Love in the Ruins

Whenever I drive home to Virginia for the holidays, my favorite stretch on the trek is Highway 68 North, the scraggly patch of road that leads from Winston-Salem, North Carolina, to Highway 220, and on to the house I grew up in.

It's a strange area, full of contradictions—and the South is rife with roads just like it.

It's almost pretty, with occasional views of fields that reach out to the Blue Ridge mountains in the distance, fields once dense with tobacco.

But most of the land has been blighted with fast food joints, overdeveloped neighborhoods, and strip malls—a devastatingly ugly phenomenon that's nearly killed the area's sense of place and soul.

So why do I look forward to driving it?

Because along the way, there are a handful of houses and barns that are unmistakably Southern, lost to time and long covered with vines that have wound their way into mud and mortar and wood.

I know each of them by heart—from the porch balustrades to the rooflines to the rust.

But I'm certainly not the only one who feels as passionately about their cultural significance.

There are lots of books (new and old) on the subject, and one of my New Year’s resolutions is to start a collection of sources—a library if you will— about similar structures throughout the South.

Here are the first few on my list: 

1) Haunter of Ruins

Photo from amazon.com

This is a hard-to-find retrospective of the work of photographer and Louisiana native Clarence John Laughlin, a man whose work predates other greats in the genre like William Christenberry and William Eggleston. I stumbled on an original copy in Billy Reid’s King Street shop in Charleston while I was Christmas shopping. I’m hoping to score one of the two original copies still left on Amazon.

2) Lost Plantations of the South

Photo from amazon.com

This is a newly released book that's absolutely fascinating. It documents plantations that no longer exist (with the exception of some ruins) and gives a rare and haunting glimpse into antebellum life and culture—complete with archival floor plans, letters, and photos.

3) Southland Historic Preservation Organization

Photo from southlandhp.org

This isn't a book but offers an unbelievable wealth of information and inspiration nonetheless. In 2008, photographer and preservationist Gaston McCallum made the G&G Best of the New South cover story, and I've been a huge fan ever since. For years, he's been documenting historic Southern houses on the brink and doing his part to save them in the process. Log onto southlandhp.org for more information. 

4) Shell Castle: Portrait of a North Carolina House

Photo from blairpub.com

This book tells a similar story. It's another poignant photographic tour (of a house by North Carolina photographer Elizabeth Matheson) untouched by time.

That's all I've gathered so far, but I'd love to know about more if you've got one in mind you'd like share...