Page 142 - South Mississippi Living - December, 2021

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The home at Bluff Creek Farm in Stone County is picture perfect year round, but is especially inviting for the holidays. Owners John and Alice O'Neal, along with their Australian Shepherd Taz, are as welcoming as the setting. The white farm house sits on a knoll surrounded by 240 acres and 12 miles to the nearest town. The front porch announces that Christmas is being celebrated with green garland around the door and two reindeer serving as sentries.
The home at Bluff Creek Farm in Stone
County is picture perfect year round,
but is especially inviting for the holidays.
Owners John and Alice O'Neal, along
with their Australian Shepherd Taz, are as
welcoming as the setting. The white farm
house sits on a knoll surrounded by 240
acres and 12 miles to the nearest town. The front porch announces that Christmas is being celebrated with green garland around the door and two reindeer serving as sentries.
This farm has been in the O'Neal family more than 100 years
and is still a working farm as evidenced by visible bales of hay and tractors. Bluff Creek was designated a Centennial Farm by the State Department of Agriculture.
All floors, walls and ceilings and some of the window panes in the home's first three rooms are original. The house had sat vacant for 50 years when the O'Neals moved in, which led John to say, “We got into more than we bargained for.” However, he had retired from banking and Alice from nursing so they tackled the ardent job of preservation and renovation in 2012.
From a wide central hall the study is on the right and the living room on the left. Both are encased in beautiful old bead board but with enough white trim and natural light to keep them from being dark. The study has white bookshelves, a cowhide rug and comfortable chairs just right for reading. Christmas touches include pine garland on the windows, a tree and a collection of Santas and miniature trees.
142 | December 2021
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