Photos: Personal Journeys: Sowing seeds of change

Metro Atlanta

Photos: Personal Journeys: Sowing seeds of change

Storehouse furniture founder Robert Currey moves to Hancock County and shakes things up, but some long-time residents are not happy about it.

Robert Currey smiles as he is greeted by community members during the 5th Annual Clean-up Hancock County Day event as a part of Martin Luther King Day Activities in Sparta. HYOSUB SHIN / HSHIN@AJC.COM

Robert Currey and his wife Suzanne Currey listen to a speaker at a community lunch during the 5th Annual Clean-up Hancock County Day. HYOSUB SHIN / HSHIN@AJC.COM

Currey (right) greets Wilmer Tolber during the 5th Annual Clean-up Hancock County Day. HYOSUB SHIN / HSHIN@AJC.COM

Currey (left) talks with Bennie Edwards (center) and Carl Chatman during the 5th Annual Clean-up Hancock County Day as a part of Martin Luther King Day Activities in Sparta. HYOSUB SHIN / HSHIN@AJC.COM

Robert and Suzanne Currey with their dog Rives walk back to their home after they visited Sparta Imperial Mushrooms (which is behind them). HYOSUB SHIN / HSHIN@AJC.COM

Currey (center) talks with manager Jonathan Tescher as Suzanne Currey looks on at Sparta Imperial Mushrooms. HYOSUB SHIN / HSHIN@AJC.COM

Robert Currey (left) talks with manager Jonathan Tescher at Sparta Imperial Mushrooms, an organic mushroom farm inside an abandoned factory Currey bought and established an organic mushroom farm. HYOSUB SHIN / HSHIN@AJC.COM

Robert and Suzanne Currey, with their dog Rives, talk with farm manager Jim Fraser (center) as they visit Elm Street Gardens, which is a two-acre vegetable garden behind their home in Sparta. HYOSUB SHIN / HSHIN@AJC.COM

Currey shows his favorite collections over several years. HYOSUB SHIN / HSHIN@AJC.COM

Robert Currey talks to his wife Suzanne as their dog Rives looks in kitchen at 1843 Georgian-styled mansion, where Robert and Suzanne have restored and have lived in full-time since 2005. HYOSUB SHIN / HSHIN@AJC.COM

Robert Currey, circa mid-1980s. HANDOUT PHOTO.

Robert Currey with daughter Laura and son Brownlee, circa Christmas Day 1980.

The first Storehouse at 1923 Peachtree Road across from Piedmont Hospital. It opened in 1969. HANDOUT PHOTO.

Robert and a pregnant Suzy Currey in front of a Storehouse warehouse in Chamblee in August 1973.

Currey, an Atlanta home furnishings pioneer, turned gentleman farmer, rural philanthropist and community builder, chats with Tom Davis at Elm Street Gardens in Sparta. Currey's wife, Suzy, is always by his side. HYOSUB SHIN / HSHIN@AJC.COM

Robert picks up trash from a Hancock County roadside during the fifth annual cleanup day he organized in honor of Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. HYOSUB SHIN / HSHIN@AJC.COM

Robert and Suzy visit farm manager Jim Fraser who runs Elm Street Gardens. The Curreys cultivate organic lettuces, kales, turnips, onions, garlic and more on 2 acres behind their antebellum mansion in Sparta. HYOSUB SHIN / HSHIN@AJC.COM

Downtown Sparta wears the worn look of better times gone by with empty storefronts and abandoned furniture and textile factories. Hancock is the nation's 23rd poorest county. BOB ANDRES / BANDRES@AJC.COM

The Curreys poured hundreds of thousands of dollars into the restoration of the circa 1843 Harley Harris Rives House. They've lived there full-time in Sparta since 2006. HYOSUB SHIN / HSHIN@AJC.COM

Towering magnolia trees frame the Curreys' painstakingly resorted antebellum home. Formal British gardens and fruit trees encircle the house. HYOSUB SHIN / HSHIN@AJC.COM

No self-sustaining organic farm would be complete without chickens. The Curreys feed their chicks. HYOSUB SHIN / HSHIN@AJC.COM

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Robert Currey smiles as he is greeted by community members during the 5th Annual Clean-up Hancock County Day event as a part of Martin Luther King Day Activities in Sparta. HYOSUB SHIN / HSHIN@AJC.COM

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