Home Is Where The Heart Is

When is a home tour not a home tour? When one of the stops on that tour is actually a little village.

Visitors coming to Kingston for the Friendship Club Home Tour on Oct. 4 should plan to spend extra time at T.J. and Carol McCollough's property. They'll need it to take in the many colorful, creative and eccentric buildings, constructed for the purpose of fostering family unity.

"Growing up, all of my family and cousins vacationed together, sleeping on air mattresses in a beach house or at a lodge. We had a rapport," says Carol McCollough. "But our kids didn't know their cousins as well." To remedy this, the couple began building a get-away a few miles down the road from their dairy business.

"We milked, so we couldn't go anywhere anyway," jokes T.J. McCollough.

Some of the creations include a shower house, complete with claw-foot tub and potbellied wood stove, a "hobbit house" originally intended as a wine cellar, the Dead Cedar Bar and Grill with full-scale restaurant equipment, an open air "feast room" and an immense outdoor stage. Because this is the Ozarks, there's also a two-hole outhouse -- with its own guestbook -- and a bunkhouse that sleeps 20 on double bed bunks and mattresses. The grounds include a large pond, Carol's impressive stonework and an immense, wood-fired stock tank dubbed the "hillbilly hot tub."

This is just one stop on the tour, which also includes the homes of Diann Hargis Cravens and Martin and Liz Sims, both in the Kingston area. The tour concludes with refreshments at the New Home Lower Campground Church, a site homesteaded by early settlers.

Huntsville's Friendship Club has been in existence since 1944, and its home tours have been a Madison County event for decades, though they used to be held closer to Christmas. "Last year we switched, and made it a fall home tour," says club president Kaye Johnson. "We had such a positive response to the change that we're doing it again."

Proceeds from the tour go to fund an annual $1,000 scholarship for a Madison County high school senior, as well as other charitable donations. Past projects have included beautifying Huntsville's town square and helping fund the War Memorial Wall and Memorial Waterfall near the courthouse.

The McColloughs' house, which took them four years to build, is "basically a pole barn" according to T.J., one that features immense cedar logs harvested from their property, glass blocks and a cheery red floor. The ceiling and walls are made from shiny corrugated metal, richly textured with antique family photos. There are also deep bookcases displaying antiques and collectibles, everything from cast iron skillets to model cars. "If anybody ever gave me anything, I still have it!" Carol says. T.J. tells stories behind some of the more unusual objects, such as the oil lamp he found in a gravel streambed when he was a boy.

The McColloughs say their goal in creating this get-away -- bringing their family closer -- has succeeded admirably. Grandchildren have grown up attending the family camp, and their annual Frog Fest has expanded to more than 50 friends, half of whom spend the entire weekend. What's next on the couple's master plan?

"A chapel," says Carol. "If we live long enough."

NAN What's Up on 09/25/2015