Frequent visitors to downtown Brookhaven are probably familiar with the white house on West Congress Street behind the insurance building. It’s two stories, there’s a shop in the back and most memorably, the front yard usually has hand-crafted outdoor furniture on display.

That home is owned by John and Tammy Pruitt. John said he doesn’t like to toot his own horn and was mostly content to let his wife speak on his behalf.

John has worked in contracting and carpentry all his life, until the early 1990s when the husband and wife team got into flipping houses.

“We flipped properties before flipping properties was cool,” Tammy said.

The Pruitts have been married for 36 years, and they have three children. John is from South Carolina, and in the late ’90s the two lived in Burnsville, North Carolina, where they owned a restaurant.

Tammy is native to Vicksburg.

“I had not lived in Vicksburg since I was 21 years old and moved away in 1980,” she said. “I was ready to come home.”

Tammy had a brother working in Brookhaven, so in 2008 the couple bought the property on West Congress and she went to work with him. At the time, the house was a bit of a fixer upper, so John spent his time working on the property.

“When he got through with the house, he had to find something to do,” Tammy said.

John got to work making furniture, and it’s turned into a fairly successful enterprise. Besides outdoor furniture, John can make bows and arrows and toys for children. Tammy also uses the wood byproducts to make crafts to sell. John can often be seen working in the garage.

“On any given day, he’s out here working from 7 in the morning until whatever time at night,” Tammy said.