Struggling With The Housing Market? Try Restoring A Historic Home
If you’ve even thought about purchasing a home recently you know how insane the market is these days. Maybe you feel yourself being priced out or outbid on newer updated homes. One solution is to try restoring a historic home. The Charlotte Museum of History wants to help you do just that.
About The Event
Learn the ins and outs of preserving a historic home from a Charlotte couple who restored one of the city’s oldest houses. The Charlotte Museum of History on May 27 for a live-streamed Lunch and Learn. Brian and Sarah Clarke will talk about their multi-year restoration project for the 1790 Sloan-Porter House. The house is one of the few remaining 18th-century homes in Charlotte. And the restoration project won The Charlotte Museum of History’s 2020 Residential Preservation Award of Distinction.
The lunch and learn will feature the Clarkes as well as guest host Kristi Harpst. Harpst is the program manager for the City of Charlotte’s Historic Districts. She is also a member of The Charlotte Museum of History’s Preservation Committee. They will discuss the trials and successes of restoring the Sloan-Porter House.
The Sloan-Porter House
The Sloan-Porter House is one of the last remaining historic residences in the vicinity of Steele Creek Presbyterian Church, which was founded in 1760. The house is one of only two original houses in the Dixie and Berryhill communities. And unfortunately, it is likely the only one that will retain its historic rural setting. This is possible as it is surrounded on three sides by the Berryhill Nature Preserve. When Brian Clarke purchased the house in 2015, it was abandoned. The house lacked running water, had no functional bathroom or kitchen, and suffered from severe rot and insect damage.
Over the next five years, he and his wife, Sarah Hammett Clarke, restored the neglected farmhouse into a beautiful, functional home. They showcase many of the home’s original features, including woodwork and windows dating back to an 1890s expansion to the home and even earlier.
How To Attend
Visit charlottemuseum.org/events to receive the Zoom dial-in information. This live-streamed Lunch & Learn is free and takes place at noon on Thursday, May 27. If you miss it don’t worry a recording will be available on the museum’s YouTube channel after the event.
Have you ever thought about restoring a historic home? I’ve always loved visiting places like Colonial Williamsburg, the historic houses in Savannah and Charleston, and Biltmore. I’m excited to know places like this exist right here in Charlotte as well. If you like this you might like https://foxsportsradiocharlotte.com/2021/05/11/the-charlotte-museum-of-history-commemorates-meckdec-day/
