Gray Gables Farm

Mattie, finds happiness at a home that she helped her husband bring to life but is torn because the happiness she finds there is limited only to the Summer months. She wishes for a life at Gray Gables, only to find her husband, Aaron, showing resistance due to the lifestyle they live in their main home. When Mattie is left with the children, while Aaron is traveling, she decides to move the family out to Gray Gables. This is the place where she feels at home and a place where she is creating memories with her two young children. Will Aaron ever understand what Gray Gables means to Mattie?

Gray Gables Farms A Synopsis Martha Jane Cheesbrough, (Mattie) is married with her first child in Toledo, Ohio in 1889, when her husband approaches her with a piece of property that he thinks would suit their needs very well. He wants to build a Summer Home on the land. Mattie is enthralled with the idea of being able to make decisions with her husband. The ground breaking causes long hours for her husband as she soon finds that they are expecting their second child Life continues to move as Aaron is trying to find a name for himself doing what he loves in real estate, but begins to miss out on the family due to his work hours. When the house becomes more than just an image on paper, Mattie begins finding herself in the heart of the country. It is not until their first summer vacation that she understands where she is intended; only toying with the idea of living full time within the home Upon the next summer months, she truly finds her heart at Gray Gables and is fighting for a way to show her husband that the house is more than just a Summer Home to her. It is causing her turmoil when she must return to the Main house when the seasons begin to change. It is only then that she knows that she can no longer find her happiness at the Main House but struggles with telling her husband that she wishes to live at Gray Gables, as he is so persistent on the house being kept only as a place to visit. Aaron goes on Travels for two month duration and when he returns, he tells Mattie that he is off again on a local trip. It is then that Mattie knows that she has to make a drastic decision, without her Husband. She packs up her children and heads out to the Summer Home, only, it is fall and she plans on celebrating the holidays in the home because that is where her heart lies. Aaron returns to find her at Gray Gables and after spending holiday, he agrees with Mattie and allows the family to stay for the duration of Christmas before they were to return to the Main house. Another baby is conceived, at Gray Gables and ultimately born in the fields that Aaron planted for crops. This is significant because the crops are harvested by Mattie and the children and sold by a stand that is set up on the land. With the birth of the new baby, new happiness and memories are created once again. It is the following Summer that the family is dealt with the tragedy of death, as the servant, Tatias has fallen into the back well and is ultimately dead, causing the Coachman to head home to Tennessee and Mattie to fall into a spell. Mattie remains mute until the fall, where she falls ill with Yellow Fever. Aaron takes her to the place that makes her happiest, Gray Gables, and stays by her side until her passing. She leaves her family with dreams of her; all are different but leave her memories behind.

I have the pleasure of residing in Gray Gables. My personal story starts with an abandoned house that my Husband and I rolled the dice on. It has been three years and although we are still rebuilding, the history that the walls have told have been anything but dull. I graduated from the University of Toledo in 2003 with an Interdisciplinary degree with a minor in English Literature and History. I have loved to write since I was able to and have books and books of poetry that I have created over the vast years. I started this idea on a whim. I was researching my one hundred and twenty two year old house, trying to unlock some of the mystery and unravel the countless stories that have been told to us throughout our possession. I had gathered tons of information about Aaron Cheesbrough and Gray Gables but could not figure out why the house was not showing on any of the census reports until our local Historic Society pointed out that when a home is a “Summer Home” it did not show up on the report. Then, as if a light bulb went off, it all made sense. While the characters are real and the dates are factual, the story is elaborated. I have a lot of coincidences that I feel coincide with this home and I feel that for me, this is where I was supposed to land, much like I feel Mattie felt throughout the novel. I feel relief as I put my pen to paper and started writing. I was able to get a story that I have dreamed about for the past three years.