414 Park Avenue ~ A Restoration Artisan’s Victorian ~ $69,900 for 4,000 Square Feet of Living!

At the gateway to the Historic Park Avenue/Long Street Historic District, 414 Park Avenue with nearly 4,000 square feet of living space is everything the restoration craftsman wants in a historic Victorian. Like many Victorian homes of its day, 414 Park Avenue's exterior is graced with a wonderful wrap-around front porch and (2) sitting balconies.  The home features enormous rooms, hardwood floors, ample center hallways, and (8) fireplaces!  414 Park Avenue has a large back yard with a detached one-car garage.  

The North Long Street~Park Avenue Historic District was posted to the National Register of Historic Places on June 20, 1985.  The neighborhood features architecture from the late 19th and 20th Century Revival: Colonial Revival; American Movement: Bungalow/Craftsman; Victorian: Gothic.  The architecturally significant periods are: 1900-1924; 1875-1899; 1925-1949.  There are over 46 properties considered "Contributing Properties". 

This house, already a jewel in the neighborhood's crown, will be a masterpiece when its restoration and rehabilitation are complete.  A good portion of the home's restoration process has already been completed, yet there is more to do!  The renovated kitchen is delightfully large and sunny and features granite counter tops and wonderful lighting.  It opens with French doors to the renovated dining room (currently being utilized as a family room/den) with built-in china cabinet. The kitchen additionally features a walk-in pantry and rear mudroom that opens to a walled patio space that was once an enclosed room.  

The asymmetrically-massed house is sheltered by a shingled roof that is enlivened by a projecting pediment gable, a hip extension, and hip-roofed dormers.The terraced front lawn and wide central walk is enclosed with picket fencing. The concrete staircase from the city sidewalk to the front entry welcomes guest with a pergola at the gate. The over 500 sq ft wrap-around porch is straightforward in design without the more elaborate trimmings of the Victorian era. Windows in plain surrounds and a second floor balcony all complete the façade.

The first floor ceiling height reaches 11 ft. in most rooms. The center hall plan is finished with symmetrically molded surrounds, a turned baluster staircase, and original fireplace with its clean-lined mantel. Numerous original features still remain and include fireplace and mantels in many of the rooms.  

The terraced front lawn, with landscaping and large, shady old growth trees, is enclosed with picket fencing.  The staircase from the city sidewalk to the central entry walkway welcomes guests with a pergola over-structure at its gate.  The large back lawn includes a detached one-car garage.

Built as an elegant single-family residence, the property is presently occupied. 414 Park Avenue has (5) bedrooms, (4) baths (only one bath is operational). Home has NO Heat or A/C so it will need HVAC installed. The current owners use window heat and air units to heat and cool house.

This is a work in progress!  This c. 1900 property shows signs of its  history and the seller has priced it in relation to the average value of similar houses in the area with consideration for the work that needs to be finalized.  The listing price of $69900. reflects the remaining needed restoration vs. the grand scale of this 4000 square-foot home. The shingled roof is approximately 10-15 years old, and in good shape, apart from a flat roof with an intermittent leak in a rear bedroom that should be repaired. 

414 Park Avenue has tremendous potential to be a live/work property, provide rental revenue, or convert to a B&B or restaurant. The local community is willing to work with a new owner on redevelopment or improvements.  A preliminary cost budget for renovations can be made available by a preservation contractor.

414 Park Avenue is within walking distance to Historic Downtown Salisbury’s shops, restaurants, and galleries. The Park Avenue Historic District has been heavily invested in by the City of Salisbury with streetscapes, a central park, and adaptive reuse in the restoration of the historic Kesler Mills company stores.

Greg Rapp is showing this house in the "Buy History" event on August 28th.  If you  are not able to catch this annual event, contact Greg at 704.213.6846 to get a glimpse of the wonderful restorative potential that is 414 Park Avenue.

History Abounds in Brooklyn South Square Historic Downtown Salisbury Neighborhood

c. 1800's ~ 200 Block of E. Bank Street

Salisbury North Carolina's Brooklyn South Square Historic District, consisting of the large elaborate houses of prosperous businessmen and merchants, as well as many of the smaller, more modest cottages of railroad workers, salesmen, and clerks, is an outstanding example of the development of resi­dential neighborhoods at the edge of Salisbury's downtown commercial district during the mid-to-late nineteenth and early twentieth century. Homes classified as Significant or Contributing Structures are located on every street. The focal point of the district is centered on E. Bank Street. The 200 block of E. Bank Street, west of the railroad tracks, contains the district's oldest dwellings, while the largest and most architecturally elaborate houses of the late nineteenth century are found in the 300 and 400 hundred block, and S. Long Street.

Brooklyn South Square History

Now a residential area, Brooklyn South Square was first developed as an industrial area. A cotton factory was erected in this section of town in 1830. The cotton factory operated into the late 1850s but was vacant by the start of the Civil War and was purchased by the Confederate government and converted into a prison. Originally intended to house prisoners of war, it also held criminals and AWOL confederate soldiers.  The prison was abandoned at word of Stoneman's troops approach before the War's end and was completely destroyed by the Union army in 1865. More information about the Salisbury prison can be found here  http://www.gorowan.com/salisburyprison/

c. 1800's Home ~ one of the District's oldest

Following the Civil War, Brooklyn South Square developed slowly. The area comprising the pri­son, which included much of the southern part of the district along both sides of the 300 and 400 blocks of E. Bank Street, was purchased from the Federal government in 1866. The district was only partially developed by 1882, with only twenty-three homes, only nine of which still exist, built by this time. Salisbury's citizens may have attached a certain stigma to living in the area of the prison. This stigma was evidently forgotten, for bet­ween 1882 and 1902 the remaining area of Brooklyn South Square was almost entirely developed and the area of the former prison became the site of the district's most elaborate and impressive homes. By 1902 the district had seventy-five dwellings.

c. 1895 Victorian on E. Bank Street

While Brooklyn South Square’s earliest homes were built during the two decades before the Civil War, most of the district's structures were built during the last quarter of the nineteenth and the first quarter of the twentieth century, much of which was developed on the site of Salisbury’s Civil War Confederate prison. The housing stock of the district consists predominantly of one and two story dwellings built during the last quarter of the nineteenth century and the first quarter of the twentieth century. However, two dwellings, the Woodson-Overcash House at 224 E. Bank (ca. 1840), and the Blackmer-Propst House at 203 S. Lee (ca. 1856) were built prior to the Civil War. The Brooklyn South Square neighborhood contains a rich variety of late Federal, Greek Revival, Italianate, and late Victorian domestic architecture, as well as fine examples of the modest turn-of-the century cottages and bungalows of the early twentieth century. Brooklyn South Square provides an architectural history lesson in the physical evolution of residential neighborhoods around downtown Salisbury from the mid-nineteenth cen­tury to the end of the third decade of the twentieth century.

Turn-of-the-Century Cottages

c. 1900 Cottage Brooklyn South Square

In North Carolina’s growing towns after 1900, "middle class" North Carolina emerged where houses near the center of town had hallways between the rooms, which provided a sense of privacy, and the streets were paved and lit with streetlights. Most had indoor plumbing, furnaces, and telephones. Brooklyn South Square is a wonderfully preserved example of the mid-to-upper class turn-of-the-century neighborhood.

The real estate found in the neighborhood streets of Brooklyn South Square are lined with charming and chic turn-of-the-century cottages with hardwood floors, large sunny eat-in kitchens, living rooms with fireplaces, often with three bedrooms. Many were recently completely and stylishly redecorated. The neighborhood is nestled in the shade of giant old-growth trees, and the more modest cottage homes are often white-picket-fence picturesque. Enjoy the fireplace, or simply enjoy the peace and quiet from turn-of-the-century front porches. From Brooklyn South Square’s convenient location, you can walk to town or bike around Salisbury’s nine other historic neighborhoods. A few minutes’ drive puts you at the High Rock Lake shoreline.  Three out of four seasons, you can stroll just a few short blocks to the Salisbury Farmers Market for locally grown fresh vegetables and grass-fed beef, baked goods, plants and flowers, and fresh eggs.

Salisbury Farmers Market

Brooklyn South Square Salisbury’s First BLOCKwork Award

Brooklyn South Square was selected as the first BLOCKwork project site. On October 22nd, 2011, a group of neighbor-led volunteers will scrub, paint, plant, and repair the 300 block of S. Shaver Street, a charming side street in this historic downtown Salisbury neighborhood.

BLOCKwork is a homegrown program intended to be a holistic approach to how neighborhoods can build accountability for neighborhood character and appearance among themselves, with the slogan, “Accountability happens one block at a time”.

Neighborhoods submitted applications to be considered for an intensive work day incorporating exterior improvements to one city neighborhood block. The work plan is being designed by principal participants and will include a preliminary education phase. Applications were evaluated based on demonstrated need and neighborhood willingness to participate. Program leaders toured candidate blocks with applicants and other planning, code enforcement, police, fire, public services, etc. personnel. Program leaders and support staff met with property owners and renters to determine feasibility of work plan. Brooklyn South Square's Shaver Street will be the pilot block for this City of Salisbury Community Appearance Commission project.

Preserving historic character

1899 Hamill-House Restoration

Historic homes sometimes intimidate people, including young families and new homebuyers. But older homes provide good value for their price and can offer higher quality construction than their newer counterparts. In the past 50 years, America has become a disposable society, including abandoning old homes and buildings. Preserving and reusing those structures can maximize the use of existing materials and infrastructure, reduce waste, as well as preserve the historic character of a city. Additionally, it’s usually cheaper to rehabilitate an older home rather than construct a new one. You’re almost always better off using what you’ve got. Brooklyn South Square, Salisbury North Carolina, has got the value priced homes with higher quality construction that can give their owners pride in maximizing infrastructure.

Historic Homes for Sale in Brooklyn South Square

To see the charm and value of the Brooklyn South Square neighborhood, architecture, and character first-hand, contact Greg Rapp at 704.213.6846. Unwind from the active lifestyle and enjoy the ambiance of a simpler time that a turn-of-the-century historic neighborhood offers.

Arts & Crafts Homes in Salisbury North Carolina

Homes in Salisbury, North Carolina are rich in the Arts & Crafts period style of architecture. From the turn of the 20th century to World War II was the unique period in American architectural history where ordinary people could afford finely crafted detail such as rich wood trim, art glass, and colorful mosaics in their homes. The Arts & Crafts movement made rich detailing a mainstay of home design. The Arts & Crafts architectural styles — Prairie, Craftsman, Mission, Four Square — are purely American styles. Unlike previous house styles that designers adopted from European models, American Arts & Crafts homes are homegrown. No other nation, with the exception of Canada, has anything like them.

Owners of Arts & Crafts homes possess a true gem — an American original — full of handcrafted details that are rarely seen in modern housing. Newly built homes are full of 1/2" gypsum board walls, painted MDF moldings, and carpeting over OSB subflooring. The Arts & Crafts home is full of thick, plaster walls, varnished quarter-sawn oak moldings with oak strip flooring over a thick pine subfloor - a work of art.

The Arts & Crafts movement began as a rebellion against the heady excesses of the late Victorian age. Victorian architecture, also prevalent in Salisbury NC, celebrated the abundance made possible by mass production and industrialization. Inexpensive trim and moldings could suddenly be made by machines, could be easily shipped anywhere in the U.S. on our newly built railroad system, and were used with elaboration to embellish Victorian architecture. By the end of the 19th century, ornamentation had reached its zenith, but by the 1890s many had had enough of industrialization. A widespread rebellion against mass mechanization and a longing for simpler times fostered the Arts & Crafts style. The thought prevailed that the former days of villages, craft shops, and artisans were healthier and more humanizing than assembly-line work in factory towns shrouded in smoke and dust.

Before finally dying out around 1910, the Arts & Crafts Movement in America spawned a stunning revolution in architecture and design that largely dominated the 20th century until the 1940s. The Arts & Crafts home styles are generously represented in Salisbury’s older and established urban neighbor¬hoods. The architecture lasted just 50 years, then, with the end of the 2nd World War, Arts & Crafts styles quietly died. Challenged to build unheard of numbers of houses to meet the ravenous postwar appetite for new housing, homebuilders quickly abandoned the leisurely, handcrafted detailing of the Arts & Crafts period. While it was sad to see such wonderful artisanship go by the wayside, it was a new era. America had changed, and so had its housing needs.

The legacy of the Arts & Crafts movement is still alive in Salisbury, North Carolina in the form of hundreds of Arts & Crafts houses throughout the area. Salisbury is a town of just over 30,000, conveniently centered between Charlotte, Greensboro, and Winston-Salem, NC - about 45 minutes from each. It is close to major shopping and sporting or arts events. Its housing prices are very attractive when compared to the rest of the country, and it offers a moderate climate. It has a historic downtown mere blocks away, and ten Historic Districts. To see an Arts & Crafts listing in Salisbury, or to list your gem with a Realtor, contact Greg Rapp at 704.213.6846 today.