photo by Hannah Reel

Faye Kolb ascends the staircase that is original to her historic home Saturday afternoon. Kolb and her husband bought the home four years ago and have done renovations to the second level.

Kolbs enjoy moving downtown from suburbs

By Vershal Hogan (Contact) | The Natchez Democrat

Published Monday, June 29, 2009

NATCHEZ — When The Dart found Faye Kolb at her North Commerce Street residence, she was, she said, “enjoying living downtown.”

Kolb and her husband Tom moved to the Commerce Street residence from Live Oak Drive four years ago, and it was after that move she began to feel really connected to the Natchez ethos, she said.

“When we lived in the subdivision, you didn’t feel like you were part of the city,” she said.

They moved to the house after retiring, and it soon became a long-running, albeit enjoyable, improvement project.”

“We bought the house thinking it would be a bed and breakfast,” Kolb said.

The house never became a bed and breakfast, but the Kolbs have put a lot of work into it.

Downstairs they left the house more or less as it was, but upstairs they started fixing it up one room at a time, work that is still ongoing, from a newly finished office to an old bathroom that needs to be updated.

Hanging in one of the upstairs bedrooms is a chandelier Kolb said she found in the attic.

“You know how you go into the attic expecting to find treasure?” she said. “Well, that chandelier is the only thing I found, and I just had to hang it in the house where it belongs.”

And even though the house never became a bed and breakfast, the Kolbs have four adult children who like to visit frequently.

“We have lots of company,” Kolb said.

The upstairs porches are great for watching the balloon races in the fall and the fireworks on July 4, and because the house is located next to the Stanton Hall stables the Kolbs often see carriages go by, she said.

“Living here, there is always a reason to sit on the porch,” she said.