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| Painting of Misty |
John Kollock acquired ‘Misty’ in 1943, when he was 15. Located on his father’s family property, this two room abandoned sharecropper’s cabin became a summer ‘home’ for John and a few of his high school friends. Although John came to Clarkesville as often as he could it wasn’t until much later, that he, wife Nancy and their three daughters moved from the city to the then rambling farm house. Now the house and outbuildings resemble a small English village but the heart of the home is still the two-room cabin. The three-decade long tradition of holiday shows will again take place amid this storybook backdrop.
More About Misty
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| John Kollock kept a scrapbook of his summers at Misty. |
John Kollock visited his father’s family home in Clarkesville for the first time when he was 6 months old and he continued to spend summers here with family and friends. In 1943, when John was 15, he asked his grandmother if he could have the abandoned sharecropper’s cabin ‘down the hill’ as a retreat for him and his friends. They christened the simple cabin “Mystic La Chateau”. Nancy Kollock smiled as she said, “That was just like him, calling an old cabin a chateau.” As the boys grew so did the house. John and his friends began adding modern conveniences like running water and even added a second story to the simple cabin.
Much later John’s own family, several of whom still live on the property, now affectionately renamed “Misty,” moved from the city to live here permanently. The continuing evolution of Misty reflects John and his family’s interests and always with a bit of whimsy. Later, as John and Nancy’s family expanded and guests continued to arrive (now with their offspring) the rambling farm house required further upgrades, as well as, out buildings. Despite the changes even today there are remnants of a simpler time, like cold drafts in winter, summers of open windows and the sound of rain on the metal roofs.
Hosting trips to Europe delighted John’s imagination and Misty began to have a whole new look. “He knew that he wouldn’t always be able to travel,” explained Nancy, “so he said that he wanted to create a little bit of England here.” So Misty’s board and batten barn red exterior was changed to Cotswold half-timber with complementary rock walls, gardens, arch ways and even ‘ruins’.
John was a storyteller from a very young age drawing pictures of his friends and events in his life. He also loved almost everything about the theater, but especially set design. He and his wife, Nancy, created not only a home but a welcoming gathering place full of inspiration and wonder. Thus, Misty through all its set changes remains, at its heart, the old sharecropper’s cabin, Mystic La Chateau.
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| Misty 1948 |
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| Misty 2015 |
