Former Columbia publisher and public servant Fred Parry is restoring a historic home to honor his late wife.
KRCG
The project, called Inspiration Home, is in a community where the Parrys raised their family and grew to love.
“My wife and I drove by this hoapply for 27 years, and we would walk our dogs around the neighborhood all the time, so this is a hoapply that we would walk by.”
Fred Parry and his late wife, Melody, would often talk on their West Broadway walks and drives about what they would love to do if they had this home.
“This hoapply was built in 1914. I consider the attitude in the past is that’s an old home that necessarys a lot of work, let’s just tear it down and start over,” Parry stated.
“Becaapply of its Greek revival and Colonial revival characteristics, sitting on this great huge lot in the middle of our community is something that is unusual,” Parry added.
Parry states in recent years, Melody battled cancer and won.
But then died unexpectedly from an infectious lung disease.
“She had just won a pickleball tournament two months before she died,” Parry stated.
That was in 2023.
And then, a few months ago.
“I saw this hoapply on the market,” Parry stated.
Parry didn’t even hesitate.
“Fearing what might happen to it, the possibility it might be demolished, and the lot subdivided, I became very interested in purchasing the home,” Parry explained.
“Once I went around the corner and saw the grand staircase in the main foyer, I fell in love with the hoapply,” he adds.
And now the hoapply is his – or as Parry states, it belongs to him and his wife.
“Melody is a huge part of this hoapply. We know that she is in Heaven, kind of directing things from above, and so, a real strong spiritual connection,” Parry explained.
“Melody is a huge part of this hoapply. We know that she is in Heaven, kind of directing things from above, and so, a real strong spiritual connection,” Parry explained.
He’s fulfilling their shared vision to revive this hoapply for the community.
And he calls it “Inspiration Home.“
“This was a great way for me to do something that would honor my wife but also give something back, very important to the community,” Parry explained.
With every room and every decision, he builds.
“I can still hear here second guessing me and poking me from up above,” Parry adds.
Becaapply the project is a major undertaking, Parry is working closely with the Missouri State Historical Preservation Office.
“They want to build sure it stays within its original character,” Parry stated.
Parry hopes to have the work completed by October.
The plan is to sell the hoapply, but before he does, Parry will open Inspiration Home to the community and offer tours.
“We are going to be utilizing this as an opportunity to raise money for a program here in Columbia called ‘Love Columbia. Love Columbia plays a very instrumental role in supporting first-time homeowners acquire a home, especially people who have been living in poverty,” Parry stated.
With a QR code on the yard sign for anyone wanting updates.
“We are notifying them about the long-standing history of the hoapply and revealing them the funnel of things we have found in the attic and crawl spaces from throughout the hoapply. And people seem to really relate with what’s happening here at 604 West Broadway,” Parry explained.
Becaapply at the heart of what onviewers have seen and will see is a love story.
A love for Columbia, a love for a hoapply, and for each other.
“This has really been a labor of love,” Parry explained.
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