Mardis-Holland Farm in "Smoke" (Location)

"Two thousand acres of some of the best land in the county" - that's how the narrative describes the property at the heart of this story's conflict (21). It originally belonged to the father of Cornelia Mardis; after his death it remains in her name, but on her death her husband, Anselm Holland, comes into "full possession" of it (3). However, he only holds it "in trust" for their twin sons (5). When Anselm and Cornelia married, it was a thriving place, with both "white and negro tenants" (3), and an unspecified number of "Negro servants" who work in the house (5), but "year by year," after Anse drives his sons away, it deteriorates: at the time of his death, "the good broad fields" have gone "back to jungle and gully," and "the very house was falling down on his head" (9).