Gene and Geraldine Sorrell have just the home they want. If it wasn’t so when they built the house in 1976, it is just right for them after remodeling in 2005.
“There’s always something you’d like to do,” said Geraldine, a former teacher at Clanton Middle School, “but I guess we’ve got it about like we want it—we’ve been here for almost 37 years.”
Gene is also well-recognized in the community after working at State Farm Insurance for many years.
The Sorrell’s residence, which sits on about 10 acres off New Harmony Road on the edge of Clanton city limits and was the recipient of one of the city’s Beautification Awards, features a beautiful entrance into a spacious and well-equipped kitchen and dining room. There’s even a preparation room adjoining the kitchen.
A living area containing memories from the couple’s daughter’s childhood opens onto a large deck, which has both covered and uncovered areas. Plenty of seating options on the deck allow the Sorrells comfort as grandchildren and great-grandchildren play in the in-ground pool.
The house itself is just the beginning of the attractions on the property. There’s plenty of room to roam around and enjoy the landscaping the Sorrells have worked so hard at. One can enjoy plums and scuppernongs growing on the grounds, and many beautiful flowers, including a rose bush that has been in the family for generations.
The couple takes pride in the fact that they do all of the work at the residence themselves.
“Everything that’s been done around here, we’ve done,” Gene said.
Gene spends time in a standalone garage/workshop. Upstairs, there’s what Geraldine calls a “yesteryear room,” where the couple stores all sorts of antiques and treasures, including Gene’s prodigious arrowhead collection.
Also on the property is a large pond, where family members catch bream and hybrid bass.
The home is perfect for the Sorrells for another reason. The site of an old hotel that is no longer standing, glass shards wash up after rains. The couple initially thought the glass was a nuisance, until Gene discovered a use for it.
Using windowframes removed from the home during the remodeling as foundations, Gene arranges the pieces of glass and other discarded items into works of art, then covers the items with epoxy to keep them in place.
The pieces often take on religious themes. Gene works a cross, a dove and a star into every piece, hoping people ask about them.
“That gives me an opportunity to witness to them when they ask me about it,” he said.