10 CHICAGO TRIBUNE | HOUSE & HOMES | SECTION 7 | SUNDAY, DECEMBER 21, 2008 N By Elaine Matsushita TRIBUNE REPORTER Excuse us for a moment. We’re on hold while John Grogan runs down to the basement. Duty is calling. In this case, “duty” is Woodson, the “Marley & Me” author’s newest four-legged family member. For some reason, the 9-month-old, housebro- ken yellow Lab has run downstairs, having confused the basement for his own personal restroom. To be kind, he could be marking territory. This is a new home his family has just moved into. Grogan adopted Woodson off the set of “Marley & Me,” the film interpretation of Grogan’s best-seller starring Jennifer Aniston as Gro- gan’s wife, Jenny, Owen Wilson as the columnist/ author and Woodson, of course, who had the task of playing a Labrador pup. (In case you’ve missed the hy- per-marketing that rivals the famous Marley’s intensity, the movie opens on Christ- mas Day.) “I’m surrounded by boxes and junk,” Grogan says, when he returns to the phone. He’s just weeks back from the tour promoting his new book, “The Longest Trip Home,” and finishing up the move into his family’s reno- vated 1790 stone farmhouse. “We moved in two parts: We moved half the stuff before the book tour [in early No- vember]. And yesterday we moved the rest. It’s just start- ing to feel like our own house now.” The “new” home in Coop- ersberg, Pa., is not far from the vinyl-sided suburban abode that the Grogans— John, Jenny, Patrick, 16, Connor, 15, Colleen, 11, Woodson, Gracie (an “older and calmer Lab”) and three new kittens—had outgrown. In addition to the farm- house, the new 19-acre home- stead has a wood-frame cot- tage (now Grogan’s writing place), a stone barn, two-car garage (originally built for hay wagons), a walk-in chicken coop, meadow, lots of deer, wetlands, swamps and a stream. It’s also got peren- nials and roses that Grogan, the former editor-in-chief of Organic Gardening maga- zine, transplanted from their old house. The decor is “definitely eclectic,” Grogan says. “A lot of African art, several Bud- dhas floating around, Hat- itian art we collected while [living] in Florida, a Rasta- farian mask that we got from a gallery in Key West. Plus some traditional pieces. [Also], I like to collect old tools. I have them on the wall out [in the writing cottage]. I like them with a story.” Speaking of stories, you should know: Woodson re- deemed himself after he relieved himself down in the basement. As he walked by the front-loading washer, his tail gave it an enthusiastic and mighty whack. And that started it up. What item in your home says John Grogan lives here: The [blown-up] “Mar- ley & Me” book cover that’s on the wall. ... [and] botani- cal prints. I have a framed 19th Century reproduction botanical print of a plant with the little Latin written on it. That’s pretty much a John Grogan signature state- ment. Three things on your nightstand: My iPod and its alarm-clock docker. The book I’m reading right now “The Botany of Desire” by Michael Pollan. And the latest issues of Esquire and Newsweek. One thing on a wall in your living room: A large 3 1 /2-by-5-foot framed poster of the imperial Chinese emper- or that was part of a German art exhibit. ... We [also] have one of those big wrought- iron fireplace bars that you’d hang kettles on, and we have it mounted it on the wall. One thing you have in your house from your child- hood: When I started to write “The Longest Trip Home,” I started gathering things that would jog my memories from my child- hood. And I found my sec- ond-grade school picture—it was still in that little card- board frame. ... That’s sitting up on my dresser in my bedroom. Three things we’d find in your medicine cabinet: Garden Tomato Toner by Burt’s Bees, ibuprofen for achy bones after I split fire- wood, toothpaste, mouth- wash, deodorant. Three things we’d find in your refrigerator? The usual suspects: turkey cold cuts, Muenster cheese and nan bread. If you had to save one "thing" from your home, what would it be? That’s easy. I’ve actually said this before. Just before my dad died, I made a videotape of him and he told me his whole life story ... I would definitely grab those [tapes]. Those are very precious to me. What is the biggest collec- tion in your home? Old tools, many of which I buy at garage sales. ... Oh, and I have every Kinks album. They’re just in a wooden crate. I was a huge fan in junior high school. What reading material would we find in your bathroom? None. There are two kinds of people in this world. Those that have read- ing material in their bath- room and those that don’t. [In our house,] all the read- ing stuff’s on the bed stand. The bathroom: It’s a no-read zone. Most embarrassing thing in your home that you hide when guests come over: For us, the big issue is—we have two dogs—it’s a dog- hair fiesta. We race around doing a last-minute vacuum. If we came unexpectedly, would we find your bed made—or not made? Made every morning. I’m usually the second [one] up and I always make the bed. My wife would probably dispute that. We mostly do that be- cause our dogs are really disobedient and if they get up on the bed, it’s better if they get up on the covers rather than the sheets. Best furniture bargain you ever got? A neighbor up the hill was throwing out an old couch. Jenny spotted it and it looked like it had good bones and she dragged it to an upholsterer and it’s a beautiful piece now. What CD or artist would we find in your player (or on your iPod)? Just listen- ing to the Avett Brothers’ “Emotionalism.” They’re like organic rock—banjos and mandolins and stuff [with] kind of a rock rhythm. I heard them in San Fran- cisco in a shop in Haight- Asbury. Do you hang your toilet paper with the paper hanging over the front or down the back? Over the front. I don’t know why, it’s just the way it’s always been. My wife and I are on the same page. Do you do any snooping of your own when visiting friends? I do like to look at what people read. I’ll wander over to the bookshelves. It really tells you something about them. SNOOP PATROL New house, new pup and whole lot of that ol’ ‘Marley’ love One of Grogan’s favorite things? The wood stove in his writing cottage. “I love playing with fire! That’s Woodson my Lab (adopted from the “Marley & Me” movie)... and my favorite, well-broken-in leather reading chair. On top of the stove is an old antique yoke I found at an auction,” says Grogan (shown with Gracie, at right). This 19th Century vanity be- longed to Grogan’s maternal grandmother. “My mother painted it hot pink in the 1960s (chalk it up to the times), and I spent years chipping and sanding that pink paint off. . . . I love this piece because it connects me with my past. My mother had it in her bedroom as a teenager.” Peek in on actor Freddy Rodriguez’s West Coast pad with us at chicagotribune.com/snoop. More snoops STORE HOURS: 9-8 MONDAY-SATURDAY • CLOSED SUNDAY www.hobbylobby.com 50 % Off 30 % Off Home Accent Categories Shown 50 % Off All Christmas Collage Frames Scrapbooking Categories Shown 50 % Off Framing Categories Shown 50 % Off Floral Categories Shown Photo Frames INCLUDES OUR ENTIRE SELECTION OF TABLE TOP AND NOVELTY PHOTO FRAMES AS WELL AS ALL WOODEN PHOTO STORAGE INCLUDES CHRISTMAS. 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