Project

Revised 12/20/2010
Revised 8/18/2019


Investors Consider Restoring Historic Property in Lexington, NC

Description from pg 52 of the City's report prepared by Heather Fearnbach, April 2013: https://www.lexingtonnc.gov/home/showdocument?id=1341


House 102 W. Third Avenue, ca. 1910, Noncontributing Building Heavily altered two-story weatherboarded house with an altered hipped roof, a projecting hipped bay on the west side of the façade, and an enclosed sleeping porch on the east side of the second story; Queen Anne/1 and replacement 1/1 sash, circa 1950 shed-roofed entry porch supported by a metal post, wood shingles on second story, brick piers infilled with brick to form a continuous foundation, one-story rear shed addition. The house appears on the 1916-17 city directory map and was occupied by William F. and Augusta Harris in 1925-26. Mr. Harris was the manager of the Lexington Telephone Company.  

In 2010, the 102 West 3rd Avenue property was a 4-bedroom apartment building.  It was converted to apartments by the prior owner (Cecil).  It is currently (2019) a two unit apartment.  One unit on each floor.  A group of investors was formed to explore conversion of the property back to a single-family home in 2010.  The property may come back on the market soon, 2019.  The property is a non-contributing property in Lexington's Residential Historic District.  One possibility is to restore the property as a contributing property in order to get State and Federal tax credits.



A new investor group is exploring the conversion options, costs, and other factors that may make conversion practical. 


The photo at left shows the property from West 3rd Ave in 2010.  It's exterior is unaltered from the inventory by Fearnbach.

There is very little of significance in its architecture.  Over its 100 years, it appears to have changed very little.  The primary changes are the removal of a front porch that ran midway in the front ( where you see the small covered landing in the photo at left).  The 1923 Sanborn map shown below is the only information at this date that illustrates that the porch existed.   In addition, the upper right front corner was a sleeping porch that has been converted to a conditioned room.



We are seeking additional information on the structure from the North Carolina State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO).  A representative from SHPO met with us on December 9, 2010.  We learned that the house appears original except for the removal of the wrap around porch and closing in of the sleeping porch.  Two chimneys may also have been removed.  Restoration of the front porch may be the only requirement to returning the building to a "contributing building" status.   If you know of anyone that may have additional information please contact our groups.  If the building can be restored to its original configuration it would be eligible for State and Federal Tax Credits.


Contact me at the email address below if you would like to comment on this blog or receive additional information about this project.


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Links:
  1. North Carolina State Tax Credits
  2. Sanborn Maps (wikipedia)
  3. North Carolina Sanborn® Maps,  enter Lexington and you will get access to maps at various intervals going back into the late 1800s
  4. Lexington Historic Preservation Commission