John Hendricks, propreiter and fellow clockmaker has it all. We made an appointment on a Saturday for a tour. John was a gracious host and made us feel right at home. He started telling us about the history of the house. It is from 1865 and is on the National Register as one of the only "Gingerbread" houses left in the country. He purchased the home in 2007 in disrepair and had pictures showing its condition when he bought it. It had been empty for many years and was in very rough shape and his family thought he was crazy for buying it. But John could see the potential and could imagine it restored back to its original glory.
As you come into the entrance way there are the original double doors made of pine and the wood grain is just beautiful in them. Inside it has a spiral staircase that goes up to the second floor. The staircase is supported by one pine log that is stronger than steel. There are rooms dedicated to different types of antique clocks. John has German clocks, American clocks, and English clocks. He has one grandfather clock he bought at auction that was once owned by Ronnie Milsap. John is more than happy to talk about the clocks and show you the inside workings. Part of the tour, you walk through a long room full of customer's clocks waiting to be repaired, (which used to be the kitchen in the house) to the repair shop. There you can see clocks in all stages of dismantling. You are also surrounded by clocks hanging on the walls being tested with their pendulums swinging. He has two clockmaker's benches filled with the tools needed to restore the clocks.
There was only two of us on the tour on Saturday and we spent about 3 and half hours there. I enjoyed it thoroughly and was able to talk '"shop" with John too.Where else can you go and get a historical house, antique clocks, repair shop and clockmaker. I was in heaven!
