For some people a New Year’s resolution might suffice. But for New York City resident Tracy Brady, the new year will bring something more akin to an aspiration realized. Years in the making, that aspiration will soon bring Tracy to her new “home” in Senoia.
Brady grew up in New Jersey, lived in Boston for seven years and has lived in Manhattan for nearly nine years. But with all the time in the northeast, there was something missing.
“I’ve always felt I was a changeling stolen from the South,” Brady said recently.
The idea of things “Southern” has been on her mind for much of her life.
“I was drawn to Southern history, food, movies and literature. I read ’Gone with the Wind’ when I was 10 years old,” said Brady. “And I love the accent.”
Brady as an adult had the opportunity to travel, both personally and professionally. Some of those travels brought her to a variety of places in the southeast U.S. Those visits “cemented the fantasy and whimsy of it. And I enjoyed being here, not just reading about the South or seeing it on the big screen.”
Brady said it was during those visits that the lure of the South took a firm hold.
“I accepted my fate that I needed to move south,” Brady explained with a little smile.
She visited a number of cities such as New Orleans, Savannah and Knoxville. But it was in mid-2012 that Senoia was manifested in her awareness.
“I wanted to take a couple of days to visit somewhere. I was sitting on the couch in my apartment (in Manhattan) reading Southern Living magazine and I saw the 2012 Idea House. And in the same issue there was an interview with Zac Brown. And I thought, ‘wait, they’re both in Senoia. Where is Senoia?’” Brady explained.
With her curiosity piqued, Brady went on the internet and found the Veranda Bed & Breakfast Inn. A conversation with co-owner Laura Reynolds that included a number of aspects of the city led to Brady’s first trip to Senoia.
“I came down and looked around the town and saw both (Southern Living) Idea Houses,” said Brady, noting that two of the people she met were Gin Property owner Scott Tigchelaar and Realtor Scott Barnett of Atlanta Fine Homes Sotheby’s International Realty, whose listings include the Gin Property located adjacent to downtown where the 2010 and 2012 Idea House properties are located.
“I said I might be crazy, but I think I want to build here on the Gin Property and move to Senoia,” said Brady. “The town was warm and welcoming and it seemed to offer opportunity and it had spirit.”
Brady returned to Senoia in October and, prior to making a final decision, visited Newnan and Peachtree City.
“But I kept getting drawn back to Senoia,” Brady said with another smile.
Yet another trip a few months later led to the decision to make Senoia her home. Her “fate” sealed and cemented, Brady began the process that led to the initial construction in August of her home on the Gin Property. Her new home in Senoia will be ready soon.
To say that Brady is thrilled with her home being built by Kevin Becker Custom Homes would be an understatement.
“I’m blessed to have the opportunity to work with Kevin and learn from him,” Brady said.
Tracy Brady will soon be Senoia’s newest resident. For her, the move will represent the fulfillment of an aspiration born in years past, back during a time when a young girl in northern New Jersey experienced a yearning for something outside her immediate experience. The years passed, but the lure to be a part of the thing that drew her did not diminish.
There are times in life when change is in the offing if we are willing to accept the transition that it brings. And to turn her aspiration into reality, Tracy had to leave home to find home.
