A traveler riding one evening along a country road near Brasstown, North Carolina, saw the sun rays break through the clouds and fall on the dark-gray gable end of a log cabin with a brick-red stone and clay chimney. It was early summer and the tender green of the Virginia creeper was climbing up the chimney side. The scene was too impressive to go unnoted, so he knocked at the door. The mother, who was holding one of the children in her arms, asked him in while other members of the family were busy getting supper. He said he had just stopped to tell them how much he liked their beautiful chimney. “Thank you for ‘lightin’,” replied the mother, “if it’s worth your comin’ in for, maybe we can keep it that way. They’ve been after me to whitewash it. Well, whitewash is nice, but I don’t think it’s as pretty as the red against the house and with the vines on it.” The traveler thought so too and was glad on his journey the next year to note that no “improvements” had been made.
—Handicrafts of the Southern Highlands written by Allen H. Eaton
I love the creativity and beauty that can be seen in everyday things like chimneys. Over the years I’ve thought often about the creative streak that can be found throughout the utilitarian things made by folks in Appalachia. From quilts to keep you warm to chairs to take a rest in there is much beauty to be found.
Here’s a couple of posts with examples.
- Creativity in Appalachia
- Depression Era Creativity
- Craftmanship And Cultivation Of Beauty – Lingering Legacies Of Early Mountaineers
Today’s Thankful November giveaway is used copy of Handicrafts of the Southern Highlands written by Allen H. Eaton. To be entered in the giveaway leave a comment on this post. Giveaway ends November 14, 2026.
Tipper
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I love old chimneys and our beautiful mountain crafts. Thanks for the memories.
Of chimneys I know nothing! But, ask me about a chimley or a chimbley and I might tell you a thing or two!
When the alarm sounded this AM I uncovered and decided it was too cold for these old bones. I pulled the covers back over me to enjoy the warmth a few minutes. My wife pulled them off me almost two hours later to se if I was still alive. A warm fire would have been welcome. Also I stood and watched birds at the feeders and water and marveled at the colors I hadn’t seen for a long time. Cataracts dim colors slowly and we don’t realize what we’re missing. Just getting one out last week helped me see red and blue so much brighter today. I’m looking forward to getting the other one out next month.
With snow and freezing temps in the weekend weather forecast, I hope Matt got your chimney cleaned! My 100-year-old chimney still works great with the Buck Stove insert wedged inside the fireplace opening and a stainless steel liner for added safety. The stones are a whitish color, matching the stones used on the house foundation, walls, and steps leading to the basement. I have to have my house pressure washed annually due to the Angel’s Share (black mold) of bourbon that settles on homes, trees, and everything that’s outside. I can almost reach out and touch the Four Roses warehouses that cause the ugly sight. I never let the guys who clean my house touch the chimney with their high-pressure hose. I’ve heard of a product called Wet & Forget that might work for cleaning the stones.
I can understand being so moved by beauty you go right up to someone’s door to tell them. Loved this story. Every time I visit my parents, I pass an old farm house with a truly stunning and very large flower garden. You can tell it’s lovingly cared for and it brings me joy every time I pass the place on the way to my parents. I have often thought of stopping to say how beautiful it is, but decided instead to write a letter. I noted the fire number the last time I passed and wrote a letter addressed to the “Master Gardener,” 😉 sharing how much joy the beautiful garden brings me and assuredly many others. Yesterday I received the most wonderful response from a woman named Verna. She is 82 and has been a widow 12.5 years. She said she was born in the house in 1944 and has lived there her whole life. She promised her mother on her deathbed in 1993 that she would keep the placed fixed up and would try to make the outside beautiful and she said her mother said, “Good.” And she has surely kept that promise to her mother. I was so touched by her two page letter. She invited us to visit and I hope to keep in touch. She knew who my mother was (not surprising in a small community) and shared a lot about her life. She was such a dear to write me like that! I wrote her back last night and hope to meet her soon. I pray that all of you Acorns have a most wonderful day!
It’s always the small, seemingly ordinary things that command our attention. The things that most people would pass by will bring back memories of times past and of people long gone to others. Sometimes it can be a crisp morning coupled with a hint of wood smoke, coffee “perkin”, (as my folks would say) and biscuits in the oven to bring back so many wonderful thoughts. Thanks for the reminder!
Thank you for placing that beautiful scene in my mind! We don’t live in Appalachia anymore, God always has a plan, and we severely miss it, but appreciate it so much the more these days.
Good morning, Tipper and acorns! I would love to see some of these beautiful chimney still standing erect after the house is long gone. I can only imagine how beautiful they would be. I love anything creative, quilting, sewing, knitting from patterns, but to take a little bit of something and turn it into something beautiful, I’m definitely lacking that creative skill. I love the stories that Tipper gives us each day but look forward to reading each other’s comments just as much! Have a great day everyone!
Good Morning, Would love the book.
Amazing the beauty you can see when you slow down and look for it. Thanks for sharing.
Those old chimneys were made to stand the test of time. I have read that, among reasons to leave them standing after the house was dismantled, some people believed it was bad luck to tear them down. The superstition was that the chimney was the heart of the home and should not be disturbed. I think of this when I see an old chimney standing alone, often with yellow daffodils blooming around.
I, too, just love the old chimneys especially the ones made out or real stone. Seeing old chimneys still standing where a house once stood takes me back to wondering about the family that once called that place home. Sure wish chimneys could talk! Am sure each chimneys holds a story of a family from so many years ago. Especially love in the spring when daffodils start sprouting around the chimneys! Just love the craftsmanship in each one!
A wonderful example of the beauty to be found in simple, everyday things.
This story stirred up such an image that it also brought along the scent of a wood fire. That smell is so comforting. I’ve mentioned that my neighbor cuts/sells firewood for his side hustle and I’m often privy to that scent as he burns his scrap pile. What I love most about this story is that he was so moved by the beauty of what his eyes were taking in, that he went right up to the door and told these folks! Nowadays things like that are so rare…nearly unheard of. Thank you, Tipper, for sharing another heartwarming story. I soooo enjoyed Steve’s appearance on the live last night. I also agree that Kim would be a fabulous guest!!
I also love old chimneys. I miss my wood burning one. Although I am fortunate to have gas logs nothing in the world smells as good to me as wood burning. If I ever see a chimney standing alone, I always wonder about who lived there all those years ago.
You are exactly right. Observing every day things can bring you a lot of joy for sure.
A chimney in the woods is like a magnet drawing me in for a look around. The most remarkable one I ever saw had been artfully constructed with three fireplaces. It made me wonder if a three-room house once stood there. Maybe it had a fourth that was unheated. If you prowl around on homesites, watch out for open wells and privy pits. I looked for bottles and coin caches. I never found a coin jar but I did find two 9 mm pistols in the attic of a tenant house that had long been deserted.
Gene, anytime I was either bird or rabbit hunting around an old homesite I was always “on the lookout” for old wells, I never thought about privy pits. Money was said to be buried by the original owner on my property, 4 generations of my family have never found it. With my luck, it would probably be Confederate money. I never go to the Twin Chimneys Landfill in Greenville County without looking and thinking of the home built around the two standing chimneys. When I was very young I was in the home many times of the Knight family that lived there. Mr Knight was my Grandaddy Kirby’s best friend. Coincidence, I don’t know. Both men died the same day, their funerals in same church one hour apart and buried head to toe in the same cemetery.
There is such beauty in ordinary things butwe have to take a moment…stop…and look at them. God is a great artist!
I love the handicrafts in southern Appalachia. Sounds like a great book.
Thankful for a reminder to see the beauty that surrounds us. May we all slow down and enjoy God’s many gifts.
Beauty in everyday things is such a blessing. Many times you see old things and it sparks a memory of someone now gone. That is so wonderful.
I love taking walks through the many trails in the mountains and coming upon the rock foundations and single chimneys standing as reminders of the former residents who lived there. I would sit sometimes and wonder about the lives of those who use to live there. Many years ago (in the late 60s and early 70s ) I use to hunt in the Hill area of NH. The town had been relocated because of a dam being built. Where I hunted there were many empty stone foundations of a village that had been deserted in the middle 1800s. Each chimney and stone foundation tells a story that is hidden in time. Wonderful post.
My husband built our cabin forty years ago; and right after that, the chimney was built by a man who we consider a great Appalachian artist. He laid blocks and rocks for a living. I am not sure he realized how creative and artistic he was. My husband and I went with him to several fields, gathered the rocks, and hauled them home in his big truck. It took many trips to find all the rocks needed. Hubby helped by mixing all the “mud” and helping haul it up the scaffold, along with each rock, as the “artist” chiseled and created the beautiful design. We found a rock that looked a teardrop and he put it in the middle for us. Hopefully, our cabin and the chimney will be around for another forty years or more…I think it will.
THIS POSTS ABOUT OLD CHIMNEYS REMINDS ME THE LAST TIME I WAS UP IN THE MOUNTAINS OF APPALACHIA AND THE MANY CHIMNEYS THAT SAT ALONE IN THE FIELDS. I ALLWAYS WONDER ABOUT THE FAMILIES THAT LIVED THERE BUT, AM ALSO REMINDED THAT LIFE IS SHORT WE ARE HERE TODAY GONE TOMORROW.
So many of the things you are mentioning this month has taken me back to my childhood. That story made me think about when we visit our families old home place. All that stands today is the chimney made of stone. Even though nature has taken over that chimney still stands tall of a reminder of what used to be.
Vines traveling up well worn structures have always been something to appreciate . I was once driving through the historic Missouri River town of Weston when an old leaning wood outbuilding caught my eye. The door was barely hanging on and stood open. A vine of some sort – a weed to most minds – had covered it with glossy leaves. Just enough for the planks to still show through. A wonderful picture to carry as a memory.
Hmmm gray and red and green. Doesn’t sound pretty by itself but the picture in my mind from your description does. Virginia creeper, especially in the fall, can make near about anything look pretty. I’ve taken quite a few pictures of it over the years. I had a hickory die that had Virginia creeper on it. It was in a safe place and I just let it stand and weather gray.
The Episcopal church in Edgefield, SC, was once covered over in Virginia creeper. There was a striking photo of it in a SC history we were studying as kids in Oconee County. In later life our family moved to Edgefield. By then the creeper had been removed. I never forgot that photo, and mentioned it to a local, commenting on the church’s “ivy” cladding of an earlier time. That’s when I learned it was creeper.
I miss having a fireplace in my home. I love sights and smells of smoke coming from the chimney.
Would love that book
Sweet story! I love a real chimney, unlike the squared wood ones you see today in more modern homes .
The Fall foliage in your holler is amazing as usual. Takes me back to happier times when I lived in the middle of the woods!
If you travel up the beautiful Shenandoah Valley you’ll see many chimneys. Some of these were from the houses from the Civil War days burnt down by General Sherman. Later, people built houses on the same properties leaving the old chimneys in place. Some used the old chimneys when they rebuilt. In the spring, daffodils bloom where old homesteads were. I’ve often wondered who might have lived there. A farmer, perhaps, and his family trying to make a living out of the red earth with cows and horses in the pasture, and children running around.
Those old chimneys were built to work right and to last. When seeing an old chimney still standing, I try to get close and see how it’s made. It’s amazing the workmanship that went into them. After all the builder was using everyday materials to build it. Then I imagine the house and the family that filled it and what their lives were like.
And yes, I would enjoy a copy of Handicrafts of the Southern Highlands.
I believe we take so much of our Appalachian beauty for granted. But if you travel away then return, it’s amazing how beautiful things look!
The old cabins that were built when people were settling this land are something to behold. The extremely hard work of bringing the trees down, getting the trees shaped so that they can be used using the primitive, by today’s standard, tools, lifting them into place, then filling in the cavities with the chinking to seal up the crack and crevices to keep out wind and critters is amazing. There is beauty and creativity in each step of the process for all of the things that were made to be used by our people.
I love the Thankful November time! Every morning I am excited to see what will be given away, thankful for you all!
I forgot to say, our daddy’s grandparents and great grandparents came to settle in a place called Edward’s mountain in KY. The chimney is still there of the old place and family still own the land. It’s amazing that after more than a hundred and fifty years the chimney still stands. It looks similar to one that you shared in the links above. Beautiful!
The beauty of a chimney. life is beautiful.
In many of our travels and hikes we often see chimney remains of cottages long gone. I guess they all have a story.
Hi Tipper and Acorns. What a blessed morning. I’m always thankful when I get to spend a few here with my Acorn family. Love y’all.
during my life I have found some old places where there was nothing left but the chimney, made me wonder, about what used to be there, who used to be there, how many, were they Christians? I used to work for Joe Arrendale installing gutters on houses, and occasionally we would go to his brothers to a big metal brake, with some copper, and we would make a chimney Cap, old houses and new houses, I know what you mean about chimneys, God bless you and have a great day
I love those things too. So much beauty in the simplest things. It took great talent and know how to do some of those things. The best way to learn was to witness it and in my opinion still is today. That’s why I love your channel. You tell us and most of the time you teach us. We’re never too old to learn. Thank you!
My family is from and still lives in the mountains southeast of Berea KY. We call it Brear. That little town showcases the craftsmanship of the old ways. The Kentucky Artisan Center is also there and a wonderful place to visit. It’s right off I75 and easily accessible. Berea just had their seed swap this past weekend we had hoped to attend, but I’ve had a flu type bug since last Thursday and we couldn’t go. If y’all get the chance to ever stop through there it’s worth the look to see all the talent.
God bless y’all! May you find many blessings in your day! God is good!
Debbie, My daddy had family in Berea and I have many cousins who still live there. I’ve been there many times and it is a beautiful place. My cousins also live in Pike and Letcher counties. I was born in Letcher county. I was raised in northeastern Ohio and now live in south central Virginia.
This post paints a beautiful photo for the mind! thanks again for wonderful visions.
I love a wood shingles roof, they are so beautiful. Of course, I have seen more pictures than the in person roof.
I love old chimneys as well…and wood fires. Quilts and crocheted blankets and beautiful AND keep us warm at night.
Thank you for the opportunity to get a copy of the book about handicrafts of the Highlands.
I love coming across an old fireplace standing tall marking the place where a home once stood. They are bittersweet to imagine the home that surrounded them and the family that was warmed by them and now to know that season is gone. I think they make beautiful subjects for a picture. Thanks, Tipper!❤️🙏
I have been blessed to have the ability to build and do many things for myself throughout my lifetime. I have always been impressed by the craftsmanship of the older generations that had nothing but old non electric hand tools to work with. Nowadays we have tools that make it easier and faster but the quality of the work done with them is no better. My nephew has an old stone chimney and hearth in the yard of his modern home he and his wife will decorate for Christmas each year. I can remember the old home that went with this chimney and wonder how the people found that many rocks and were able to fit them together to build this using the old tools they had to work with.