Wife Hornaday finds magic inside of old farmhouse

How NASCAR wife Lindy Hornaday came about starting a retail business is a little like a movie.

A sort of Steel Magnolias wrapped in Fried Green Tomatoes type of movie you'd love to lose yourself in one Sunday afternoon, blanketed by the gray of a rainy sky.

The scene is set inside an old farmhouse in rural North Carolina where one West Coast woman discovers her lifelong ambition to open an antique shop and is inspired by the whimsical and sentimental life of one little old lady named of Miss Estelle Shinn.

Miss Estelle's Place is located in Downtown Mooresville, N.C.

"She is how we came to name my store," said Hornaday who a decade ago won several acres the farmhouse sat on in an auction. Coming from California, Hornaday had never even seen an auction but from that day on her vision was clear.

Race shops and garages were built on the land but the farmhouse, over 100 years old, remained untouched until one day Lindy's husband, Truck Series driver Ron Hornaday, encouraged her to have a go at it and turn it into an antique shop.

Early mornings and late nights were spent in Miss Estelle's attic where Lindy learned the life story of the woman, the woman Mooresville, N.C. called the "hat lady." She was born in the house and died in the same dwelling 97 years later. She lived alone most of her adult life and never married.

"There I was in this attic surrounded by the entire history of this woman's life and I couldn't bring myself to throw anything away," Lindy recalled.

Apparently Miss Estelle wasn't keen on throwing things out. In fact, Lindy believes she kept most everything given to her throughout her years in the house.

"I found a pot holder pinned with a note that said 'Aunt Betty... birthday 1957.' It was amazing, I had never seen so much stuff before in my life," Lindy said. "And she kept tons of tattered stationary, cards, letters, etc." (Continued)