Blended house works well for brother, sister in Winston-Salem

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. When Carol OKeefes husband, Dennis, died from cancer in 2008, she decided it was time to relocate from the Boston area. She was an office manager with Staples, according to the Winston-Salem Journal.

I asked my (financial) advisor one day if he thought I could retire. He said I was in good shape financially and there wouldnt be any problem, OKeefe said.

Since Dennis and Carol had no children, it seemed like a good idea for Carol to move closer to family. That family was John Farmer, her brother, and Kristin Farmer, her sister-in-law, who have a home and organ-restoration company on six acres on Fraternity Church Road.

The company has been featured for its work restoring the Hook & Hastings Organ at St. Timothys Episcopal Church in Winston Salem. The inaugural recital will be in November.

I thought I would buy some land nearby and build a home over there, said OKeefe, pointing to the east side of the home. But John told her that he would rather walk downstairs to pick her up than roll down the hill in a wheel chair to help her.

The siblings have lot in common including a sense of humor and the same birth date, Jan. 4. John is 64 and Carol is 69.

So Carol lives in the lower level of the Farmer home. She worked with the John, Kristin and the contractor, Lawrence Cline, to re-imagine the area. Stored organ pipes had to be moved to a barn.

Some plumbing had already been installed in the lower level. John had been thinking of inviting his mother, Mildred, who had Alzheimers, to stay with them. But she died in 2001. When Carol moved to North Carolina in 2011, she stayed upstairs with the Farmers while the remodel was designed and executed.

She worked with the plumbing that was already in place. She has a large walk-in shower and no bathtub. I dont take baths, Carol said.

She has an office with built-in bookshelves and a computer set-up with a half curtain covering utility boxes. In one corner of her lower-level home she has curtained off an unfinished area for storage and a work space for her bead-jewelry hobby.

Originally posted here:
Blended house works well for brother, sister in Winston-Salem