Preservation Greensboro acquired the 105-year-old Carrie and Charles Angle House located at 919 Spring Garden Street in the heart of the College Hill Historic District. The organization is marketing the property to purchasers who will complete a restoration of the home.
The home was first occupied by the Angle family, natives of Henry County Virginia. The couple moved to Greensboro in 1907 and Charles took a position in the city as a lumber merchant. Through their daughter Ruth, the Angle family maintained ownership of the house for a remarkable 69 years! Ruth is remembered in Greensboro as a librarian at nearby UNCG.
Subsequent owners of the house converted the single family house to four rental apartments in the 1980s, and the property was acquired by members of College Place United Methodist Church in 1998. In June of 2011 a fire damaged the roof and rear portions of the house. Although the church was granted a Certificate of Appropriateness for demolition with a 365-day delay by the Greensboro Preservation Commission in the summer of 2012, Preservation Greensboro began negotiations the church to determine alternatives to demolition. With funds from the neighborhood’s Municipal Service District (MSD) Program, Preservation Greensboro was able to acquire the property in a transaction today.
This is the first case in which MSD funds have been used directly for historic preservation purposes in Greensboro, a major development made possible through the work of the College Hill Neighborhood Association and their District 3 City Council representative, Zack Matheny, who took the initiative to persuade City Council to amend the applicable ordinances to expand the possible uses for MSD funding to include historic preservation purposes.
The approximately 3,800 square foot house will require a complete restoration in order to return its plan to a single-family layout, per stipulations placed on the house by Preservation Greensboro. Architectural features such as the original diamond-pane windows and wide wrap-around porch must be retained. Some interior appointments, such as the original fireplace and oak flooring must also be retained. These features will be protected by a preservation easement, held and monitored by Preservation Greensboro.
As a contributing property within the College Hill National Register District, the house is eligible to apply to the State Historic Preservation Office for income tax credits through the Historic Rehabilitation Tax Credit Program as a Certified Rehabilitation project. The program can allow homeowners a state tax credit of 30% for rehabilitation work that must meet The Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for Rehabilitation.
“This is an important day for College Hill and for preservation in Greensboro” says Benjamin Briggs, Executive Director of Preservation Greensboro, “because the members of College Place United Methodist Church recognized the value of this property to the neighborhood and the city as a whole. They and the residents of the College Hill neighborhood have provided this landmark a new lease on life that will result in a major investment and increased tax base. This is what historic preservation does best.”
Preservation Greensboro will continue to market the property to interested parties who will enhance the historic home and make necessary improvements. Interested parties may contact Benjamin Briggs at bbriggs@blandwood.org or by phone at 336-272-5003.
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