I bought Le Farm in May 2012 from a man that has never lived in this beautiful spot but enjoyed this wonderful property, nonetheless. He was an ambitious, retired engineer that exercised his green thumb and his ability to design and layout irrigation lines and electrical boxes reaching every corner of its 4.15 acres. It certainly has made my job much easier, having the hard stuff already done, allowing me the freedom to pick the fruits of his labors from the hundreds of blueberry and blackberry bushes he planted. But his mark is small compared to the extensive family history attached to Le Farm and the wonderful legacy, I recently discovered, about the special woman that paved my way here.
Mrs. Edith Parrott Savely was born on this farm. Her father, T.H. Parrott, built my home for himself and his fiance, Mary Frances Jones in 1865. They raised their family here; five daughters and one son, who died in infancy. After the parents passed away, three of the daughters lived here until their deaths. With all this living and dying one might think that would present an element of "creepiness" to this house. That could not be further from the truth. One only feels the warmth of "home" and complete and utter serenity here. As Gaston Bachelard writes, "...the house protects the dreamer, the house allows one to dream in peace".
This is that house.
Mrs. Savely, as it turns out, was a champion for farm women. She was the first South Carolina Home Demonstration Agent, teaching other agents to give home demonstrations to farm women and girls. Their mission was to disseminate educational information on agriculture and home economics to rural women and girls who did not attend college. I was left with some pictures of Edith Savely and she always posed in front of the house with a peaceful, appreciative look on her face.
I used to wonder what the Parrott patriarch would have thought about a single woman, originally from NewYork state, now owning his farm that held generations of his South Carolinian Parrotts. Having raised an enthusiastic daughter like Edith, who ended up running this farm by herself after her own husband passed away, I think Mr. T. H. Parrott would be pleased to see me here and the progress I have made in a short time. This is a place that was meant for a woman farmer.
I am that farmer.
