By Ann Cipperly
On a serene street in Waverly, settler pecan trees along with other ancient trees provide an idyllic setting at the home of Meredith and Justin Frye. European antiques, heirloom rugs and assorted artwork decorate the unique home, enhanced with stone fireplaces, heart-pine floors, handcrafted doors and wood ceilings adding rich character. Like other communities in East Alabama that once flourished and then fell away as larger towns grew, Waverly remained a small community, and this year was listed in “America’s 10 Best Small Towns” by Country Living magazine.
After living in Waverly for three years, the Frye family moved into their current home in 2017 that was three years old at the time. The house had been built by friends who had lost their Dadeville home in a tornado. They were able to salvage the heart pine, columns and much of the wood in their former home to use in the construction of their new house. They also filled the structure with upgrades, including Alabama marble, which was mined in nearby Sylacauga, for kitchen countertops.
While Meredith and Justin enjoyed the home with their three boys, they felt cramped in the 1,600 square feet. In 2022, they added on to the house, doubling the square footage. They added two halls, a master bedroom and closed in what had been a screened porch. “I had always dreamed of having a sunken living room that had stone floors,” Meredith says, “and lo and behold, that was what we got in the redo.
“We left a lot of the structure in the kitchen and some of the other finishes the former owners had chosen, but (we) replaced windows. We tried to keep the same character as the rest of the house. We left some of the walls as drywall, even though the rest of the house is all nickel-gap pine. We wanted to be able to use some of the English wallpapers that are featured at my antique shop, Fig and Wasp.
“We also brought in brass fixtures from Morocco to add finishing touches,” Meredith adds, “and we mixed metals so that it didn’t look like everything had been decorated all at once. We used pottery lights from England, and brass lamps and fixtures on the wall in the living room came from Pennsylvania. We made sure that nothing in the new build was manufactured in China.”
Many items that decorate the house were found through her antique store. Most of the furnishings are French or English antiques. Meredith’s rule for decorating is that if you don’t sit on it or sleep on it, it should be old.
The antiques begin with the Gothic-style front double doors that came from a Talladega church built in 1835. When the church was renovated about 40 years ago, a lady stored them in her garage to use in building her dream home, but after her husband passed away, she was ready to sell them. The doors were very tall and were cut down to fit the house.
The doors open to the foyer in the new section of the house with whitewashed pine walls, French antiques and stone floors accented with rugs. Modern art is mixed with traditional styles, and a beaded and crystal globe fixture provides soft light. Rustic sconces flank a French painting resting on a bleached chest.
Down the hall from the foyer, one wall displays a large tapestry and framed artwork, while a large painting with deer highlights the opposite wall. The powder room off from the hall features British wallpaper with deer designs. A porcelain bowl serves as the sink on an antique barley twist cabinet with a marble top. The lighting fixtures are pottery pieces made in England.
In the master bedroom, the bed is decorated with a collection of pillows, and a trunk at the foot of the bed displays a quilt her grandmother made. Lamps were created from reclaimed wood, and a Serapi rug is Meredith’s prized antique.
The master bath features a Gothic opening to the shower and a large soaking tub. Mirrors over the sinks are framed with a wooden Gothic design from a French cathedral that were once windows. Artwork and British wallpaper add the finishing touches.
Stone floors from the foyer and hall are continued into the living room that was the screened porch. Meredith’s mother is a seamstress and made all the custom pillows on the twin sofas. On the stone fireplace, a painting of pheasants by a French painter fits the rustic theme. Among the artwork are colorful Wedgewood’s Ranunculus pattern plates decorating one wall.
Another stone fireplace provides a cozy feeling in the dining room with vaulted ceilings. A framed Hermes silk scarf displaying guinea hens and quail by French designer Heidi Caillard hangs over the mantel. Heart pine floors were rescued by the builders that lost their home in a tornado.
The French farmhouse-style dining table with hand carved wooden legs pulls out to over 110 inches for entertaining 12to-14 family members at holidays. On each side of the table, antique court cupboards from a French estate complement the table.
Cabinets and the island in the kitchen are topped with white marble except for the coffee bar which has “Alabama rose” marble. The kitchen renovation included a new English gas stove and a farmhouse sink with brass fixtures from Morocco.
The house also has five bedrooms and a den. Artwork by their three children, Townes, Wheeler and South, covers one wall across from the den.
Justin, who grew up in Opelika, is a first officer flying internationally for United Airlines based out of New York City. Meredith is originally from Marietta, Ga., and graduated high school in North Alabama. They both attended Auburn University and spent some time in Waverly during college.
After living in Lexington, Ky., Meredith was ready to live in a small town and be a stay-at-home mom. In Lexington, she had an interesting career working on a national presidential campaign. While Justin was deployed, she was visiting his family at Thanksgiving and drove through Waverly. She saw a for sale sign on a tree that led to the first house they bought in Waverly.
Meredith now enjoys being a co-owner of Fig and Wasp antique shop with her mother. The shop’s name was selected after Meredith saw a fig tree with wasps and learned the fig tree and wasps needed each other. They decided Fig and Wasp was the perfect name as they needed each other.
“I feel very blessed living in Waverly,” Meredith adds. “We were excited when we got the call that the national magazine Country Living was going to run a feature on Waverly as one of the best small towns. I am on the town council, so I am always encouraged when we can bring revenue in for our businesses.
“A lot of days I just have to think about all the wonderful things we have been given and to enjoy it now because we don’t know when that could change.”
