Trish Aldy has remodeled, flipped and built houses for years.
“I do lots of research and can figure out what I want to do when it comes to houses,” said Trish.
She put that experience and knowledge to good use when she and her husband, Tony, bought the Mary Emmaline Love place near McAdams. Consisting of 275 acres and an old house, the Aldys fell in love with the place, known as the Mallett-Love house, and Trish knew that she could do a lot with the property.
“I knew within 15 minutes of being here that I had to have this house and do something with it,” she said.
Mary Emmaline Love, the first female director of the Mississippi State Library Commission, was the last of the Love family to live on the property. After her death in 1999, the property changed hands before ending up with the Aldys.
Trish’s research unearthed some interesting facts, one of those being that the original property was 1,000 acres and belonged to the James Mallett family. Mallett built a cypress home circa 1836, which subsequently burned in 1850. At that time, Mallett moved two tenant houses made of logs to the present house site, putting them together to form a dog trot house for his family. Those log cabins were expanded twice, once in the early 1900s and again in the 1960s, creating a home that is now 4,000 square feet.
Craftsmen who have worked for the Aldys say the original axe-hewn logs are still under the home and have held up perfectly over the years.
When the Aldys first took over the property, “We couldn’t get to the front of the house for the trees,” Trish said. Tony was responsible for clearing the land and getting it back into shape.
The entrance to the house originally had concrete steps.
“I knew that his house just needed a porch,” said Trish. The Aldys added the porch, and wooden steps lead up to it at both the front and side entrances.
The ceiling of the porch is painted blue.
“The blue ceiling is an old-fashioned way of keeping out dirt daubers and wasps,” Trish said. The insects think that the blue is the sky and do not stop and build nests there.
“It really works!” she said.
When the Aldys purchased the home, there were several layers of wallpaper nailed to the wall as well as to the ceiling.
“I’m not going to pay someone if I can do it myself. I spent the winter pulling out nails! I did leave the square head nails which were original to the home,” Trish said with a laugh.
What she uncovered were beautiful wooden walls which she has been able to preserve in several of the rooms. Original heart pine floors were also uncovered in much of the house.
“These floors were in great shape, mainly because they had been carpeted,” said Tony.
In two of the rooms at the front of the house, the Aldys have been able to preserve the original walls, mantles and heater inserts.
“We found the heater inserts, probably from the 30s, outside in the storage building,” Tony commented. “I knew I wanted them to be back in the house where they belonged,” added Trish.
She also updated the original bathroom of the house with modern touches.
One part of the porch had been taken in to make a small room which the Aldys use for an office. It has tongue and groove boards on the wall, which date it to the early 1900s.
The Aldys also decided to enlarge the original kitchen. They knocked out walls to create a 20 x 20 eat-in kitchen with modern conveniences. It does have vintage touches, however, such as the early farmhouse sink and old mercantile cabinet, which Trish repurposed as an island after adding a granite top.
Off the kitchen is a large pantry and laundry room. The back of the house is the 1960s addition, complete with two bedrooms, bath and large den area at the end of the dog trot.
“We replaced the small windows with French doors to let in a lot of light and, of course, to get more of the beautiful view,” Trish said.
Exiting through the French doors onto the wrap-around deck, viewers might be startled to see an old pecan tree growing up in the midst of the deck.
“I knew I wanted to preserve this old tree, and I insisted that we build the deck around it,” said Tony.
The original six-month time line for the restoration has stretched to 18 months, with only one person working most of the time.
“It’s hard to get to a stopping point. One thing leads to another. Trish has enjoyed it more than I have. This is our last project,” said Tony.
“Wait a minute. I think you mean ‘This is our last big project,’” Trish said with a laugh. “It’s been a challenge, and I’ve loved it all.”
