Artist: Ken Abbott

Project: Useful Work

Description: In 2004, Ken Abbott chaperoned his daughter’s preschool class on a field trip to Hickory Nut Gap Farm in Fairview, North Carolina, in the Blue Ridge Mountains. Astonished by the beauty of the house and the site, and particularly the old inn, which, he writes, “had an intactness and continuity with its past that was rare and notable,” over the next five years, Abbott returned to the farm to photograph it and learn more about its history. Jim and Elizabeth McClure established the farm in 1918, and their descendants operate it today.

“Everybody wants beauty,” Elizabeth wrote in a letter to Jim prior to their marriage. “It seems always to quicken your sense of being alive and that means happiness and peace and a blessed conviction that you are really necessary in the scheme of things.”

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  The Mural Room, with paintings by Elizabeth McClure that illustrate the history of Sherrill’s Inn. November 2005.

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  Grace McAbee worked for Annie Ager for many years, caring for the house and cooking. September 2006.

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  Clarence McAbee carries eggs to the house for washing. The McAbees live just down the road in a cabin built in the early 1900s. March 2006.

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  Annie Ager, Jim and Elizabeth McClure’s granddaughter, sits at the kitchen table in front of a wall of artwork and photos. January 2005.

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  The silver pitcher on the kitchen counter is from Elizabeth McClure’s wedding silver, and is used daily to serve water from the spring at mealtime. July 2006.

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  Through the screen door at the top of the double stairway on the porch is the bedroom at the east end of the house. June 2007.

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  An upstairs bedroom contains one of Elizabeth McClure’s paintings. June 2007.

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  Ella “El” Earley, who worked for Annie and was a beloved figure in Fairview, enters the springhouse. September 2005.

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  Annie Louise and Isaiah Perkinson’s daughter, Ivy, age four, sits on the porch of their cabin on the property. June 2006.

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  The Big House at Hickory Nut Gap Farm, formerly Sherrill’s Inn, Fairview, North Carolina, is listed in the National Register of Historic Places. September 2005.

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  White picket fencing with fancy wood finials contrasts with the classic Appalachian barn and a view of the Swannanoa Mountains behind. The barn, built in the early 1900s, collapsed in 2008. May 2005.

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  View from the courtyard behind the house of Little Pisgah Mountain, to the right. September 2005.

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  A cross-stitch pillow maps farm commodities in North Carolina. March 2009.

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  A farm intern harvesting carrots at Flying Cloud Farm. July 2008.

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  Amy Ager and a farm hand on a 4-wheeler at Hickory Nut Gap Farm. Amy and Jamie Ager started the farm’s natural meats business in 2003. June 2006.

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  A goose bathes in a puddle at Flying Cloud Farm, part of the family farm, just down the road from the Big House. September 2009.

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  Annie Louise Perkinson binds sunflowers for the farm’s market. September 2008.

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  A farm truck loaded with flowers for the market. Flying Cloud Farm has one of the largest CSAs in the area. September 2008.

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  The pasture and Big House in a January snowstorm. January 2007.

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  One of Sherrill’s Inn’s many fireplaces. Murphy, a family dog, made his bed in the corner under the floor lamp. December 2004.

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  The window above the kitchen sink at the Big House looks out on a large vegetable garden. December 2004.

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  The library occupies the ground floor of the oldest part of the house, a two story log cabin built by John and Nancy Ashworth in the 1800s. January 2005.

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  The old kitchen, now the “egg room,” had been part of the original structure of the house, built in the early 1800s. March 2009.

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  Grace and Clarence McAbee work in the egg room. December 2004.

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  The porch of the Big House provides a celebrated view of the Swannanoa Mountains. November 2004.

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Useful Work: Photographs of Hickory Nut Gap Farm is available through Abbott’s website.

Eyes on the South is curated by Jeff Rich. The weekly series features selections of current work from Southern artists, or artists whose photography concerns the South. To submit your work to the series, email Jeff at oa.eyesonthesouth@gmail.com.