Preservation Greensboro presented its annual Preservation Awards on February 10, 2010. Winners were nominated by members of the organization and the community. Projects were recognized on several merits, including adherence to established preservation practice and visibility from a public right-of-way.
The event was held at the Event Center at the Revolution Mill Studios and attended by more 120 people. Preservation Greensboro’s Organizational Visibility Committee chair Stefan-Leih Geary presented the five awards along with Executive Director Benjamin Briggs.
The annual awards event is one way Preservation Greensboro meets its mission of saving the Gate City’s historic and architectural treasures. The award-winning properties included three private homes, a church congregation, and an office.
The Charles Morrison House, constructed in 1908 in the College Hill historic district, is a typical example of Greensboro’s vernacular Triple-A house form. The form takes its name from the two side gables matched with a third center gable above the main entry. The home on Joyner Street had been used as a rental property for decades and suffered damage when a tree fell upon it. Owners Lori Campbell and John Cocking purchased the home in 2007 and commenced a major restoration that included preserving the original windows and architectural features along with improvements to the landscaping and yard. Today, the charming pumpkin-colored house is restored and returned to single family use. It serves a reminder of the creative opportunities that exist in Greensboro’s oldest neighborhoods.
The William Fields House constructed in the late 1870’s and stands as a splendid example of Gothic Revival architecture. Fields was a tobacco merchant, and he erected this home at a time when South Greensboro was the premiere neighborhood of the city. Located at 447 Arlington Street, the house survived the 1936 Greensboro Tornado and served as headquarters for the Old Greensborough Preservation Society before being purchased by Bob Isner and Nate Bowman. The partnership utilized federal and state tax credits extended through the property’s listing on the National Register of Historic Places and as a Guilford County historic landmark property.
Windows were re-used and painstaking efforts were taken to match the mortar color and jointing technique, as well as repairing damage caused by sandblasting in the early 1980s that nearly destroyed the century old brick. Now, this unique Southside home has been adaptively reused as office space, and depicts an unusual chapter of North Carolina’s architectural history.
The H. H. Felder House was constructed in the Fisher Park historic district in 1917 with a blend of Craftsman and Tudor architectural details. Although it was carefully maintained as a residence, the home on Virginia Street suffered from deferred maintenance and remodeling updates through the years that resulted in loss of unique architectural details. When owners Margaret and Rick Luebke decided it was time to restore their home, they contacted designer/builder SouthernEvergreen to reveal the homes hidden treasures. Pocket doors were uncovered, the staircase was refinished, and a span of original windows were uncovered by a wall. All new cedar shakes were installed and will weather naturally as an authentic exterior finish. Upon completion, this Fisher Park jewel once again shines.
The R. B. Bowman House was constructed in 1923 and remained the home of the Bowman family through the 1970s. It remained, vacant, in the family until Keith Bowman donated the house to the Preservation Greensboro Development Fund (PGDF) to ensure that it would be preserved. In 2008, Sarah Hodge purchased the Craftsman-style house on Bellevue Street from the PGDF and with the help of a Restoration Grant from Architectural Salvage of Greensboro, she has turned this once-empty house back into a home. Today, the charming house retains its early twentieth century charms alongside modern conveniences, and once again enjoys the luxury of a caring homeowner!
Holy Trinity Episcopal Church on North Greene Street purchased the J. Van Henderson House and the E.B. Hogan House to expand their Fisher Park neighborhood campus. The Henderson House is a spacious American Foursquare constructed in 1918 and moved to its present lot in 1927. The Hogan House is a relaxed Craftsman-style home constructed in 1925. Both homes contribute to the visual charm of the neighborhood – including the Henderson residence’s slate roof with pressed metal cresting and the Hogan residence’s milk quartz porch foundation. Instead of destroying the houses that stand as part of the Fisher Park historic district, the congregation chose to renovate the buildings for use as the Sacred Garden Bookstore. In addition, the large rooms with sunny windows now serve as meeting space for intimate gatherings. With this exciting project by Holy Trinity Episcopal Church, the Fisher Park neighborhood now features a resource for renewal, as well as restoration!
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