At first glance, there’s nothing ex-ceptional about the green house at 223 Fourth St. SW. In fact, it looks pretty shabby. The building slouches. The wood around the windows seems to be rotting. The yard is a mess—there’s a picnic table with no benches, a brown Christmas tree, a rusty folding chair sitting in a garden of weeds and wildflowers. A red mailbox leans precariously atop a rust gate.
This is the picture of history in Charlottesville.
The City is keenly aware of its history, and sensitive about preserving old buildings as a way of keeping the past alive. Historic buildings like Monticello or the Rotunda stand as tourist destinations and cultural brands, displayed as a way to show outsiders how this place differs from others.
Charlottesville’s eight “design control districts,” which include the Mall, North Downtown, W. Main Street and the Corner, are like open-air museums where pedestrians stroll past both old and new buildings, and where the Board of Architectural Review strictly oversees any renovation or new construction.
Apart from the landmarks and the eight historic neighborhoods, there are 65 individual houses in Charlottesville that the City has designated “historically significant” [see sidebar, page 23]. These buildings are not always beautiful or grand, or associated with rich or famous people. The house at 223 Fourth St., known as the Smith-Reaves house, is one such property.
Once the City bestows a “historic” designation, that’s about where the public responsibility ends. There is no procedure for inspecting these historic properties on a regular basis, and over the years many of them have fallen into disrepair. Furthermore, there is no standard procedure for informing prospective buyers that the house they’re looking at has been designated as a historic structure.
So new homeowners are often unaware that the house they just bought is protected—until they decide to demolish some of it, or build an addition. Only then, in most cases, does the City inform owners that the house is protected, and that they must take on the often-expensive responsibility of preserving the structure. Otherwise, the City could shut down the work.
The Piedmont Housing Alliance (PHA) bought the Smith-Reaves house in January from Franklin White for $75,000. The Alliance buys old properties and vacant lots in Charlottesville, and builds “affordable” homes on the sites, usually sold for less than $200,000. That was the plan for 223 Fourth St., until PHA discovered the house they had just purchased was a historic structure.
According to Mark Watson, director of development for PHA, in 2000 the City gave the Alliance a list of various homes that were vacant and boarded up, or that had racked up lots of City Code violations. “One of those houses that we were given as a target to buy was 223,” says Watson. “We had no idea it was a historic house.”
Watson claims PHA didn’t further learn the Smith-Reaves house was protected as a historic structure until they applied for demolition permits. In April, the City’s Board of Architectural Review (BAR) denied their request to demolish the house on the grounds that it was historic. Reviewing the case on appeal in May, City Council seemed ready to uphold the BAR’s decision, so PHA withdrew their request to demolish. Now, PHA is trying to hammer out a preservation strategy with the BAR.
Upon closer inspection, there’s something kooky about the Smith-Reaves house. It’s the tiny second-storey windows. They sit merely two feet above the front door; at floor level on the second storey. This is one of the features that make the house either “quirky” or “obsolete,” depending on your point of view. Regardless, preservationists think they make the house worth saving.
According to the City’s Architecture and Historic Survey, Armistead Smith built the Smith-Reaves house sometime between 1866 and 1870. At that time, the house sat behind a grand estate on Ridge Street, where today sits a fire station and the Salvation Army homeless shelter.
Daniel Bluestone, director of the historic preservation program at UVA’s School of Architecture, says the early owners were probably freed slaves, and that subsequent owners likely worked for owners of the nearby Ridge Street estates. City directories and Census data provide historical touchstones for the house.
“In 1893 a woman named Mary Brown bought the house,” says Bluestone. “In 1895 a black woman named Mary Brown is listed as a servant at 408 Park St. in the City Directory.”
Further, the U.S. Census from 1920 shows that a 36-year-old black woman named Lucy Washington rented the house that year, working as a “laundress.” In 1930, a 65-year-old black man named John Reeves, a laborer, owned the house with his wife, Fannie, a cook. They shared the house with four children.
The Smith-Reaves house, Bluestone says, “is one of the oldest wood-frame structures in Charlottesville. It captures the story of freedmen in Charlottesville pulling together meager resources to live in this city.”
Jacky Taylor, a member of the local group Preservation Piedmont who spoke against demolition at the BAR hearing, says modest buildings like the Smith-Reaves house need love, too.
“Even though it’s not very beautiful, it’s significant for other reasons,” Taylor says. “It provides a context for a broader understanding of life in the community. Everyday life is also important.”
Aaron Wunsch, also of Preservation Piedmont, says the Smith-Reaves house represents a history that, in Charlottesville, is often marginalized. “If we’re going to say that the grand 19th-century homes on Ridge Street and Park Street are the historical core of Charlottesville, shouldn’t we also include the people who did the work?”
Yet even committed preservationists admit that any house, especially one built for poor folks, isn’t going to last 140 years without careful maintenance. The Smith-Reaves house, the PHA’s Watson argues, has not been cared for.
In his presentation to the BAR on April 19, PHA’s Watson presented a structural engineer’s report and several City Code violation notices received by the previous owner. According to draft minutes of the meeting, Watson argued that there were many reasons to demolish the house—the roof and floors are decayed and failing, the wiring is deficient, the foundation is deteriorating. In addition, there is evidence of termites and Powder Post beetles as well as rotting joists and beams. The ceiling, said Watson, is less than 7′ high.
“You can’t even put a shirt on without jamming your fingers into the ceiling,” says Watson. “It’s quaint, but it’s not the type of house I would be trying to put my buyers into.”
Watson says that restoring the Smith-Reaves house could cost $150,000 to $175,000; when added to the purchase price, it would push up the retail cost of the 1,080-square-foot house to $250,000. Watson suggested they would measure and photograph the house before PHA tore it down, and recognize the site with a marker. The BAR, however, voted 4-3 to deny demolition, with PHA staffer Katie Swenson abstaining.
In May, Watson appealed the BAR’s decision to City Council, but as the Councilors’ discussion seemed to indicate that they would uphold the BAR’s ruling, Watson decided to go a different course. He has met with BAR members, trying to figure out a new solution. However, he says that trying to preserve the Smith-Reaves house out of respect for the City’s black history is a case of too little, too late.
“I wish the Fourth Street area had been designated long before it was,” he says. “This house is sitting all by itself. Its age is important, but the impact of its history has been so subverted by the destruction over time of its context.”
“I think they should make more affordable housing,” says Anthony Johnson, who lives near the Smith-Reaves house at 233 Fourth St. SW. “The house is pretty run down,” he says, casting a skeptical glance down the block. “It’s just been sitting there.”
But this is Charlottesville, and clearly, preservationists will fight for even a dilapidated house on an obscure dead-end street. So perhaps the moral of this story is caveat emptor, “let the buyer beware.”
Mary Joy Scala, the City’s preservation and design planner, says conflicts between the desire to preserve and the urge to modernize are infrequent—but PHA’s experience on Fourth Street has prompted the City to improve communication with prospective homebuyers on the question of historic designation. Scala says she wants a home’s “historic” status to appear on the real estate assessor’s website.
Once you own a historic property, the government doesn’t provide much help with the potentially expensive task of renovation. Properties on the national or state register of historic places can get tax credits, but Scala says they’re only helpful if the improvements are major. The City has a fund earmarked for loans to help pay for small projects, at a 3 percent interest rate.
Reflecting on the PHA’s dilemma, Scala says, “I don’t think this happens too often.
“Usually, people find out that their house is historic before they get in that situation, one way or another. People call us and ask if they’re in a historic district, which makes it so much easier for them and us.”
Don’t know much about history?
These houses have been designated by the City
The 65 properties below have been designated by the City of Charlottesville as “historically significant.” The City compiled the list in 1990, including every building that was at least 100 years old. Based on recommendations from the Planning Commission and the Board of Architectural Review, the City Council can bestow “historic” designation on any building that meets one of eight criteria set out in the City’s zoning codes. According to Mary Joy Scala, the City’s preservation and design planner, a building can be “historic” if it has historic, architectural or cultural significance; if it is associated with a historic person, event, or renowned architect; if it has distinguishing aesthetic qualities or distinctive design; if it is a rare, first or last example of a particular style; if it is part of a geographic area that is significant as a whole; or if it is linked to similar significant buildings.—J.B.
Belmont
759 Belmont Ave.
Disney-Keith House
123 Bollingwood Rd.
Young Building
1102 Carlton Ave.
B.W. Rosser Cottage No. 1
907 Cottage Ln.
Rugby
908 Cottage Ln.
Rosser Cottage No. 2
909 Cottage Ln.
Shackelford-Bannister House
513 Dice St.
Barksdale-Totty House or The Grove
402 Dice St.
Tyree Thomas House
406 Dice St.
Elijah Thomas House
410 Dice St.
Ferrell House
412 Dice St.
Carter-Gilmer Outbuildings
210 Eighth St. NE
Cottage at Hillcrest Apartments
200 15th St. NW
Brand-Edwards House
205 Fifth St. SW
Barksdale-Coles-Hailstock House
217 Fifth St. SW
Shelton-Fuller House
301 Fifth St. SW
Hawkins-Wondree House
418 Fifth St. SW
King-Runkle House
201 14th St. NW
Smith-Reaves House
223 Fourth St. SW
Dabney-Thompson House
1602 Gordon Ave.
Gardner-Mays Cottage
1022 Grove St.
Armstrong Knitting Factory
700 Harris St.
George T. Nimmo House
204 Hartman’s Mill Rd.
James D. Nimmo-Simms House
208 Hartman’s Mill Rd.
C.D. Fishburne House
801 High St.
Barringer Mansion
1404 Jefferson Park Ave.
The Farm
1201 Jefferson St.
Carter Gilmer House
800 Jefferson St.
Leitch-Haden House
901 Jefferson St.
Keith House
1615 Keith Valley Rd.
Robert Goins House
114 Lankford Ave.
Howard-Jackson House
214 Lankford Ave.
Locust Grove
810 Locust Ave.
Lyons House
610 Lyons Court
Lyons House Carriage House
706 Lyons Court Ln.
The Willow Cottage House
1118 Market St.
Timberlake-Branham House
1512 Market St.
Woolen Mills Chapel
1819 Market St.
Pireus Store
1901 Market St.
Nais House
224 Ninth St. SW
Oaklawn
501 Ninth St. SW
Hard Bargain
1105 Park St.
Geiger-Coles House
1108 Park St.
Finch-McGee Cottage
1112 Park St.
King Lumber Co. Warehouse
608 Preston Ave.
The Rock House
1010 Preston Ave.
Wyndhurst
605 Preston Pl.
Preston-Norris Cottage/Wyndhurst Servants Quarters
611 Preston Pl.
Robert L. Updike House
620 Prospect Ave./
105 University Manor
Hoppe-Humphrey-Ferron House
752 Ridge St.
Joseph Brown House
818 Ridge St.
Riverdale
1328 Riverdale Dr.
House at Pireus
202 Riverside Ave.
Stonefield
1204 Rugby Rd./1719 Mason Ln.
Four Acres
1314 Rugby Rd.
Hawkins-Lee House
204 Seventh St. SW
Hawkins-Parker House
208 Seventh St. SW
Parker House
201 Sixth St. NW
Benjamin Tonsler House
327 Sixth St. SW
Morea
209-211 Sprigg Ln.
Huntley Hall
214 Stribling Ave.
Nicholas Lewis House
309 12th St. NE
Turner-LaRowe House
1 University Court
Enderly
603 Watson Ave.
Monticello Wine Company House
212 Wine St.