A Brief History of the Brow
This property has a rich history.
In the early 1940's, approximately 5 acres were purchased on the brow by Virginia Dudley, a promising young artist from Chattanooga. She made the property her home and studio where she drew much inspiration from the view she enjoyed from her home. She became internationally acclaimed for her diversity in artistic media--photography, printmaking, painting, sculpture and ceramics--and is best known for her award winning enamels. Many articles were published about her art and usually featured a picture of her painting on the rocky outcropping from her property on the brow.
The following information was cited in an article about the property by Andrew Sparks of the AJAC in 1953: ''the front yard is a cantilevered slab of sandstone that projects over an 87-foot vertical drop into a gorge that looks like a green and blue Grand Canyon.''
The house sits on the edge of a bluff overlooking Johnson's Crook, a scenic bend in the valley, and is near both Tennessee and Alabama. Rising Fawn, the nearest city sits at the base of the mountain and the community at the top is referred to as New Salem. In the early 1950's the area developed a reputation as an artists' colony and the creation of the Plum Nelly Clothesline Art Show (which Dudley participated in)and took place every fall drawing hundreds of people. The fall Festival still takes place each year in New Salem.
After the death of Virginia Dudley in 1981, the property passed on to her sister and at her death became the property of her daughter who built the house which currently sits on 2.67 of the original 5 acres.
The unsurpassing beauty of this property has enriched lives for the past 70 years.
It has been a love story enriching many lives by the unsurprising beauty of the brow.
