Spiral Stone Staircases Text by Joanne M. Anderson | Photos by Kristie Lea Photography
Some 20 years ago, David Conroy built a fireplace for Jimmy Tannahill's parents, Jim and Lori Tannahill. About 10 years ago, Jimmy, owner of Tannahill Truck and Bus Repair at exit 109 off I-81, purchased a 102-acre parcel with a mountaintop site and 100-mile views one ridge over from his folks in rural Montgomery County. He moved up a single wide trailer. "You hauled that trailer up the narrow, winding, dirt driveway?" someone asked incredulously. "Oh, no, there was no driveway back then. We pushed it up the side of the mountain with a front end loader," Jimmy says with a grin. Like many homeowners with a vision, Jimmy 16
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sketched the house on a piece of scrap paper, first the prow front all glass west and south facing structure, then the fireplace and spiral stone staircases behind it. Conroy, 53, is a brilliant, creative, stone mason, so Tannahill asked him to build two very unusual staircases. "He wanted an all natural, locally-sourced, stone chimney three floors high with curving stone staircases behind two fireplaces, one from the open lower level to the first floor and the other to the second story master suite," Conroy explains. "Plus a stone section behind the lower level fireplace for a woodstove and another one on the second story. Plus
lighting. And three electrical outlets. And cantilevered stone seats. It was a once-in-a-lifetime kind of project." David Conroy was destined for a career as a stone mason since childhood. His parents, John and Loretta Conroy of Floyd County, had to make a rule when they went camping that David could not bring home a rock bigger than his fist because of his penchant for collecting rocks. Later, when he no longer accompanied the family on camping trips, Loretta would find a rock to bring back for him. No bigger than her fist, of course. He was enamored at a young age with stone castles in a children's book. He does not recall the title, but when
Mar/Apr 2018