This is an updated version of a story first published on May 15, 2022.
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This → update → May
The original video can be viewed here.
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video → view → ?
Producer's note: As a 60 Minutes producer, sometimes you read about a story that you just have to pursue.
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you → read → that
That was the case for me when I read Joe Heim's story in the Washington Post about the Miller family in southern Virginia, and their purchase of the home they came to know was called Sharswood.
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they → read → home
I would like to encourage 60 Minutes viewers to read Joe Heim's article from 2022.
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I → like → 2022
Just off the side of the road sat a grand white house called Sharswood, silently holding secrets from the past, waiting for a new owner to uncover them.
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owner → sit → them
Sounds like the opening line of a southern gothic novel, but as we first reported in 2022, this story is about a real family.
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story → sound → family
And a man who found himself at the center of far more than he had bargained for.
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he → find → more
The man is Fred Miller, then a 57-year-old Air Force veteran who was looking to buy property in his Virginia hometown for his large extended family's frequent get-togethers.
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who → look → togethers
He had never heard the name Sharswood, and yet this old house would lead him on a journey of discovery, with surprises and revelations that seem both impossible and inevitable all at once.
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that → hear → surprises
These are the gentle hills of Pittsylvania County, Virginia -- quiet, rural farm country near the North Carolina border that once produced more tobacco than any county in the state.
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that → produce → state
Hey, we're gonna gather up in this room here mainly..
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we → go → room
Fred Miller grew up here in a close family that likes getting together regularly for birthdays, fish fry's, and as his cousin Adam Miller told us, just about anything.
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cousin → grow → us
We play games, and we do, like, (LAUGH) a lotta food competitions.
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we → play → competitions
I hear the food is mainly cake.
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food → hear → ?
Fred's cousin, Tonya Miller Pope, and his sister, Debra Coles, told us it's a big family.
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it → tell → us
So no wonder Fred needed to find--
Fred Miller: -- a huge place.
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Fred → need → ?
Fred lived in California, where he worked as a civil engineer for the Air Force, but he visited the family in Virginia often.
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he → live → Virginia
One day, out of the blue, my sister called me and told me about a big house up the road for sale.
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sister → call → sale
Karen Dixon-Rexroth, Fred's baby sister, had spotted it.
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Rexroth → spot → it
Me and my mom was ridin' past the house and I saw the for sale sign.
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I → ridin → sign
I said, "Oh, my goodness.
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I → say → ?
We have to get this house."
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We → have → house
I call Fred.
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I → call → Fred
He's like, "What house?" I said, "You know the house.
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You → say → house
The-- the scary house," I call it.
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I → call → it
They'd passed it every day as kids on their way to school.
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They → pass → school
What did you know about Sharswood?
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you → know → Sharswood
Just knew it was-- saw the house--
Tonya Miller Pope: A big house.
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it → know → house--
He was debating, "Should we put in a bid for it?"
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we → debate → it
I said, "Yes.
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I → say → ?
Let's do it."
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's → let → it
Did she twist your arm?
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she → twist → arm
It took all the twisting she could do.
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she → take → twisting
'Cause I-- I d-- I didn't want to buy it--
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I → want → ?
But thinking his bid would be rejected anyway, he made an offer of just above the $220,000 asking price.
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he → think → price
Why did you think they weren't going to accept the offer?
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they → think → offer
Well, I mean, I'm-- initially, me, I thought that because I was Black that they would never-- surely, they would never sell this house to someone that's Black.
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that → mean → someone
So for us to be able to own this thing, I thought it would never happen.
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it → own → thing
So guess what happened?
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what → guess → ?
…and 233 more, not listed.
The Aporia
