A Journey Of Faith – Landmark House Is Restored

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WATER VALLEY – It’s been a year since Amala Dass nearly walked away from one of his life’s most strenuous challenges. After laboring to restore a grand, historic, two-story house on Markette Street for over 18 months, Dass had lost hope.

This tipping point came last August – Dass had blown both his budget and his motivation. Meanwhile, the end to the project was nowhere in sight, despite the huge strides and herculean efforts he – and others – had made.

And he couldn’t say he hadn’t been warned. Friends and acquaintances – a single voice excepted – had loudly advised against tackling the massive project.  (Keep in mind “a single voice excepted.” We’ll hear from it later.)

Dass purchased the house at 301 Markette Street in early 2022 for little more than the value of the acreage without a structure, three city lots running north to south with the house towering on a hill atop the northernmost. By all accounts, the once-admired structure was a likely detriment to the overall property value.

The 3,300-square-foot house was constructed during the “high society” railroad era in Water Valley and is a century old. It features soaring ceilings downstairs, a formal great room with one of five mantels, bedrooms upstairs and down, pine floors throughout, and wrap-around porches on both levels.

“I have tackled some big projects, but this one would have been very intimidating,” noted Kagan Coughlin, a local preservationist and the county’s economic development chief. Strong words from a man who has rescued more than one local structure others had long declared unworthy of the effort.

Coughlin pinpointed a key element regarding the complexity of the challenge Dass faced. “Two-story wooden structures in Mississippi, once they are not cared for, it is hard to tell what all is wrong with the structure.”

Back to that tipping point. The end of August 2023 signaled Dass’ return to the classroom at the University of Mississippi, where he is an Associate Professor for Chemistry and Biochemistry. His extra time would be limited as the school year rolled on, with months of no activity at the big house on the hill.

Dass talks little about his professional life, and it is easy to understand why. A quick internet search reveals his research interests at Ole Miss to include Gold Nanoparticles, Nanomaterials, Analytical Chemistry, Mass Spectrometry, Inorganic Nanoalloys, X-ray diffraction and so on – certainly not your common lunch-counter chitchat.

Six empty months passed until Dass gathered his reserves of will and resources sufficient to resume work on 301 Markette with new enthusiasm and bountiful encouragement from others.  The spring and summer of 2024 have proved fruitful and expansive. The work is now 99 percent completed and the residence was listed for sale on the real estate market on August 2.

The restoration effort of the home’s charms was a balancing act as Dass endeavored to keep the house as original as possible while incorporating modern amenities. The wooden steps leading to the second floor still carry scars under a new finish and stories-behind-them nicks from the last 100 years, just like the remaining original hardwood floors throughout the house. The five original mantels are beautifully restored, time capsules from the home’s glory days.

But Dass spared no expense on the amenities – all of the countertops in the house are quartz or marble, and the new master bathroom spans the entire space occupied by the original kitchen and now includes a massive walk-in shower and walk-in closet. Dass also installed all new plumbing, wiring and heating and cooling.

Through it all, Dass credits unwavering support. His friends, people in the community, neighbors and strangers all encouraged him to keep going.  The local support actually dates back years earlier, before Dass started on this house. He reports that BankFirst’s local predecessor, Mechanics Bank, took a risk on him years earlier when he purchased his first rental house and the bank made the loan.

“As an immigrant and now an American citizen, to me it’s also the American dream,” Dass said.

Moving from India, Dass has lived in the United States for almost a quarter-century and amassed a sizeable real estate portfolio. But owning property isn’t necessarily cash flow, and three different times he received loans for the Markette St. restoration.

The last boost came six months after he walked away from it. Charlie Edwards at BankFirst called him and offered an infusion to get the project back going.

Southaven resident John Person also volunteered to help one day a week if Dass would resume work. The list of supporters during the entire project is long, and different names surface with each conversation.

“This would never happen in India,” Dass explains about the opportunities made available to him in the United States. “I was limited, because of who my parents are. You have to know people there.”

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Nathan Swanson was nine years old when he moved into the big house on Markette in 1969. With seven siblings, the plentiful bedrooms were a welcome change. No longer would he have to share a bed with his brothers. The indoor plumbing was also a big change from drawing water from wells and using an outhouse, as was customary in earlier country homes where the family had often previously resided.

Even before moving to 301 Markette as young child, Swanson remembered walking up that street admiring some of the houses.

“It was a mansion street,” Swanson said. “The house across from 301, it also seemed like a mansion.”

His family lived in the house until he was almost 13 years old, when they left Water Valley for Hazelhurst, but Swanson retains many fond memories. Swanson and his siblings were raised by their mother after his father died from cancer when he was young.

“When I first moved in, I felt like I was lost. We had always lived in a country house, all the girls slept in one room and the boys in another room. Three kids to a bed, if you didn’t go to sleep, momma would pull the covers back and switch you good,” Swanson added.

At the big house it was two kids to a room.

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Now back to that “one exception,” that lone voice of initial encouragement among the naysayers.  It was Mark McGavock, Water Valley Fire Chief and jack of all trades. His input was a game-changer, considering Dass first planned only minimal work that would include stabilizing the house and renting it.  McGavock could visualize a broader restoration and encouraged Dass to go all in.  And

McGavock noted that Dass shared his vision, even if his initial plan was different.

“He had a vision and said he could fix it,” McGavock recalled.

McGavock worked alongside Dass during portions of the project, volunteering to help refinish the floors, along with other jobs.

McGavock was one of many who helped along the way. Dass recalled that it was about six months into the project when he noticed a change from his friends who initially were against the project and from others in the community.

“I am obviously not a good ole white boy from here. But I felt like I had earned the respect from many in the community who were watching me work. I felt like I was treated as one of them,” Dass explained.

His support list includes Trea Magee, the city’s code enforcement officer, and the electric department crew. His neighbors, especially Claud Hayles and Jean Newman, were a lifeline. Local contractor Brad VanWinkle stopped by a few times to answer questions and provide input as did another local contractor, Terry Allen.

Grant Thompson, a full-time firefighter and the city’s historian, helped Dass install the heating and cooling units, mini-splits that required minimal ductwork to keep the original look.

Longtime Water Valley residents took notice. “Mary Lou Jones came up and looked. Her daughter, Paige (Evans), told me what I am doing is a community service,” Dass said.

If Dass needed encouragement, he would go visit with his neighbors, especially Newman and Hale. Newman would often provide a meal specially prepared for him.

“They kept watermelons and veggie burgers for me and they don’t even eat veggie burgers,” Dass explained.

Talking with Dass, one understands that these encouragements and assistance were appreciated more than most realized as he labored day after day, with nights, weekends and summers accounting for his work time outside of his day job at Ole Miss.

Dass is adamant that this story convey his immense gratitude to each and every person who helped him along the way. Every word of encouragement was meaningful. He credits his mentors, Dave Henrickson of Abbeville and Tony Meyer of Batesville, for helping during the journey. He also extends thanks to John Person and Charlie Edwards at BankFirst, Michael Madsen, Tom Benton, the Water Valley Fire Department, John Gillis, Jesse Harris, John Reynolds, Valley Sheet Metal, Chris Bernet, Cayce Washington, the Pitres and all of the neighbors surrounding the house.

“You need community, you need people,” he said. “That is what makes this project so worthy of sharing.”

Admittedly he started the restoration after a successful house flip, giving him confidence beyond his abilities. Dass is not shy about sharing his faith in this journey, explaining that his early confidence was set aside and his faith was tested, especially after he gave up last August during a period he described as the lowest point in his life.

He readily shares several Bible verses that spoke to him during this period. He cited Hebrews, 11:1.

“Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.”

More inspiration came from the first part of verse 39 in Jeremiah, chapter 32, the verse that helped inspire him to start back working on the house.

“I will give them singleness of heart and action…”

Dass said he understands that verse was directed to the Israelites, a directive given so they would not turn away from God. But it also spoke to Dass in connection with this project.

“If I didn’t go through that low point, I think there is always temptation to say, ‘Look at me, I can do anything.’ No you can’t, except for His grace,” Dass explained. “God gets the glory.”

The 3,300 square feet house is listed at $599,000, and Dass is keenly aware that $182 per square foot isn’t chump change.  The two wrap-around porches encompass almost 1,000 square feet, footage that is not reflected in the square-foot price.

“A lot of work went into those porches,” Dass said about new rails and cedar flooring that were installed.

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Swanson remembers sitting on that second-floor porch with his siblings.

“We would sit in chairs on that top floor and watch when a storm was approaching. Back then you could see all the way across Water Valley. People kept things neat and cleared out,” Swanson recalled. “Sometimes you could see the (city) cemetery (on Blackmur) from that house.”

Much of Swanson’s memories about history of the house come from conversations when he was a child. He recalled a lady, Ms. Baird, who told him about the first time she remembered seeing the house.

“The first time she saw that house was in 1900. They came down Mudline Road and onto Markette Street. She said it was breathtaking,” Swanson said.

He realizes the memories about the house he heard as a child do not match 1904, the year commonly accepted as when construction was completed.

“I remember the grown people talking about it,” he explains.

Swanson also said a Swedish man built two houses for his daughters, one at 301 Markette Street, and the second on the little side street, Vaiden Street, just south of the big house.

He recalled that his mother was able to purchase the house from the granddaughter of the original owner.

“The granddaughter fixed the payments where my mother could make them, it really was an answered prayer,” he said.

Swanson also said there were pictures left in the house when they bought it, pictures from the original family that were later returned.

“My mother called them before we moved away. They came up and got the pictures,” Swanson added.

Both Swanson and Thompson shared that the house was utilized as a boarding house.

“The house was rented out during the depression, a family lived there who rented rooms out,” Swanson said.

In the 1940s Dr. Evans and his family lived in the house.

“They called it the ‘Showboat’ house,” Thompson said. “There is tons of footage at that house from when Dr. Evans lived there.”

Thompson believes the restoration brings hope beyond a single landmark house that has been saved.

“The restoration of this house is a signal of hope for the community. Even a house in the worst condition can be saved, affordably,” Thompson said.

“I am really proud of what Amala has done,” Swanson added. “It was beautiful back when I first saw it as a child. It is breathtaking now.”

Dass will pay the three-percent buyer’s commission if a purchase deal is struck. And if a deal doesn’t materialize soon, he is still confident that all will be well.

“What I have learned from working on this house – is a million-dollar education,” Dass said.