Freshwater Knoll
Freshwater Knoll is a location in Barlow County in the Melisende Dulac Series. It is the site of the Freshwater Murders.
Details
Located on the ridge on the east side of Samuelton, Freshwater Knoll is a mansion built by Selwyn Freshwater in 1921. It was the first house built on what would eventually be called College Ridge but was then known informally as the East Spur. During the 1920s, the house was both a center of Samuelton society and a place to drink, with Selwyn hosting parties multiple times each week. Because the house was built with Prohibition in mind, it included a number of hidden rooms in the basement for storing illegal alcohol.
After the fortunes of the Freshwaters were severely hit during the Great Depression, the house was sold. Over the years it would pass through many hands and ultimately left uninhabited for most of the 1980s and early 1990s.
Clark Freshwater, great-grandson of Selwyn, purchased the house after he graduated from college, bringing back into the Freshwater family. Though no longer wealthy, he tried to keep up the appearance of the old, landed gentry. He and his wife Dorothy began renovating the property, though progress was slow. At intervals, renovations were interrupted by the births of their children and due to lack of resources. By the time of the Freshwater Murders, much of the house remained in disrepair, including most of the upstairs, the basement, and the living dining rooms on the ground floor.
Characters of Note
- Towhee Freshwater
- Clark Freshwater
- Dorothy Freshwater
- Jared Freshwater
- Emile Freshwater
- Tabitha Freshwater