Wrecking Ball or No?
Each week, we get dozens of e-mails from readers wondering what ever happened to the houses featured in our popular back-page column, Save This Old House. We know you’re dying to find out if that Georgia Greek Revival escaped demolition, or if that showstopping California Queen Anne found a new owner. Some of the houses we featured last year did in fact find new owners—owners who are at work painstakingly restoring them right now. Others were not so lucky.
Jan/Feb 2013: Maine Second Empire
Location: Frankfort, ME
Status: Saved!
Built in 1864 by local shipwright Franklin Treat, this 4,305-square-foot Second Empire wowed us with its impressive woodwork and hand-carved embellishments. The home was purchased in September 2013, putting an end to over 30 years of vacancy, and we’ve been told that renovations are underway to infuse this coastal gem with new life.
The home’s history is intertwined with Frankfort’s 19th-century industries. Builder Franklin Treat was a local merchant and shipwright during an era when granite, lumber, and shipbuilding were the small town’s big businesses. Ten years after building the house, Treat sold it to Louisa T. Peirce, whose late husband was granite baron George Albert Peirce and whose great-nephew Waldo Peirce became a well-known American painter. Despite decades of vacancy, Treat’s initials remain etched in the front doors’ glass panels—a lasting signature from the craftsman who built her.
March 2013: Roomy Queen Anne
Location: Appleton City, MO
Status: Saved!
The house was built in 1907 by William B. Stout, a teacher-turned-entrepreneur who saw big potential for growth in his small agricultural community after the railroad came to town in 1870. With just $350 in capital, Stout opened a grocery that he ran for more than five decades. At age 53, he put his earnings to work building this house for himself, his wife, Lena, and his son, William Jr. It remained in his family until the 1990s.
This graceful Queen Anne and its beautiful original marble and wood details caught the eye of readers from Cedar Rapids, Iowa, about 400 miles north of Appleton City. The dedicated new owners make the six-hour commute every other week to work on the house with hopes to move there in the next year.
April 2013: Virginia Italianate
Location: Danville, VA
Status: Still Available
Located on the North Carolina–Virginia border, this post–Civil War Italianate is still available for just $24,900. A stately front porch encloses the home’s 2,758 square feet and most of the original woodwork remains within, including heart-pine floors. This historic home needs new plumbing and wiring and an updated heating system, as well as roof repairs, though whoever buys the home will likely receive incentives from the town. Anyone interested can contact Mark Willard: 434-209-0618
This Danville Italianate has deep roots in the city’s prosperous past. According to TOH Magazine’s research on the home, its origins trace back to 1881, when grocer and future city councilman John W. Carter purchased the land. He and his wife, Margaret, built the Italianate and went on to welcome nine children. The home has changed hands 14 times since then, eventually becoming a multifamily dwelling with several additions built to house tenants when Danville’s tobacco and textile industries were still thriving.
May 2013: Georgia Greek Revival
Location: Social Circle, GA
The cottage’s roots run deep in Social Circle history. Originally home to local businessman William Akridge and his wife, Atetia, who raised three children there when Social Circle was an important railway hub, the house narrowly escaped destruction in 1864 during General Sherman’s March to the Sea, which left a number of nearby buildings burned to the ground. After 70 years in the Akridge family, it became home to Celeste Dupree, a local preservationist who restored over a dozen historic properties in the area. After Dupree died, in 2005, a local Baptist church bought the property and planned to develop the lot—prompting the Save This Old House listing.
Status: Saved!
“We have a success story!” cheers Tom Brown, president of the Historic Preservation Society of Social Circle. “We got a terrific response from the article,” he says. Though a local businessman ultimately stepped in to move the 1858 home, “the attention from all over the country really prompted the sale.” The three-bedroom cottage was successfully relocated a whopping 150 yards from its original site to make room for the adjacent church’s educational facility. Funds are currently being raised and a full restoration is slated for next year.
June 2013: Indiana Queen Anne
Location: Hope, IN
Status: Demolished
The 1880s Queen Anne had deep roots in Hope’s agricultural boom. In 1916, Charles Stafford and his wife, Suzanna, moved their family from nearby Thornton to strike it rich in Hope’s thriving grain industry. The couple bought the house and the local grain mill, and the lavish home quickly became a gathering place for extended family. At holiday time, as many as 10 relatives could be found sitting in rocking chairs in the living room, which spanned the entire width of the first floor. The house stayed in the Stafford family until 2008, when it was eventually sold to the neighboring community center.
Despite spirited efforts from the neighboring community center and interest from our readers, no one was able to relocate this 2,600-square-foot beauty, which was ultimately demolished as the community center expanded.
Originally listed for just $1 with the condition that it be physically moved off-site, the house needed a buyer willing to take on the significant expense of relocating a 2,600-square-foot structure. Contact for the listing was handled through Greg Sekula, who fielded inquiries from preservation-minded readers and community members alike. But the logistics and cost of a full house move proved insurmountable, and the community center’s expansion timeline ultimately won out.
July 2013: Oregon Folk Victorian
Location: Portland, OR
Status: Saved!
How It Started: The save effort began with a letter to This Old House from a concerned neighbor, Caroline Dao, who wrote: “This sweet Folk Victorian cottage needs your help! It’s located just down the street from me in Portland’s Boise-Eliot district.” She noted that a developer was threatening to demolish the home, and urged action to protect the rows of Craftsman and Queen Anne workers’ cottages that give the area its character.
The relocation of this 120-year-old Folk Victorian cottage in Portland’s historic Boise-Eliot district is a testament to grit and gumption. After our article ran, neighborhood activists rallied for months to stave off demolition and raise enough money to move the home to a nearby lot. In September 2013, proud residents looked on as the charming 1,731-square-foot home made its well-deserved two-mile trek. We’ve heard that renovations by a local couple are in progress.
Origin Story: According to the original TOH listing, the house was built in 1890 for Edwin Rayworth, a housepainter and wallpaper hanger. It later became home to a series of fishermen and longshoremen, reflecting the working-class roots of Portland’s Boise-Eliot district—a neighborhood TOH named one of its “Best Old-House Neighborhoods” back in 2009.
August 2013: Texas Queen Anne Farmhouse
Location: Garland, TX
Status: Saved!
How It Happened: Cotton growers John and Nina Pace built this Queen Anne–inspired farmhouse around 1895. The house has had a charmed existence, surviving a massive fire in 1899, a tornado that leveled much of the area in the 1920s, and a previous move. When Garland announced plans to demolish it to build apartments, Moore appeared before the city council on the eve of demolition, armed with his past issues of TOH magazine open to the “Save This Old House” column, and helped convince the council to hold the wrecking ball.
After being granted a six-month stay of demolition championed by This Old House reader Louis Moore, the historic Pace farmhouse in downtown Garland received overwhelming attention. So much so that the influx of calls from passionate readers and residents filled the city council’s voicemail inbox. We’re happy to report that Moore himself will become the new owner of the home, when he pays to move it later this year onto a lot adjacent to his current house. Following the article, Louis was also appointed the chairman of a new Special Task Force on Historical Preservation, and he’s already worked to establish Garland’s first historic district.
August 2013 Bonus: The Lyles House
Location: Garland, TX
Status: Saved!
Readers may also remember the neighboring 1870s Lyles home from our bonus tablet edition. The 1,200-square-foot home was saved as well, and will be moved later this year to the newly formed historic district, at which point it will be restored through private/public partnership.
September 2013: California Stick Style Mansion
Location: Riverside, CA
Status: Still Available
If temperature averages of 66 degrees in the dead of winter and rolling hillsides filled with citrus trees isn’t enough to convince you to move to Riverside, California, how about a free home? Built in 1892 by citrus mogul William McIntyre, this imposing 3,793-square-foot manse is still available for $1 to anyone who can relocate it. The interior boasts a mahogany staircase as well as maple and oak-carved mantels. A two-tiered porch wraps around the house, providing ample space to enjoy the temperate weather. Those interested in the home can contact Nathan Freeman: 951-826-5374.
October 2013: Ohio Foursquare
Location: Toledo, OH
Status: Still Available
Nestled in the historic Old West End district, this sprawling 3,632-square-foot house and its proud Corinthian columns remain a testament to the grandeur and affluence enjoyed by the neighborhood in the early 1900s. Though the Great Depression took its economic toll, the area is on the upswing, making now a perfect time to swoop in and restore the six-bedroom, three-bathroom home to its turn-of-the-century prime. Rest assured that this renovation demands no small commitment, as all new systems and significant structural repairs are needed. But maybe the recently reduced listing price of $1,777 is incentive enough to invest in this piece of history.
Nov/Dec 2013: Historic Missouri Farmhouse
Location: Maplewood, MO
Status: Still Available
Despite the interest generated by our column, this grand Gothic farmhouse is still being offered by the city of Maplewood. Residents are hopeful that someone will step forward soon and restore what is thought to be the oldest house in town. Whoever does will own a place that’s rich with history and historic details including a cherry balustrade and original mantels and woodwork.
As originally featured in TOH Magazine’s November 2013 issue, this grand farmhouse was built circa 1848 for State Senator Charles Rannells and his wife, Mary. The couple raised three children here when the home was part of their 2,200-acre estate. Their live-in staff tended the fields while Charles and Mary hobnobbed with prominent members of the community — Charles was even rumored to have rubbed elbows with Mark Twain and Ulysses S. Grant.
