The Shenandoah Valley of Virginia is where my husband, Rev. G.O. "Sonny" Pendergraft and I live in our cabin-studio. It was mostly built in 1950, as a summer cottage by Sonny's parents, Gradon "Paps", and Maria "Granny"Pendergraft.  (Granny looked a lot like "Aunt Bea" from  the old "Andy Griffith Show" on TV. She had a bun on her head as well.) This is how our place got it's name of, "Gra-Mar". It was the first place built back on our lane. So, not only our home, but our lane, and my studio-gallery are called, "Gra-Mar"! 

Paps and Granny never thought the cottage would be around this long! When they built it, they used the pine trees growing on the two acres for the beams in the ceiling. We don't have regular ceilings like most homes. Ours is open.  Most of the walls don't go all the way up. Paps got the lumber for the 2"x4"s and such, wood floors, and ceiling from a local sawmill. So all the lumber is exactly what it's supposed to be, a 2"x4" is two inches by four inches, not cut- down like modern lumber! Over the years the wood has become as hard as iron! We have to drill it to make a hole! Granny took the bark off of the beams with a "draw knife" as the pine logs were laid over sawhorses! Then she coated them with linseed oil. Since this was to be a summer cabin they had cots and beds everywhere! Granny didn't see the need for things such as closets for clothes. She put a stick from the yard across two corners of a room and hung clothes off of them!

A man named, Mr. Gayheart, and a lady named, Miss Gertie Lowery, built the fireplace and chimney, and the foundation.

 ( I have to mention a bit about Miss Gertie: No one dared call her just Gertie! She was quite a lady. She never married. She never wore a dress, only bib overalls. She dug the hole for our septic tank, by hand, herself! It was so exact in specifications that there was no extra room on any side! The installer was amazed! She was a cobbler in the town of Stuarts Draft three miles away. In fact, she was the only woman cobbler in the United States at that time! She rode a horse and buggy given to her by the local Amish. She also made harnesses. Very good ones, according to the Amish! She lived just up the road from Gra-Mar, on what has come to be known as, "Gertie's Lane". She'd have hated that they didn't use the word, "Miss"! She built her own home. Once she fended off a big black bear who came between herself and her little newphew...with an ax handle! Poor bear!)

When we decided to move here as a permanent home we had a lot of fixing-up to do, (and still are!) We didn't have much to start. Sonny and I were married in 1992. We have grown children by previous marriages, as well as grandchildren. (I still don't know how it's possible to have grandchildren at my young age of 39! I've been 39 for years now, and I plan to continue!) Anyway, back to the cabin. We had a roof that leaked like a sieve over the whole back part of the house, and one bathroom , (indoors, thank God!) The bathroom shower was small and made of metal that was rusting -out at the bottom. The whole shower rocked when you used it, so it was quite possible to get seasick! We had only a fireplace in the living room and a wood stove in the kitchen. The counter tops were made of 1" thick oak boards. It sounds nice, but they are hard to keep clean!  Plus there were cracks between the boards.  With only two  heat sources  the house was pretty cold unless you were right next to the heat! There was hardly any insulation in the house and you could feel wind blow through the cracks! Brrrr! The windows were too heavy to open much as they were some that Paps had gotten from a Pullman car on a train! I used a small bedroom for a studio to paint. Really small, I had to go outside to change my mind! So, we needed to do more. We did it as we could afford it. The Lord was good to us. We didn't have much, but we had each other, and a roof, (even if it did leak), and plenty of food. Plus, we didn't owe anyone anything since we "paid-as-we-went". We tithed and saved every penny we didn't need to live on. We highly recommend tithing...you can't out give God, and He always gives back more than you give! We shared with others who weren't as fortunate as us. Sonny taught me to shoot and hunt to help out with the meat. I had a big vegetable garden. The Lord blessed us with more as the years passed.

Each year we've added improvements. Sonny invented a way to get heat from the kitchen stove to the bathroom and bedroom! He's a genius! We went from a fireplace and wood stove to free-standing propane heaters. What improvements! We had to have a proper closet! So, we used the bedroom next to my "studio" for a walk-in closet. As the years passed  we had central air conditioning and heat added! WOW! Fantastic! Just two years ago Sonny had the kitchen re-modeled for me. New appliances and quartz counter tops! I felt like a queen! He took the old oak counters and made the boards into shelves for the kitchen. We didn't want to just throw them away as they had a lot of memories of Granny, and other relatives using them. Our old bathroom now has a modern sink and new fiberglass shower! We even added a full bath with tub in what was half of my studio. The other half is a sewing nook and hallway. Where there was once a window is now a doorway to my art studio! We even added a guest room and small workshop for Sonny!  Also, we put in new, insulated windows all around, and insulated the rest of the house, plus added paneling. It's been hard work, and we did most of it ourselves. So, we are pretty comfortable and proud of what we've gotten accomplished. It's not fancy, but very warm and comfortable. Folks feel, "at home", when they come to visit.

As we get older we don't worry so much if the grass needs cutting, or the dust is making "dust bunnies". We try to clean-up a bit when company calls. So, please call first before you come! We have four kitties and two dogs that were rescued. Granny had planted a few white dogwoods and two pink ones in the yard years ago. Now the birds have spread the seeds of the white ones and there are hundreds all throughout the neighborhood! The pink ones are hybrids and won't reproduce, sad to say. Sonny is an expert with rhododendrons, and we've added many, as well as azaleas, that bloom beautifully from about the first to the middle of May. You should come see them! (See my page: "Gra-Mar's" Flowers.)We have improved the place, but we like to leave one acre wooded, and the other partially wooded so the forest "critters" feel at home. We want to blend into the forest as much as possible, so, Gra-Mar is still pretty rustic, and so are we!

  One of our big, beautiful azaleas!

A pair of giant rhododendrons in our yard.

May God bless! -Jane and Rev. Sonny, May 20, 2008