Old South In The 21 Century

By Lee Epting

Photos provided by Whiskey Tango Studios

So I’m sitting in my kitchen here on The Hill on a cold January afternoon. It is actually the first really cold day of the year but already the apple tree is in full bloom, the daffodils are sprinkled throughout the woods and the camellia blossoms are weighing their limbs down to the ground. I’ve built a great big fire in the kitchen. I had planned to make a pot of tea and continue reading the most enlightening book I’ve opened in a long time – “The South and the Southerner ” written by Ralph McGill, a reporter and editor of the Atlanta Constitution back in the first half of the 20th century. While it was written in 1959, it is amazingly relevant to our lives today and if you can get ahold of it, I recommend you do so. If you are a Southerner I think you will better understand yourself and if we learn a bit of what he is trying to teach us we shall all become better Southerners – better folks in this new century. With understanding and accepting the best and worst of ourselves and where we came from, we will be better all the way around.

But let me get back to the point of all of this rambling in the first place. You see, I was looking at my calendar and I realized that I owed Southern Distinction an article on travel and it is due tomorrow, Martin Luther King’s Day, and as I begin to contemplate my obligation, panic set in. Where would I want to travel, I began to think? Better yet, where would I want to recommend that you, the reader, travel? Suddenly it came to me – kitchens, fires, food, home and being Southern. Sitting right here is the destination that I would want to offer any traveler looking for excitement, history, beauty, warmth, nature, challenges, education, enlightenment and love. Yes, it is right here in the South, in Athens, Georgia and especially right here on The Hill.

I’ve been coming here or living here for almost 75 years because part of The Hill was my grandparents’ farm where they had moved after losing everything during the Depression. About 40 years ago I purchased the farm and the surrounding land and began moving historic homes that were in danger of being lost to neglect or the wrecking ball and so The Hill became sort-of an orphanage for endangered homes.

In addition to the farm, we purchased more land that had been deeded to Mr. Richardson, a former slave of Mr. Ferdinand Phynizy, after the Civil War. The Richardson family started a new life of freedom there. The Rock House was built c. 1920 by Mr. Richardson’s grandson. It is really a fairytale home that is often used as the honeymoon cottage after many of the weddings.

We added yet another section that was owned by the father of Mr. John Gillian who built the world’s only double-barreled canyon which sits right downtown on the courthouse lawn. The Hodson-Lumpkin House, possibly Athens’ oldest original house ca. 1801 – and there is the only Clarke-County dot trot Log House ca.1840. Next we moved a family home place – The Donald House – ca. 1790, from Donalds, S.C. and this has become the hub of The Hill. The home is filled with Southern period antiques, each that have a story to tell, or if not, I’ll be glad to make one up for you on your visit.

Beside the main house is the ca. 1850 Jefferson House which offers many of the same amenities. Here we have a large dining room that seats approximately fifty guests and five bedrooms. Let’s not forget the smallest house moved to The Hill – a three hole “necessary” ca. 1842 from the plantation that General Sherman encamped after leaving Atlanta in 1865. While we can say for sure that he did not sleep on The Hill, we can assume with reasonable authority that he “shat” in this little house. (you could at least say sat there).

In these homes- and I don’t just say houses- for each was a home filled with children, parents and grandparents cooking, eating and just living life – you can now enjoy the best of what happened between these walls with all the modern conveniences of the 21st century without having to go to the barn and milk the cow or work the fields plowing a mule or even go out to the “necessary”. No matter if you are having a wedding, or a private dinner, a corporate retreat or just a weekend in Athens for a ballgame to a graduation ceremony, The Hill offers you, our guest, a southern experience that is real. Not fabricated or slicked up but real, from the dirt roads with no streetlights, to chickens laying eggs and Mr. Rooster for an alarm clock.

The Hill is all about being Southern in the best sense of the word. Food, Friends, Family, and above all Fun. Let’s not forget Farming, Fires and Freedom just to enjoy all that is around you in the Fantastic place called Athens. On The Hill you will find the Southerner that Mr. McGill aspired all of us to be. One who embraces a world where ALL of us can share the best of what the South has to offer of food, drink and accommodations presented with a sincere desire of developing a friendship that leaves a warm spot in your heart from your experience here on The Hill in Athens.

We on The Hill and in Athens are proud to be Southerners sharing openly with ALL folks that love and care about ALL peoples, ALL lands and ALL beings. Best, Lee

Epting Events is a family business inspired by the distinct personality of the Southeast, a region where we have four decades of event design experience. Founder Lee Epting and sons have stitched together a patchwork of friendly, professional, and creative individuals. We are a team of party goers and party throwers who get excited when you ask us to design a custom cocktail, make your grandmother’s bread pudding, or create a menu using all locally sourced ingredients. Headshot provided by Eastcreek Photography.