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Vernon Winfrey opens his barbershop in East Nashville's Cleveland Park neighborhood between 9 and 10 a.m., often getting there before the other barbers come in. By 11, the place is awash in conversation, with friends and neighbors popping in, smiling the moment they see the owner at his post—one of the three weathered faux—leather chairs closest to the window. The soft—spoken 75—year—old lets others hold court, but it's obvious who is king on Vernon Winfrey Ave. He listens more than he talks, and it's an honor to be addressed by him.

The tall and thin former soldier and former Nashville Metro Councilman whose world—famous daughter, queen of talk show television Oprah Winfrey, credits for being a tough disciplinarian during her formative years, is modest in his tastes and brimming with energy, despite some recent health woes. Why? Because, as he's said countless times to reporters and the simply curious alike, he loves what he does for a living. He's been a barber since his teens, and will continue to be, but now he and his wife Barbara are intent on giving this troubled neighborhood a facelift. Having established B&V Development in November 2007, the pair plans to build a mixed—use property to the east of Ellington Parkway—an area where no major developer has set foot in decades. Winfrey, who has been amassing property there since the 1960s, wants to see the neighborhood revived.

Designed by Nashville's Dryden Abernathy Architecture Design, Winberry Place will include six single—family homes, three townhomes and three apartments. The one—acre project at Lishey Avenue and Vernon Winfrey Avenue will be anchored, of course, by the brand new Winfrey's Barbershop and another retail space.

First slated to break ground in February, Winberry Place recently hit a snag amidst lease negotiations between Winfrey and the operators of the convenience store at Lishey Ave. "It won't be long," Winfrey assures. Meantime, he's staying busy between running the barbershop and his duties on the Tennessee State Board of Barber Examiners, to which he was appointed by Gov. Phil Bredesen. And he hasn't shelved his other project, Things Unspoken, the book about Oprah that shook up the world's gossip columns last May, four months before Winberry Place was announced. When New York Daily News checked in with Oprah, she said she was "shocked" and "stunned" to find out that her father was writing a book about her. Now, in his signature soft—spoken manner, Winfrey tells his customers that his book is on hold. And why shouldn't it be? He's got a neighborhood to build.

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