"My husband, Chapin, and I had been living in Los Angeles, and both of us wanted to get back to the South with its slower pace," says Laura Kay. The interior designer grew up in Clinton, Louisiana, and her husband was raised in Atlanta. But the couple sought out Chattanooga as their destination rather than their hometowns (which they deemed too sleepy and too busy, respectively). Chapin's mom grew up there, and the Kay family, including Chapin's parents and his sister, were conducting a real estate pilgrimage of sorts back to Lookout Mountain. "Things here are stuck in time in the best ways possible," says Laura.
While they were sold on the city, Laura wasn't as convinced when she first saw the 1921 cottage that would become their home. "It is just too Tudor-y," she remembers telling the real estate agent. Laura, whose résumé includes stints with decorators Bunny Williams, Timothy Corrigan, and Mark D. Sikes, knew that she wanted an untouched older house. Digging a little deeper into the property, the couple realized it had a family tie. The home was built by Chapin's great-great-uncle, Garnet Carter, who was known for founding the beloved attraction Rock City as well as patenting miniature golf. "It had been out of the family for 60 years, and we were fortunate to get it back," says Chapin.
This story is from the April 2023 edition of Southern Living.
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This story is from the April 2023 edition of Southern Living.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
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Forging a Legacy - A Fredericksburg, Texas, couple is creating a new class of heirloom cast-iron cookware
When Jay Mallinckrodt pitched the idea of crafting cast-iron cookware to his wife and business partner, Heather, in 2020, she was hesitant. I immediately said no, she recalls with a laugh. But I finally agreed as long as we made something that we would actually want to use ourselves. Like many others during the initial throes of the pandemic, their multigenerational family operation, Heartland Enterprises (which specializes in machining parts for jet engines and gas and oil equipment), was seeing a lull. “No one was flying; no one was drilling, says Jay. So we had time to try something different.
A Butterfly Haven - In the Texas Hill Country, a conservationist is helping monarchs adjust to the changing world
Twenty-four years ago, Monika Maeckle bought a small property on the Llano River in Central Texas as an escape from fast-paced San Antonio. A journalist and marketing professional by trade, she didn't at first realize the value of the location on which she and her husband would later build their ranch. She also had no idea how this decision would eventually transform her life.One October evening a few years later, a friend invited Maeckle to their nearby house, which sat on a watershed with several large cypresses. All these butterflies dropped from the sky and started to gravitate toward the trees, she recalls. Stronger people who could swing a big 12-foot-long pole began trying to capture them, and we waited. By the end of the evening, we'd tagged a couple hundred butterflies, and I left there enchanted.
Oktober Feast!
While I respect your right to serve spooky food in October, you won't find any gory grub at my house this month. Instead, I'm hosting a gathering that's inspired by biergartens across the pond. The focus of the menu is a fondue made with Gruyère cheese and crisp Riesling-like beer-cheese dip but more elevated. It's served with a smorgasbord of dippers such as smoked sausage, grapes, apples, and a few amped-up store-bought snacks, like Mustard-Glazed Pretzel Bites and Smoked Paprika Potato Chips. (Just one taste, and you'll want to add this spice to every bag you open.) Pour yourself a Cider Shandy, and get ready for a good time. Prost, y'all!
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