Our Story

Hi! We are Leslie & John Scribner and along with our four kids: Glendon, Phoebe, Marshall, & Jewell, we are the owners of the Castleberry Building. What began as a dream of owning a retail store has developed into a passion for restoration and renovation.

Who we are

Who We Are & What We're Doing

Hi! We are Leslie & John Scribner and along with our four kids: Glendon, Phoebe, Marshall, & Jewell, we are the owners of the Castleberry Building. What began as a dream of owning a retail store has developed into a passion for restoration and renovation. Taking on an old building is not for the faint of heart and only through God’s Holy Spirit were John and I convinced that this was what we were supposed to do. Not just buy any old building but we were to purchase this building, The Castleberry Building.  And so it begins, our journey to uncover the history of this building, applying for historical designations and starting the process of restoring this beautiful 1904 structure.

More about us, a family of 6, we’ve spent our family vacations in our Jayco camper every summer since 2010 when we bought our first camper. National and State Parks are our favorite destinations, we love nature centers, hiking, and exploring all parts of Arkansas and our neighboring states. John has a natural “green thumb”, Glendon is an excellent sketch artist and avid reader, Phoebe loves everything outdoors, baking and helping others.  Marshall is our little dinosaur expert and wants to grow up to be a robotic engineer.  Jewell is the baby of the family, our princess, little diva, and sweetheart all at the same time. And I’m Leslie, mom, wife, homeschool teacher (for now and project manager for the Castleberry Building. That’s the unofficial title I give myself. 

We hope that by sharing our story and the Castleberry Building with everyone, You can also see the value in restoration of our small American towns, the buildings, the homes, the Main Streets. Love and God Bless to all!

What we do

Renovations & Restoration

Upon purchasing the Castleberry building in January 2020, Our first goal was to research the history, the construction and stories of  people who built this beautiful structure. Notably the largest building on Salem’s Town Square, and I have to say the most stunning, this building is the favorite of so many of our town’s citizens. Within a month of owning the property, we learned that it had never been nominated as a Historical Structure in Arkansas or nominated to the National Historic Register. Thus beginning a treasure hunt so to speak, for the history of a place and time when written documents are a rare find.