Macon Magazine

"HERE'S THE THING ABOUT LIVING IN A HISTORIC HOUSE, YOU HAVE TO REALIZE ON SOME LEVEL THAT IT BELONGS NOT JUST TO YOU BUT TO THE ENTIRE COMMUNITY. YOU ARE ONLY TAKING CARE OF IT FOR A PERIOD OF TIME BEFORE IT PASSES ON TO SOMEONE ELSE." - BRIDGET WRIGHT as "e Crisco House," is up for sale more than a century after Massee Sr. bought it. Bridget and Michael Wright met as students at Mercer University's School of Medicine and are architectural healers. With necessary renovations of the home beginning in the early 2000s by the previous owner, the 13 apartments that were homes for many over seven decades were removed and the family- style floorplan now mirrors the original. Once a home with collapsed ceilings, a new roof radiates in what can also rightfully be considered e Wright House. e Wrights purchased the home in 2013 and the facelift included erasing extensive water damage, completing bathroom and kitchen renovations, as well as tiling and stabilizing the first floor. "Of course, we also did major renovations to the front and back yards, fully restored the small house in the backyard and most recently added a speakeasy bar in the basement in homage to Michael's family's bar back in Donegal, Ireland – the McBrearty's Bridge End Bar," Bridget Wright said. is wasn't their first rodeo, either. e Wrights originally purchased the Pilot House, 244 College St., when they returned to Macon after their residency and fellowship, so they had experience with remarkable renovations. e Wrights never have taken the legacy and the importance of historic homes for granted. "Here's the thing about living in a historic house, you have to realize on some level that it belongs not just to you but to the entire community. You are only taking care of it for a period of time before it passes on to someone else," she said. "We are proud to have returned this house to its splendor and most proud that it will continue to be an elegant fixture on College Street hopefully for decades – if not centuries – to come." e Wrights also installed all of the balustrades out of materials that will endure time and the Georgia sun, reset all the stones and made the house watertight – something the Massees would have surely been over the moon about. "It seems like everyone in Macon has a story about this house," Bridget Wright said. "ese range from having lived there in college and hanging out on the rooftop, FEBRUARY/MARCH 2021 | maconmagazine.com 45

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