and the Piedmont chapter of the North American Rock Garden Society. After decades of work on his home garden, his reward is found in the quiet moments enjoying the fruits of his labor. “I can go out there and totally unwind and relax with a glass of wine,” he says. “I can spend hours just observing — it is my sanctuary.”

Each area has its own personality. Dykes calls the patio his Sun Borders Viewing Stage, outlined by Windmill and Sabal palms, along with a Banana tree. In the Deep Shade Grotto, as he calls the shade garden under his deck, “It doesn't get any sun, and I have a fountain, so it’s always wet.” Bottom, left to right: Icarus flies among the foliage, a Dainty Bess rose, and Chinese Lantern.

“I try to introduce as much color and variety in the garden as possible,” says Dykes. His biggest blooming season is in May. “That’s when the roses and a lot of the perennials are at their best.” Pictured here are roses, Black-Eyed Susans, and Limelight Hydrangeas that line the various paths among the gardens. Opposite page: An iron ballerina dances among the plants on the Sun Borders Viewing Stage.

“When I’m in my garden, I’m closer to creation than any other place in the world.” — C.J. Dykes

“Everyone migrates to this area of the house,” says Rachael Ford. “We can all be here — flopped on the couch, eating at the table, at the bar — but each have our own space.” Designer Brittany Roux chose the decor to be “gracious with a bit of a rock star edge.” In the kitchen, a raised walnut counter surrounds the marble interior of the island. “It’s so much nicer to set a wine glass down on wood, and it adds warmth to the space,” says Bryan Nunes. Chrissy Gupton guided the couple on lighting the room. “The pendant lamps work so nicely, they reflect on the countertops but speak to the lighting fixtures in the living area and breakfast nook,” she says. LET ITSHINE

This home on Ridge Road is a glam gathering space for a big family

by AYN-MONIQUE KLAHRE photography by CATHERINE NGUYEN

BBryan Nunes and Rachael Ford are not afraid of taking chances. Both are hair stylists and salon owners — Nunes runs Blo in Brier Creek, Ford has Gabriel Ryder Salon downtown — a line of work that, Nunes says, attracts creative minds who care about their surroundings. So when they built their home together, one where they would blend both their tastes and their families, there was little chance it would be boring. “Some people are paralyzed by a can of paint, but not me,” says Nunes. “I love the creative process.” They worked with

DJF Builders to design their Ridge Road home. It’s full of generous spaces where the family can comfortably gather, like the open-plan living and dining area, multiple patios, and swimming pool.

But there are also plenty of bedrooms, bathrooms, and storage areas for the couple and their five kids, ages 1 to 19, to have space for themselves. “Blending a family is tough, and we’re fortunate to live in a home where we all have our own spaces, but can also come together,” says Nunes. “It’s a blessing.” Chrissy Gupton served as coordinator for DJF during the build and worked with the couple to choose details like tile, fixtures, and finishes. “I tried to help them reflect their personalities — they’re both soft, kind-hearted people, but they like some shine in the right spot,” Gupton says. Lighting, in particular, was key. “I don’t like direct light, only indirect,” says Nunes. They tapped Raleigh lighting designer Louise Gaskill for several custom chandeliers and used can lights with diffusers to add soft contrast and shadow to the walls. When it came time to decorate, Ford knew who she wanted to enlist: one of her clients, Brittany Roux of Roux MacNeill Interiors. “I was sitting in her chair, and Rachael said, We’re building a house — I want to connect you with Bryan,” says Roux. The couple had a sense of what they wanted, and let Roux run with it. “We tried to be collaborative, but not meddle,” says Nunes. “But we wanted to push the envelope.” “They wanted the home to be dramatic and feel luxe,” says Roux. The couple was attracted to rich hues like blues and purples, along with glam detailing, like brass hardware and textured wall coverings. “We like dark colors, we like mood and ambiance,” says Nunes. “We want people to feel a sense of serenity and peace, but also be like, wow, I never would’ve thought of that.” While the home may not look like this every day — often a pack-n-play is the centerpiece of the living room, Ford says — it has all the style and warmth they’d hoped for. “This house is epic,” Nunes says. “There’s not a day I don’t think, I can’t believe I get to live here.”

Opposite page: The study is to the left of the front hallway, through glass French doors. Roux put in subtle nods to the couple’s work, including the ponytail-shaped sconces and art prints on the wall that show sculptures of wigs made from paper by Nikki Nye and Amy Flurry of the Paper-Cut-Project. This page: The breakfast nook overlooks the backyard. Nunes loves the liveedge table here. “It’s cool, people can dig their forks in it and it just adds character,” he says.

In contrast to the strong colors on the first floor, Spease used pale tones to create a calming retreat for the family’s bedrooms and playroom. The master (shown this page) is a sea of tactile blue, including the custom-upholstered bed and pillows made from block print fabric Spease found on a trip to Africa. Opposite page: The dragonfly curtains in the playroom moved with the family from the old house, where Spease incorporated bold statements in the wallpaper, lighting fixture and shag rug. “Lindsay went for it,” Widener says. Spease gave the stairs a kid-friendly “runner” with navy paint. With a nod to turn-of-the-century decor trends, Spease painted the trim in George’s room blue, which balances the red in the linens, window treatments and upholstered chair, which belonged to Widener’s grandmother.

The dining room is just to the right when you enter the home, opposite the study. “We didn’t want something big and pretentious, especially since we don’t use it every day,” says Nunes. Roux used a mix of textures and subtle patterns in varied gray tones to make it feel cozy and inviting, including nubby curtains, a diamond-pattern rug, and abstract flocked wallcovering from Black Edition by The Romo Group. “The wallpaper is just spectacular,” says Nunes. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything like it,” agrees Ford. “It feels like a caterpillar, and makes the room really unique.” Another star in the room is a framed-out, built-in wine wall that Gupton helped design. “It’s so dramatic, it acts as a piece of art,” says Nunes.

Opposite page: In the bedroom, Roux played up the moody tones with the botanical Cole & Sons wallpaper, a “theatrically tall” velvet headboard, and layered lighting. “We used both bedside lamps and sconces, plus a chandelier and a tray of lights around the perimeter to splash the ceiling at night,” says Roux. The walk-in closet is done in a deep teal, with niceties like brass hardware, a small chandelier and... a coffee maker. “I need it before I see all the kids!” Nunes laughs. This page: In the bathroom, Gupton helped select the marble tile, modern fixtures, and tub.

This page: In the powder room, Gupton helped find the unique chandelier, which diffuses the light through glass balls. “Its effervescent feel inspired the whole room,” says Roux, who played it up with marbled wallpaper. “It brings in all the blacks, grays, and whites together, but also has little bits of yellow and aqua.” Opposite page: Out back, a screened-in patio serves as a lounge. “The back yard is stunning, and we can all enjoy it together,” says Ford. She was the one who pushed for the dark exterior. “People either love or or hate it,” says Nunes. “But with the gas lanterns, bluestone and big porches, it feels manor-esque.”

The Crowder home blends a love of art and modern architecture

ARTFUL LIVING

by ADDIE LADNER photography by TREY THOMAS

“Iknew I grew up surrounded by art — but I didn’t realize until later that I actually lived in art,” says Rachel Spencer of her childhood home. Her late father, the legendary architect and councilman Thomas Crowder, designed the home. He lost his life to cancer in 2004, but his talent for design and love for his family still shine on Ashburton Road in West Raleigh. While the home has become a beloved work of art, it was born out of tragedy. In 1998, when Rachel and her brother Garrett were young, a fire broke out in their previous house. Everyone was able to escape in time, but the home burned to the ground. “It was tragic,” says Kay Crowder, Rachel’s mother. “We lost everything.” But with the need to rebuild came an opportunity for the Crowders to create their dream home, one that merged Thomas Crowder’s skill in architecture and Kay’s eye for art.

MIXED MATERIALS

Upon entering the home, the hallway leads guests to the living room, where floor-to-ceiling glass windows open onto a courtyard. While designing the space, late architect Thomas Crowder mixed classic residential materials like wood and granite with industrial elements like architectural block made of concrete and steel beams. The double-height, curved ceiling is made from white pine, but single-story soffits make the space feel intimate. “It’s hard to envision it when you explain it to people. But then they come over and see how warm and inviting it is, they get it,” says Kay Crowder.

Thomas designed a 2,400-square-foot modern marvel, one filled with natural light and unexpected materials. In the entry hall and living area, the white pine ceiling curves down towards opaque window panels that soften the sun. Polished wood floors and exposed steel beams pop against the angular white walls. Every detail was thought through, Kay says, but the house is almost unassuming from the outside — Thomas intentionally designed it to fit in with the other ranch-style houses in the neighborhood. The first thing you notice from the front, actually, might be the sculptures freckled throughout the garden. They hint at what’s inside: walls, floors, and even ceilings that showcase art in all forms, from sculpture to paintings to pottery. “I got my first good job in my 20s and said, You know? I’m going to buy art,” says Kay, who started her career in advertising sales. “I thought that was a constructive way to spend my extra income.” Now, work from artists like Joe Cox, Matt McConnell, Salvador Dali, Elissa Farrow-Savos, and Robert Broderson grace the home, which Kay refers to as her gallery. Their tastes weren’t all that conventional in their nowgrown kids’ eyes at the time. “I just wanted, you know, a bungalow with a front porch and a window seat,” says Spencer. “Dad said alright, I will give you a window seat — and of course, it was this modern floor-to-ceiling Japanese shoji screen,” she says with a laugh. “My friends would come over and be like, you get to live here?!” And while their home may not have been the typical style, Spencer remembers it as a happy space. “It was therapy for Thomas,” says Kay. “A place for us to come back to, one filled with harmony and joy.” Today, the home hosts lunches with friends, meditation in the garden, and a grandchild tottering about (who’s gently reminded not to touch the masterpieces). And while Thomas preferred more minimalist decor, the walls have filled up, just slightly, as Kay has come to peace with his passing. “He didn’t want something so austere and grandiose, just something that reflected us all — a comfortable, happy place,” she says. And that’s what the home still is: a space filled with joy and harmony that connects their family to its patriarch, honoring him as a visionary, father, husband, and artist.

GRAND ENTRANCE

The hallway showcases part of Crowder’s extensive art collection, including the sculpture Flying Fish Scales by Matt McConnell hanging from the ceiling, a large ceramic wine vessel made by North Carolina potter Mark Hewitt, and La Mort Des Amants, an acrylic-on-canvas piece by Ashville artist Ken Kotara. Opposite page: The kitchen was designed to be the center of the house. “Someone can be on the prep side making dinner or cocktails and still have a conversation with a person in the living room,” says Kay. “Entertaining is a little more intimate now; I’ll do luncheons or small dinner parties for my kids and their friends when they come into town.”

FENG SHUI LIVING

Opposite page: One of Kay’s favorite pieces of furniture is an original Eames lounge chair. She bought it on her 30th birthday — and it became a running joke. “Every architect has to have one, and Thomas was like, how is it that you own one and I don’t yet?” she laughs. This page: The couple used Feng Shui principles to bring calm and harmony into their home. One example: the words peace, prosperity, and happiness, the three principles of Feng Shui, are spelled out in binary code with subway tile on top of the airflow vent in the wall. Next to it is a 1960 piece by Robert Broderson, In the Garden, which once hung in the North Carolina Museum of Art. The dining room, bel is separated from the living area by built-in cabinetry.

GALLERY WALK

Crowder refers to the main hallway and entry as her own personal art gallery. Alces, Alces, by Tisha Weddington (née Edwards) hangs above a linear side table and several sculptures. The pieces in Kay’s collection have come from travels abroad, like a trip to Cuba, but also close to home. She loves sourcing art from Gallery C in Raleigh, in particular, and is a fan of the Penland School of Craft in Bakersville. The painting above the ceramic vessel is called Studio on the Rue De La Grande, done in 1873 by the renowned Wladimir de Terlikowski. Kay purchased the long, lean statue at Sid and Pat Oakley’s famed Cedar Creek Gallery, outside of Creedmoor.

BRIGHT SPOT

The study holds much of the home’s color, including a bright-red chair from Trig Modern. “I love to source and support local when I can,” says Kay. In the bedroom, opaque glass lets in just enough light. The dresser is custom built. Above the bed hangs a Tisha Weddington piece called Stolen Moments. Above the dresser sits a framed figurative piece by Johan Bokhorst titled Wiliam, which Kay purchased on a trip to Amsterdam. Open shelving divides the bathroom while also displaying art and collectibles. The counters are the same dark green granite as the kitchen.

SUBTLE SERENITY

Kay’s garden is full of natives and perennials like conifer, ferns, lily pads, Japanese maples, and yew shrubs, along with a large water feature (one of the elements of Feng Shui). “It creates this melody of movement that’s so peaceful,” she says. “I also wanted a tranquil place.” Opposite page: The house is set back on the property, with a low-profile front entrance in traditional materials like brick and concrete to help it blend in with the other homes on the street. “Thomas really cared about the neighborhood and not standing out too much,” says Kay. “He didn’t want something so austere and grandiose.” To the side of the front steps, a sculpture called Art Critic by North Carolina artist George Jolly greets guests.

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