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Special House, Special Horse: Carved figure from merry-go-round keeps memories alive after fire takes much else
Journal Photo by David Rolfe
Henry Brandolf stands in the foyer of his home in Kernersville that replaces one that burned. His house is in the Parade of Homes tour.
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Published: October 17, 2009
KERNERSVILLE
Last October, flames engulfed Suzy and Henry Brandolf's home on Croyden Drive, destroying almost everything that the couple owned.
The Brandolfs hired general contractor George Cook to rebuild the $750,000 home, which has wound up in the annual Parade of Homes. On parade tours, Cook said, he's answered many questions about the non-traditional dining room.
One item in particular stands out -- a large carousel horse in the middle of the sweetheart-pink room.
The horse was carved in 1895 by an old German craftsman named Hayden. The craftsman and horse were featured in a book about carousel horses. The Brandolfs lost the book in the fire and have been unable to replace it.
Henry Brandolf bought his horse for $1,000 in 2004 from Eddie Tatum, the owner of Brookstown Antiques.
"It was from Reynolds Park where there was a merry-go-round,'' Tatum said. "There were 24 horses originally."
The merry-go-round was disassembled and the horses auctioned sometime in the 1970s, Tatum estimated, for an expansion of the park's golf course. Eight of the horses were sold to a Winston-Salem restaurant. Tatum saw an ad about a restaurant-supply liquidation and noticed that carousel horses were included in the listing of the property being sold. He attended the sale and was the sole bidder on the horses, which cost him $350 each.
Brandolf had the horse restored as a gift for his wife by his nephew, Todd Jorgensen, who estimated he spent 125 hours working on it.
The fire led Jorgensen to undertake a second restoration of the horse, which he estimated was an additional 50 hours.
Smoke and water damage to the horse made the latest restoration quite a feat.
Jorgensen, a well-known antiques preservationist in Tobaccoville, had to recarve the wooden ears and find horse hair to replicate the tail. It required extensive sanding and painting.
The Brandolfs call their non-dining room the "Carousel Room."
"It's a room for my wife to put her prized possessions in. When you lose everything, what you do have left means a lot more emotionally," Brandolf said.
Professional estimates calculate the horse's value at well over $10,000, but Brandolf said its survival in the fire that otherwise destroyed the home is what makes it invaluable to him and his wife. "How do you put a price on that?" he asked.
■ The public can tour the home Saturday and Sunday from 1 to 5 p.m. and see the restored Reynolds Park carousel horse. The address is 129 Croyden Drive, Kernersville.
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