THE CONTINUUM OF CHANGE
Oddly enough, this weekend I began thinking about the 1920’s brick bungalow in West End Atlanta where I loved visiting the Underwoods. When my cousin Juanita died there in March of 2005, the house was in terrible disrepair and hopelessly cluttered. As administrator of her estate, I spent many months tracking down records and clearing the house.
Matt was a friend of Patrick’s who lived a few blocks away and had considerable experience in renovating properties in the neighborhood. I hired him to complete the cleanup and he referred me to someone who might buy the property in “as is” condition.
A year or so afterward, Matt was talking with two young women who were customers at his Bell Street Burrito restaurant. One of the mentioned she and her husband had just bought a house on White Street. He asked the house number and it was Juanita’s address! The sisters (who were identical twins) told him they had a blog called “Asian Cajuns.”
He passed along the information to me and I began following their blog. Their mother was a Cajun from Louisiana and their father was Chinese. Lar (Lauren) and her husband Matt had bought the house; her sister was Cath (Catherine). They posted about Atlanta events, fashion, and food. Soon Lar began posting about some of their renovations at the White Street home—including the kitchen photo above. Once she had a video of her and her sister dancing and singing in front of Aunt Della’s mantel! It was such a joy to see this house I loved being restored and enjoyed again.
Lar soon announced that she and Matt were going to Scotland for a few years where he was getting his Ph.D. in bioengineering. His parents were moving into their White Street home while they were gone.
That was about 10 years ago—and today I learned more about the Cajun Asians and the White Street house!
This website photo promoting their new company Semaine Health is of Matt Crane, Ph.D., Lauren (Lar) Lee-Crane and Catherine (Cath) Lee. I read a recent Forbes article in which the sisters describe their painful history of endometriosis. As a bioengineer, Matt was able to develop a plant-based supplement that could help women experience less painful periods. When both Lar and Cath had great results using the product, they started a fundraising site and in 2020 launched their company Semaine Health. Semaine is now sold at Target stores, Urban Outfitters and other retailers.
And the Zillow real estate website today is listing the White Street property for sale again—at four times the value we sold it for in 2006. There were 20 exterior and interior photos on the website – of what is now a cheerful and cozy home. I’m grateful for the Cajun Asian who helped transform the house—and for her work as an endometriosis warrior!
Seeing a story 