By John Colfield

She was an Old Oxford fixture in her day if ever there was one. 

Patricia Brown Young is among many generations of her family to call Oxford home, from the 1800s to the present. 

When her father, Ross Brown, died, “Tricia” inherited the old cotton warehouse from the family gin. And she turned it into a masterpiece and the beginning of these days we now live. 

The Country Village Mall was the first time my generation knew for sure that yes, we were cool. 

On Feb.15, 1986, the grand old structure went up in smoke and flames.

It was a blow some say we never recovered from. Much was lost. But the memories of walking down the big hall into the Warehouse restaurant for dinner with friends can never be extinguished.