It's tough to resist the call of an old home that has been neglected for many years--especially if your goal in restoring a house is to encircle it with a garden. So when friends Jayme and Harley Ponder announced the purchase of 20 acres adjacent to their ranch outside Burton, Texas, I wanted the relic of a house that was just sitting on that land waiting to be bulldozed or torn down. The Ponders said I could have it--if I would move it. My wife, Diane, a supportive veteran of two previous restorations, was more than hesitant. "The house is much too fragile," she said, and even started calling it Fragilee to remind me of the frivolity of my judgment.

In fact, she announced in a moment of complete frustration (and little forethought) that she'd have nothing to do with it--a position I leaped upon! Imagine, a house and garden to create without interference. I, of course, overlooked the fact that the house hadn't been inhabited except by animals for more than 30 years, and that more of it was falling apart than intact.

The six-over-six windows, square nails, cypress siding, and hand-hewed support beams confirmed it was a mid- to late-19th-century structure. Visions of beautiful parterres and a potager (ornamental kitchen garden) surrounding a raised cottage overshadowed wisdom. Totally removed from my mind was the statement of the house mover, Larry Schroeder, that relocating the house would be successful only if the "termites held hands." A move was necessary, however, in order to complete the agreement of the Ponders' gift. By this time, I was too far in to back out.