Driving along Youngs and Lakebay roads, enjoying the sight of green pastures, it’s easy to forget that much of this was once pine forest and clearing these lands would have been no easy task. Some of these trees have been recycled into the mellow log barn and home of Tim and Claudette Turk. Arrowwood Farm is a wonderful setting for the Turks and their horses, two Dobermans and a barn cat. Their daughter, Danielle, shows her Arabians in hunter-pleasure classes, son Andrew is away at N.C. State University. Two Thoroughbred pleasure horses also enjoy the wide fields and the view from the eight-stall center-aisle barn.
The buildings were built by Lindsay and Christine Talliaferro some years ago. The Talliaferros first had to find trees left from clearing the fields large enough to craft the beams, pillars and rafters used for the barn: barn built, they lived in its upstairs apartment while constructing the handsome two story main house. The barn and its ample upstairs three-bedroom apartment will be open for the tour.
Next door, down a pleasant lane past thriving green pastures, lies the small, white clapboard, cottage-style home of Dr. William Sulik and his wife Melanie Goodnight Sulik.
An inviting front porch with comfortable chairs for humans and comfortable beds for the couple’s two dogs, will lead visitors into an open living room furnished in a casual mix of French country, English and eastern North Carolina primitive antiques.
Everything is mellow and old, except for the sofas. The bedrooms are furnished with an eclectic mix of antiques, all perfectly at home in their farmhouse setting.
A casual and efficient kitchen leads to a screened back porch, sited for perfect summer relaxing with a view of rolling fields with woods behind.
From there a path leads down to the nearby three-stall shed row style barn, housing for three horses who are lucky enough to spend most of their time out on the ample green pastures of Goodnight Acres.
A thoroughbred for her, a quarter horse for him and room for one boarder add up to an easy-going horse country life-style.
Headquarters for the Southern Pines Area Horse farm Tour will be the new Southern Pines Feed and Supply building and the adjoining May Street Market at 1010 North May St. Door prizes will be awarded, including an electric off-road scooter.
A silent art auction is also planned.
Light refreshments will be on sale at most of the farms. The Prancing Horse Feed Bag volunteers will be grilling their super hot dogs at the staging area, and in addition a limited supply of box lunches prepared by Sweet Feed of Southern Pines will be sold at two of the farms.
Advance tickets for the tour are $15; children 12 and under are free.
They will be available Monday, Oct. 4, at Southern Pines Feed and Supply, the Country Bookshop, Cabin Branch Tack Shop and in Pinehurst at King’s Gifts and Collectibles and the Given Book Shop in Olmsted Village as well as at the Quality Hair Salon in Vass, and the Prancing Horse Web site. Tickets can also be purchased the day of the tour at the staging area or at each tour barn for $20.
For more information, call 245-3220 or visit the Web site www.PrancingHorseCenter.org.
