-Farm News photo by Darcy Dougherty Maulsby
This vibrant Lone Star bed quilt, which Sally Brown made in the winter of 2010, graces the bed in the master bedroom.

CHURDAN — From the outside, Paul and Sally Brown’s farmhouse between Churdan and Lanesboro looks like a modern, ranch-style home — and it is. Built in 1997, the spacious home also includes many unique features that honor the previous house that used to stand on this farm.

“The door to our bedroom used to be the front door on the old house,” said Paul Brown, who noted that door still has a few BB holes in it, which add a little extra character.

When Paul Brown’s parents, Allan and Della Brown, purchased this Cedar Township farm in 1942, the Greene County property offered room for their growing family (which eventually included 12 children). The farmhouse they moved into was built by Thomas Gaffney. It included many state-of-the-art features when it was built in the early 1900s.

“The Gaffneys had a battery system in the front room of the basement in that house to provide electricity,” Paul Brown said. “The house also had a dumbwaiter in the corner of the kitchen.”

In addition, that house included closets in the bedrooms (an unusual feature for the time), various porches and elegant wooden doors with beveled glass. It also featured beautiful woodwork and fancy pillars. The Browns were able to salvage and repurpose some of this when they built their new home in the 1990s.

-Farm News photo by Darcy Dougherty Maulsby
This pheasant painting, which is displayed near the basement stairs in Paul and Sally Brown's home, was originally painted on the wall in the living room of the previous farmhouse. Frank Grady was the artist who created the pheasant image, along with old pictures in the old farmhouse. “Grady was an itinerant painter who painted for room and board as he traveled across the country during the Great Depression,” Paul Brown noted.

“I had always wanted to live in a brick home,” said Sally Brown, who made picture frames from some of the woodwork from the old house.

The Browns hired Mike Schultes Construction from Carroll to build their four-bedroom, four-bath farmhouse. The couple lived in their camper while their new home was under construction.

“Our family helped with the concrete and shingles,” said Paul Brown, who noted that he and Sally moved into their new house in early November 1997.

One of the more unique features the couple incorporated into their new home is showcased near the staircase to the finished basement. The rustic, painted image shows a male and female pheasant in the countryside.

“That pheasant painting was originally painted on the wall in the living room of the old house, above the window seat facing the lane,” Paul Brown said.

-Farm News photo by Darcy Dougherty Maulsby
The Browns repurposed a number of items from the previous farmhouse on their farm, including this elegant door, which connects to the master bedroom.

Frank Grady was the artist who created the pheasant image, as well as a lake scene in the living room of the old farmhouse. He also painted two images in the home’s sun porch and painted angels with the 10 Commandments by the staircase in the old farmhouse.

“Grady was an itinerant painter who painted for room and board as he traveled across the country during the Great Depression,” Paul Brown said.

Through the years, the Brown family preserved Grady’s artwork on the walls when they repainted various rooms in the old house. While they couldn’t save all the artwork when the old house was demolished, they did preserve the pheasant picture.

The Brown’s home also includes other ties to the past, including a Singer treadle sewing machine that Paul’s mother purchased in 1927. It fits well with all the quilts that Sally Brown has made through the years and displays around the farmhouse.

“Quilting is one of my favorite hobbies,” she said. “I enjoy working with my hands, trying different techniques and using different kinds of tools.”

-Farm News photo by Darcy Dougherty Maulsby
Sally and Paul Brown enjoy welcoming family and friends to their spacious farmhouse, which offers plenty of room to display many of the quilts Sally has created.

She has plenty of workspace in the basement, which includes her sewing room. She cuts and assembles fabric blocks to create traditional bed quilts; smaller, decorative quilts; purses, pincushions, Christmas ornaments and more. A vibrant Lone Star bed quilt, which Brown made in the winter of 2010, graces the couple’s bed in the master bedroom.

Throughout the year, the Brown’s farmhouse provides a comfortable place for family and friends to gather. “There are a lot of good memories here,” Paul Brown said.

-Farm News photo by Darcy Dougherty Maulsby
Paul and Sally Brown built their Greene County farmhouse between Churdan and Lanesboro in 1997.