When you visit with Barbara and Charlie Brundage you can always expect to have a good time. They are wonderful hosts and make you feel at home immediately. I have known this couple for many years as we are all members of Clayton Baptist Church.

Charlie is a deacon, serving on the counting committee every Monday morning and as an usher. Barbara attends the Fidelis Sunday School Class in which she takes an active part, is in the Edith Burney Circle with Women in Missions, is active with the Homesmakers here in Rabun County, and is director of the Sunday School classes which meet on the third floor. She greets them, checks on absentees and makes them feel at home.

Their cute little dog greeted us and is a friendly little fellow. He is a mixed stray animal who adopted them 13 years ago. He would wait for them to come to the lake on weekends, housing himself in their woodpile as though he knew they would welcome him to the family. His name is Burton – “Burt” for short.

Charlie is a man who knew exactly what he wanted and went after his dream. At age 12, he spent two weeks at the YMCA Camp of Atlanta on Lake Rabun. He saved his money and stayed for four weeks the next year! He decided right then and there that he wanted to live on the lake in our lovely mountains.

Following military service in the Air Force in 1952 he returned to Rabun County to search for a level lot because he had no money to rent a grader. He arrived in a boat with a five-horsepower motor with the three friends who accompanied him on this venture. 

Mr. Eisenhart with Georgia Power helped the boys in accomplishing their task finding a available spot they could use.

Now to go back for a moment, Charlie was born and raised in Atlanta. Barbara was born in Mobile, AL, but spent her growing up years in Atlanta also. He and Barbara married in July of 1953 and spent their honeymoon on Lake Burton. Where else? By that time Charlie had built a little cabin by working every possible weekend. He cut down pine trees on the property and the size of the cabin was determined by the size of the lumber he harvested. Everything was brought in by boat and hand-sawn.

When Charlie went to work for General Electric, he signed his first paycheck  over to Georgia Power to lease the property for $25. He was earning $.75 cents an hour and bought out his friends in order to be sole owner of the property. The marriage produced two daughters and one son. They now have eight grandchildren.

Charlie has written a book describing what he accomplished each year on improving the property. I wish we had room to share how the Brundages ended up with their lovely two-story Tudor-style home known as “Rainbow’s Inn.”

Now in all of this, much credit goes out to Barbara as she brought the children, food, diapers, and everything else a family of five might need, to their rustic home all by boat. The lot had no electricity at this time. This was no easy feat. Yes, behind a good man stands a good woman. Take a look at the first cabin Charlie built and the house they now enjoy.

Along the way in 1953, Charlie used sand from the creeks entering Lake Burton to mix with cement for the building foundation. Cement was hauled from Atlanta. Flashlights and kerosene lanterns provided light. Electricity wasn’t brought in until November 1956. Yea! He engineered a dam at the creek to channel water to the house for drinking, laundry and bathing. To enable them to have their fresh, hot meals, Charlie salvaged a Hotpoint refrigerator with a small freezer and a Norge electric stove. This was living!

By the end of 1959 Charlie installed a small furnace and “a rail system” to allow the boat to be pulled into the boathouse. He harvested insulation from old Hotpoint water heaters and freezers, dried it and installed it in the cabin walls to make living more comfortable. Almost everything was handmade and some wood was salvaged from an old barn in Atlanta. Some wood was salvaged from bracing in rail cars to provide a “finished” look. Barbara had her eye on some stained glass windows from an old house in Grant Park. Her step-father showed up on their doorstep one day and proudly presented them to Barbara. They now adorn their house. All this time, Charlie’s father would say, “that house will never stand,” but stand it does!

This is the house that Charlie built – what ingenuity. All of this was accomplished mostly without the benefit of power tools, electricity or new materials. What an accomplishment!!!

There is a list of no less than 74 family, friends and neighbors who helped Charlie accomplish his dream. This couple is to be admired for all of their hard work and for following the dream of a young boy of 12.

We enjoyed a delicious lunch out on their deck, which included, along with the view, the “Autumn Salad” that Barbara is sharing with us. Charlie offered to take us for a boat ride around the lake and I asked for a rain-check to enjoy on a warmer day. Rest assured, I will follow through. “Just name the day,” they said.

Thank you, Barbara and Charlie, for a most enjoyable visit in the house that Charlie built.
 

by Jean Emhart