Siri Hedreen / The Outlook
On the walls of the sun room — which used to be a back porch — Messer hangs a collection of prints depicting opera houses around the world.
Ron Messer lives alone in his friend Bill Ponder's old family home, but the house south of Dadeville is always pristine.
"I try to keep my house tidy, because when I don't, he lets me know he's not happy," Messer said, referring not to Ponder, but his great-great-grandfather who built the 19th-century abode.
PHOTOS: The Messer Home
Siri Hedreen / The Outlook
A painting in the living room belonging to the Ponder family depicts French expatriates in Marengo County. According to myth, the ladies worked the fields and milked the cows in ball gowns, the only clothes they had being the clothes they came in.
PHOTOS: The Messer Home
Siri Hedreen / The Outlook
One of the most unique pieces of furniture is the dining room table, a Ponder family heirloom, held together by wooden pegs without the use of nails. An old sawmill that used to operate on the creek next door provided the materials.
PHOTOS: The Messer Home
PHOTOS: The Messer Home
Siri Hedreen / The Outlook
A shot of Ron Messer's front porch, where one of the house's previous occupants was murdered by his neighbor after answering the front door.
PHOTOS: The Messer Home
Siri Hedreen / The Outlook
A historical marker outside Ron Messer's home commemorates William Carl Roeck, the man who built the house.
PHOTOS: The Messer Home
Siri Hedreen / The Outlook
One of the guest bedrooms doubles as Messer's art studio. On the easel is an unfinished painting of hot air balloons, a request of Bill Ponder's.
PHOTOS: The Messer Home
Siri Hedreen / The Outlook
At night, Messer — a lifelong believer in ghosts — says he can hear three women chattering away in the living room.
PHOTOS: The Messer Home
Siri Hedreen / The Outlook
At night, Messer — a lifelong believer in ghosts — says he can hear three women chattering away in the living room.
PHOTOS: The Messer Home
Siri Hedreen / The Outlook
Each room in the house opens up to the hallway which used to be an open-air dogtrot. In the days before air conditioning, residents would open up the windows above the doors for ventilation.
PHOTOS: The Messer Home
Siri Hedreen / The Outlook
Each room in the house opens up to the hallway which used to be an open-air dogtrot. In the days before air conditioning, residents would open up the windows above the doors for ventilation.
PHOTOS: The Messer Home
Siri Hedreen / The Outlook
A painting in the living room belonging to the Ponder family depicts French expatriates in Marengo County. According to myth, the ladies worked the fields and milked the cows in ball gowns, the only clothes they had being the clothes they came in.
PHOTOS: The Messer Home
Siri Hedreen / The Outlook
The most expensive piece in the house, according to Messer, is the 18th-century sofa loaded with stuffed animals to keep guests from sitting on the delicate antique.
PHOTOS: The Messer Home
Siri Hedreen / The Outlook
Messer's master bedroom includes personal touches like the needlepoint fox pillow. Messer's middle name is Slyfox.
PHOTOS: The Messer Home
Siri Hedreen / The Outlook
Foxes are everywhere in Ron Messer's home, including the fireplace, mantle and wall art reflected in the mirror.
PHOTOS: The Messer Home
Siri Hedreen / The Outlook
A painting of three lions was a favorite of Messer's father. After he died, Messer's mother asked her son to take it back, because it reminded her too much of her husband.
PHOTOS: The Messer Home
Siri Hedreen / The Outlook
One of three bedrooms in Ron Messer's 19th-century farmhouse.
PHOTOS: The Messer Home
Siri Hedreen / The Outlook
According to Messer, the clock on the mantlepiece is a 19th-century piece brought over from Germany by William Carl Roeck who built the house.
PHOTOS: The Messer Home
Siri Hedreen / The Outlook
One of the most unique pieces of furniture is the dining room table, a Ponder family heirloom, held together by wooden pegs without the use of nails. An old sawmill that used to operate on the creek next door provided the materials.
PHOTOS: The Messer Home
Siri Hedreen / The Outlook
A view of the sun room, which used to be the back porch, looking into the hallway which used to be an open-air dogtrot.
PHOTOS: The Messer Home
Siri Hedreen / The Outlook
A view of the sun room, which used to be the back porch, looking into the hallway which used to be an open-air dogtrot.
PHOTOS: The Messer Home
Siri Hedreen / The Outlook
A corner shelf displays antiques and curios including several fox figurines, Messer's favorite animal after his middle name, Slyfox.
PHOTOS: The Messer Home
Siri Hedreen / The Outlook
One of Ron Messer's own paintings, a landscape of a barn in Florida, hangs in the sun room.
PHOTOS: The Messer Home
Siri Hedreen / The Outlook
On the walls of the sun room — which used to be a back porch — Messer hangs a collection of prints depicting opera houses around the world.
PHOTOS: The Messer Home
Siri Hedreen / The Outlook
When Ponder's mother was a little girl, what is now the kitchen was a pantry, while the old kitchen was in a separate building for fire safety.
PHOTOS: The Messer Home
Siri Hedreen / The Outlook
A milestone in Ron Messer's side yard indicates where the road used to run. Today the house is on Highway 49 several miles south of Dadeville.
