HILLSPEAKING
from The Anglican Digest
MICHAELMAS A.D. 2002

THIRTY YEARS is a long time; even the buildings at Hillspeak have changed considerably in those three decades.

  When Patient Wife and I came to Hillspeak in 1972 there were seven principal buildings on the property — the Big Red Barn with a single-story, concrete block addition under a shed roof; the Farm House, essentially two apartments for the use of Father Foland and his housekeeper, Lillian Burns; the Old Residence; Miss Vinnie’s Cottage; the Calf Barn with a second-story “shotgun” apartment and a guest bedroom and bath on the first floor; the Brown House, a one-bedroom and bath cottage built for Hillspeak’s first secretary; and Wynnewood, the first of four residences built under a life-estate plan.

  Changes have been made: The Big Red Barn is now known as the Twin Barns because a second story has been added to the addition with a roof line replicating the original. Two small bedrooms and a small bathroom have been converted to a single, larger, bedroom with a dressing room, and larger bathroom in the Farm House; and a storage room has been converted to a second bathroom in the Old Residence. The “shotgun” apartment in the Calf Barn has been renovated (and is now known as “The Loft”),and a kitchenette-sitting room has been added to the bedroom and bath on the first floor.

  The Brown House and Wynnewood are now owned privately and, over the years, have undergone some renovations.

  Three more houses were built under SPEAK’s life-estate plan during the past thirty years. Two of these remain under that plan. The third, variously known as the Johnston House (from its builder) and the Yellow House (from its first color), is now privately owned and has undergone extensive remodeling.

  In addition, when Patient Wife and I came to Hillspeak, there were a number of smaller buildings serving various purposes.  Prior to our arriving, two or more chicken houses had been dismantled, removed, and reconstructed in a new location to serve, today, as a tractor shed and a workshop.  Behind the (then) Big Red Barn were two small structures. One was called the “Goose House” (for reasons unknown to the writer) and was used as a potting house and tool shed.  The other was a privy (at the time we arrived, it was, according to Father Foland, the alternative for those who were seeking a differentiated “facility” be-cause there was only one, in the basement of the Big Red Barn, rest room).  Nowadays there is a rest room on each level of the Twin Barns.

  Behind the Farm House is a small, six-by-eight, building which, when we arrived, served as a trash house and, perhaps, according to legend, had been a smoke house in years gone by. It has been plumbed and now serves as a wash house.

  Thirty years is a long time and changes occur — but, in the long run, Hillspeak  remains Hillspeak—and the enjoyment of it is available to resident and visitor alike.

  Come, see for yourself.

— The Trustees’ Warden