Looking Back

by DIXIE TERRY

For those passing by 644 Crestwood Drive in Crestwood Estates on the beautiful Lake of Egypt, and viewing the unique log structure, there is the question of its history.

It appears that the structure has always been there, but that isn't so. That building has a long history. Built of cypress logs, native to the area of Belknap, where it was originally built, the barn was moved from its origin in Johnson County to Ullin, in Pulaski County, by a team of oxen, year unknown.

Mary Ann Willis and her granddaughter sighted the old barn, while attending an auction in Ullin. She described the barn as gorgeous, with its beautiful logs and tin roof. She was smitten!

That was in the late 1970s and it took two years to convince the owners to part with the unused structure. And, then it took another year to dismantle it and move it to their four lots on Lake of Egypt.

Eight of the logs were 44 feet long, so they hired a professional logger to deliver the dismanteled structure to its destination.

Since it had been used as a barn for decades, it smelled like a barn, so the new owners did lots of scrubbing down the logs and planks before the building was put back together.

Named the "Willis-Abercrombie Lodge" by the owners, Mary Ann Abercrombie Willis and her husband, Ken Willis, who at that time, lived in Anna, they had originally intended to use it as a vacation home for their family, which included a daughter, son-in-law, two grandsons and a granddaughter, plus many nieces and nephews, who would all enjoy water skiing, fishing, swimming and boating at the lake.

However, those immediate family members, with the exception of the granddaughter, were all killed in an airplane crash as they were coming to visit, an accident that happened near Marion. The Willis couple had watched them fly over the lake just minutes before the crash. This happened in 1975 and the log home was turned into a retreat for their time of grief. They found themselves living there more than at their home in Anna.

Mary Ann kept a detailed log of the log barn/turned house and that now belongs with their surviving granddaughter and her children.

Entering the barn/home is taking a step back in time, with the entry being a replica of the home of Patrick Henry, where Mary Ann and Ken once visited, with a fireplace created from the hand molded bricks from the Union county poor farm. She and Ken moved the 7000 bricks by themselves before hiring a brick mason to build the fireplace. The location of that room is the original corn crib and the original barn door is still in use there.

Many of the furnishings have been taken from old businesses and buildings that were being demolished.

From a candy shop, came a small cabinet of drawers, and another came from an old pharmacy. Not just for decorating, but for everyday use are all the cabinets and tables seen in the house.

In the kitchen, is an antique dough box from the 1800s, where Mary Ann, an excellent cook, kept her baking ingredients.

There were several tables in the house, ready and waiting to be used for meals by guests who arrived quite often at the Willis Lodge.

One of those tables in the kitchen was created from a huge old sycamore tree and was originally used as a meat block.

There are any number of antique beds upstairs, covered with some of dozens of Mary Ann's collection of vintage quilts. She had accomodations for eighteen overnight guests, with sofas that folded out into beds.

A collector of all things old, Mary Ann had a complete set of Madame Alexander dolls on display and had a baby doll nestled in a 150-year-old cradle, setting at the foot of an antique fourposter bed. A trundle bed was also nearby.

Quilts were on display throughout the house, hanging on the walls and stair rails and an upstairs railing, as well as being used on the beds.

Family belongings were also a major part of the decor, with an old wagon wheel displaying the little shoes of the Willis' daughter, along with those of her cousins.

A small coat, made for Ken by his mother is on display, along with his tiny red mittens of long ago.

A copper still, once owned by a doctor, is only one of many conversation pieces.

The ornate front door and some stained glass windows came from a Catholic church in Cape Girardeau.

In their earlier days, Ken and Mary Ann could be spotted at any number of auctions every week, on the lookout for treasures for their barn home.

They also continued to maintain their large home in Anna, also filled with antiques and collectibles.

Iron bars, taken from the old Tamms Bank have been placed around the front entrance and an impressive chandelier came from a Missouri bank.

The downstairs bathroom wall was an open invitation to guests to sign their name. Seen were many local politicians and other well-knowns who had been guests.

Mary Ann and Ken were Sunday School teachers at the First Baptist Church in Anna, he of the senior men, and she of the senior ladies. Early each summer, all these class members and their spouses were invited to the Willis-Abercrombie Lodge for an outdoor breakfast. Here, they devoured Mary Ann's special casserole, bacon and sausage patties, homemade popovers, a punch bowl filled with her special mixture of orange juice and pots of hot coffee, topped off with her fresh-from-the-oven cinnamon rolls.

Christmas items were also among the collectibles of the Willis couple, and each year, several trees were decorated all over the house, after the Thanksgiving dishes were packed away. A 12-foot tall Christmas tree always stood by the staircase, covered with over 1,000 ornaments, most of them antiques.

Mary Ann's career was education, beginning in a one-room school, then at Anna's Lincoln School, where in 1965, she was named "Illinois Teacher of the Year." She was later the District #37 school psychologist and then Director of Special Education for JAMP. Ken worked as Assistant Postmaster at the Anna Post Office before retiring.

Ken passed away in August, 2004, and Mary Ann continued the project they had started, that of developing a ten-acre plot, near their barn home, into a subdivision called "WillisAbercrombie Place, with its view of their beloved Lake of Egypt.

Mary Ann's life was ended, at 93 years, while driving her silver Mustang, that crashed into Crab Orchard Lake as she was returning from delivering a birthday cake to one of her subdivision workers.

Mary Ann and Ken's legacy will live on in their beloved barn-to-home creation that will remain for decades overlooking the Lake of Egypt. 

Writer's Note: The Willises were our next door neighbors in the fourteen years, 1986-2000, that my late husband, Jim and I, lived in Crestwood Estates. They were wonderful neighbors and we enjoyed several social events in that beautiful love-filled barn/lodge.