Nora Kennedy in Sept 2015: "Here are some photographs of the Kerr - Crow - Kennedy house taken in 2011. It was extremely moving to be there again. I heard recently from a friend of a friend that one or some of the houses are for sale..."
Dodd/Dodge house above, Kerr/Kennedy house below
From Dorothy Kerr Jessup to Nora Kennedy - Sept 2015
Hello to Nora and all the rest of you: It was moving to me, too to see these photos of our much beloved Ainab house. I haven't been back there since 1951, and have been wondering a lot lately what it must look like now. Your family must have lived in our house at some point after my parents (the Kerrs) sold it to the Crows, if I remember correctly. I'd love to see more photos of it. (For the rest of you, the Kerr house was the one with the arches in one of the photos, and stairs to the roof in another. The other (tall house) that looks like a castle was the Dodd's house. My family lived in it the year our own house was being built, while the Dodds were away on sabbatical. It used to have a big porch on top, with a brown wooden attic above, but the attic-roof blew off one stormy winter. So when the family rebuilt the upper part, Stewart Dodd decided to put his cistern up there instead, so they wouldn't have to pump water. I never heard for sure how well that actually worked, but at least the top didn't blow off again. I gather it's still standing. [end]
1976? Construction underway to expand the Kennedy (former Kerr) house to
enable Mary Helen and Ted to live there all year round, which they did
from 1980 to 1984 (I think).
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteEmail comment by Dorothy Kerr Jessup
ReplyDeleteHello to Nora and all the rest of you: It was moving to me, too to see these
photos of our much beloved Ainab house. I haven't been back there since
1951, and have been wondering a lot lately what it must look like now. Your
family must have lived in our house at some point after my parents (the
Kerrs) sold it to the Crows, if I remember correctly. I'd love to see more
photos of it. (For the rest of you, the Kerr house was the one with the
arches in one of the photos, and stairs to the roof in another. The other
(tall house) that looks like a castle was the Dodd's house. My family lived
in it the year our own house was being built, while the Dodds were away on
sabbatical. It used to have a big porch on top, with a brown wooden attic
above, but the attic-roof blew off one stormy winter. So when the family
rebuilt the upper part, Stewart Dodd decided to put his cistern up there
instead, so they wouldn't have to pump water. I never heard for sure how
well that actually worked, but at least the top didn't blow off again. I
gather it's still standing.
Our house was built when I was four or five, and that would have been 1934
or 35. I have a nice black& white photo of it taken a year or so later,
with our whole family standing in front of it. Also a nice photo of our big
family sleeping shack with Marion standing on a ladder helping to paint it.
I have a few photos of particular people sitting in that area by the tennis
court, but no group photos taken in those early years. I also have some
colored slides of Malcolm and Criffy Crawford playing tennis, and possibly
also some of the Leavitts, taken in 1947. I'll see if I can get those
converted to digital images, so I can share them with you. May take a
while, but my brother Doug and I have been talking about that, so we may
finally get around to it!
I hope you can keep the photos coming -- old ones and new, as they bring
back so many special memories. Thanks again to all of you for participating
in this endeavor! Dorothy Kerr Jessup
Hello, I am currently an 4th architecture student at AUB ( American University of Beirut) and I picked this site for a renovation project, the theme of our current design course. The stories I read on this page are loaded with emotions. I know that the architect of 2 of houses was john hadidian. If there are any drawing or architectural plans of these houses it would be very interesting to see them!!
DeleteHello, I am currently an 4th architecture student at AUB ( American University of Beirut) and I picked this site for a renovation project, the theme of our current design course. The stories I read on this page are loaded with emotions. I know that the architect of 2 of houses was john hadidian. If there are any drawing or architectural plans of these houses it would be very interesting to see them!!
DeleteHello, I am currently an 4th architecture student at AUB ( American University of Beirut) and I picked this site for a renovation project, the theme of our current design course. The stories I read on this page are loaded with emotions. I know that the architect of 2 of houses was john hadidian. If there are any drawing or architectural plans of these houses it would be very interesting to see them!!
DeleteDear Nadine, Thanks for your nice note and interest in these houses. I have sent your message to Dorothy Kerr Jessup as well as several Kerrs and a Kennedy.
ReplyDeleteMay I ask how this house came to be included in an AUB design course? It would be interesting for us to know present interest in the mountain top and who lives there now?
Best, Joshua
I’m not sure if my previous comment posted. I am Sarah Potter, third child of Molly Crawford Potter, and would very much like to see more photos and read more posts about Ainab
ReplyDeleteHello Sarah. Crawford - does that make you a grandchild of great grandchild of Archie Crawford?
Delete