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.

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

PILCHER FAMILY/PROVIDED 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.

This is the original brick house next door to the green and white house where the Albertson family lived on Birmingham Highway. Billy Albertson’s niece Shirley Pilcher and her husband Ronnie lived in it for 60 years. The house was recently painted white. Circa early 1970s.

Billy and Margie Albertson cut the cake at their wedding in 1955. The wedding took place at the home of Billy’s niece Shirley Pilcher and her husband Ronnie who lived next door to Billy and his parents on Birmingham Highway.

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

ALBERTSON FAMLY/PROVIDED new roof on the house to keep its contents dry.

Billy Albertson and his daughter Denise Huntley visited this painted green house where the Albertson family previously lived across the road from Scottsdale Farms where Billy had delivered goats raised on his farm. The photo which is prized by the family, was taken by Luca Gianturco, owner of Scottsdale Farms, in 2016.

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.”

PILCHER FAMILY/PROVIDED Egbert and Ola Bell Albertson were sharecroppers who finally saved enough money to buy a small farm in 1950 across the road from today’s Scottsdale Farms. Their son Billy Albertson became a beloved and admired local celebrity known for his vegetable garden on Hardscrabble Road where friends and neighbors dropped by to purchase produce or help Billy in the garden. Circa 1950s.

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 less-than-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.

THE INVESTMENT COACH