TIMELINE | InSearchofOur Garden

Big mama's house

i bought my great grandmother's home

I bought the home of Eunice Alma Harris Malone, my paternal great grandmother, in Hyde Park, North Memphis, Tennessee. My great grandmother moved from Utica, Mississippi with her parents and siblings and rooted themselves in the historic Hyde Park and Douglass communities.

Big Mama, who I so affectionately called her, was well loved and revered in Hyde Park. She was the community’s kindergarten teacher and an herbalist. She lived a well and long life well into her 90s. My grandfather sold her home in 1988 after her passing.

For some reason, I always thought about this home and kept reliving particular moments and things about the house. The house on Davis Street holds so many memories of the past and promises of the future. It is special!!

After years of abandonment and blight, I bought it and have taken it into my heart to work this labor of love to restore all of the heart and soul my Big Mama put it into this home. I have vowed to carry own her legacy and create a legacy of my own through the foundation of this home.

Because this is indeed a labor of love, I will continue to tell the story of this home and rewrite my own. I will be sharing every step of the process here on the blog. I think it is important to document how the younger generation has been charged to carry the torch of our ancestors. How we need to invest back into our historic communities to keep the stories alive.

REBUILDING BIG MAMA'S HOUSE

Eunice alma jones harris malone

Remembering Mrs. Malone's contributions and dedication to her neighborhood

By anchoring the neighborhood with a legacy home, the dream is to follow the instructions of God, as well as , continue Big Mama's legacy and way of life by building a home and planting a garden.

For the past three years, I have devoted my time and my skillsets to learn all that I can about redemptive real estate development and beautification and restoration of land in underserved communities. What has bloomed from that is The In Search of Our Garden Estate in honor of Eunice Alma Harris Jones Malone.

The house will be restored as a 3 bedroom home with a a large garden that will serve as a life and work space to dedicate the rest of my life and purpose to this estate.