60 l MACON MAGAZINE FEBRUARY/MARCH 2013
Living among the
Cherry Blossoms
The Fickling house
gets a makeover
When Kerri Hatcher and Bill Fickling
married just over a year ago, Bill had
somewhat turned his grandfather's
famous home into a bachelor pad.
The dining room had become a
game room for him and his son who
recently graduated from college,
"and the kitchen table had become
Bill's desk," said Kerri. "I love to
cook and told him if he wanted a
wonderful meal, I at least needed a
place to serve it."
And so the renovation, or perhaps
it is more of a reclamation, began.
The Ficklings offered to let Macon
Magazine photograph their home
in honor of the Cherry Blossom
Festival since it was Bill's grandfather
who started the Macon cherry tree
proliferation, and it is their home that
all the tourists and tour buses stop
to see in March during their cherry
blossom excursions.
Kerri added new countertops and new colors to the kitchen as
well as new Viking appliances to fuel her cooking skills.
Built in 1949, the front
of the home with
its traditional white
columns looks beautiful
among the hundreds
for cherry trees that
surround it.
Photography by danny gilleland
