Roomy porches on both the front and back of the house, provide the perfect spot for casual dinners and choice seats to watch the wildlife roam freely.
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BY EMILY JONES | PHOTOGRAPHY BY LEILANI SALTER
ummertime soirees in Mississippi usually include watermelon, homemade ice cream and listening to cricket concerts at dusk. For the Magnolia Social Club it means it’s time to “Go to Glory.” Not literally mind you. Glory is an historic home located at the fringes of Oktibbeha County. Tucked deep into the backwoods, it is second home to Pequita and Jack Denson. It serves as their escape from suburban living, and a place to piddle and putter to their hearts’ content. But once a year, Glory gets all dressed up for members of the social club, formerly know as the Magnolia Garden Club. “We have been going to Glory each year for each of the 21 years since we acquired Glory,” said Pequita. “But we began meeting monthly about 20 years before that when we were still the Magnolia Garden Club. That seemed like it was too much work, so we changed the name to the Magnolia Social Club.” Meanwhile, its members have gone from raising toddlers, to
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townandgownmag.com
| july 2012
welcoming their great grandchildren. The social club has no particular agenda other than being an enjoyable means of keeping their friendships strong. The Densons purchased the home and approximately 70 acres in 1981. “We were determined not to modernize or update it in any way that required hard labor,” said Pequita. Other than indoor plumbing and a few other post-Civil War amenities, the house hasn’t changed much in a century and a half. “We don’t know much about the history of Glory, but Jack met an elderly lady years ago who had grown up on the land adjacent to ‘Glory.’ All she could tell him was that it was built during the ‘Wawah.’” Jack assumed that she meant the “Wawah Between the States,” and the architecture bears that out. It is constructed completely of square nails and hewn pine. Roomy porches on both the front and back of the house, provide the perfect spot for casual dinners and choice seats to watch the wildlife roam freely.