David and Mary became a part of the Snellville community in 1949 when they bought 470 acres of land on Big Haynes Creek, near Lenora Church, where they first raised Irish Setter dogs on the farm and later became the first to bring the Beefmaster cattle breed from Texas to east of the Mississippi.

David cut timber from their new farm, had a mill saw the boards and air-dried them to be used to renovate the original old pre-Civil War farmhouse that was on the farm.

In 1976, they designed and built a new house up the hill from the old one. The house was designed with “picture” windows in the true sense of the word. Each window frames a landscape collage that pieces together wildflowers and wire sculptures, clay pots and cleyera shrubs, pastures and potted plants. Each view, including a floor-to-ceiling scene in the bathroom, is an eclectic combination of art and nature.

David was a businessman and felt that all family activities and resources should contribute to the business of raising breeder cattle. The one year that Mary taught English at South Gwinnett High School, when she brought papers home to be corrected, David let her know that such behavior didn’t fit into their business plan. He didn’t particularly approve of Mary’s interests in weaving of textiles on her own loom, ornamental gardening and the art of collage. However, David did approve of herb gardening because it contributed to Mary’s excellent cooking skills.