One Man's Folly

We are a little late to the game with One Man's Folly. Most everyone had it pre-ordered.  The book is enhanced by the clever writing of Julia Reed.  There seems to be nothing on earth that Reed can't make more interesting.  One can only imagine what she does with with an engaging subject.  Well, imagination is not needed when Reed tells the story of Furlow Gatewood.

Bunny Williams, who wrote the introduction, knows Gatewood well, as he has been a business partner of  her husband.  It was Williams who introduced Reed to Gatewood and the rest, as they say, is history.

Born in a small town in Georgia, Gatewood began colleting things as a child.  WWII took the boy off the farm, but he returned home to Americus and began working on an old house on his property.  He left Americus to go to New York where the keen eye he had been developing since childhood served him well.  He opened an antiques shop that became the "go to" destination for decorators and design professionals. 

You can take the boy out of Americus, but you can't take Americus out of the boy.  Travel the world he did, but Gatewood always came back to Americus.  One building would be decorated, another rebuilt, and still another moved onto the property.  Each building has been designed and filled and refilled Gatewood.

The book is a like taking a deep plunge into the mind of a designer.