Saving the Kirkland/Hogan farmhouse
Traveling north on Martin Luther King Boulevard, one might notice a small, brown house set upon a slight rise in a grove of ancient oaks opposite the intersection of Westminster Drive. It is not a particularly striking house, but for the Preservation Society of Chapel Hill, it is the object of a major preservation effort.
In a recent discussion of this historic property, someone asked, "Why are you saving that place?" The answer is that while the house is a very common example of a 19th-century Carolina farmhouse, the astonishing rate at which houses of this style are disappearing makes it an increasingly uncommon sight. Working with the property developer and the Town of Chapel Hill, the Preservation Society is fighting to save the home, thereby recovering the lost history of a local family who helped to make Chapel Hill the town it is today.
The land on which the farmhouse stands was originally granted to Andrew Patterson in 1784 and was later sold to the Kirkland family. Samuel C. Kirkland, a distant kinsman of the Kirklands who built Hillsborough's Ayr Mount, acquired the land in the 1830s. In 1853, Samuel Kirkland married Martha Craig, a member of another early Orange County family, and they worked the large farm together.
The Kirkland family grew with the birth of a daughter, Laura, in 1858 and the purchase of a 16-year-old male slave sometime before 1860. In 1879, the home was given as a wedding present to Laura Kirkland and her new husband, Oscar Hogan.
In the 1890s, the Hogans donated a portion of their land for the establishment of an African American school -- listed as "Colored School House Number 23" -- though it was destroyed by fire by 1906. For the next century, the Hogans continued to live in the farmhouse and work their farm and raise cattle. In 2006, the last member of the Hogan family was forced to sell the property before she could establish a preservation plan for the home.
RAM Development purchased the tract and presented plans for a mixed-use development. Unable to obtain approval for its plans, RAM Development sold the tract to developer William Christian, who also is considering a mixed-use plan for the site.
The Preservation Society is working with the Community Design Commission and the Town of Chapel Hill to preserve the Hogan/Kirkland family farmhouse, located at 1641 Martin Luther King Blvd., by requiring all redevelopment plans for the site to include an adaptive reuse proposal.
The Preservation Society has called for the inclusion of the homestead in the Northern Area Task Force Report, which recommended the following: Retention of "the building and tree group as an active focal space for the community. Adaptively reuse the farmhouse. Protect natural and cultural heritage of the site."
The Hogan/Kirkland house is a classic example of one of the vernacular styles that once dotted the local landscape, and it represents a centuries-old agrarian model that is quickly vanishing. Built in the late 1860s, this farmhouse tells the story of several generations of a single extended family, and its 140-year history touches the changing social and racial dynamics of Chapel Hill.
More than just an old home, the house and structures together reflect a style and aesthetic taste that characterizes local farmers of the late 19th century and the changes they made in the 20th century. The various other structures on the site -- barns, smokehouses, and an outhouse -- remain as a wonderful set of clues to how a Victorian farm worked and flourished.
Within the context of today's rapid development, preservation of larger, more distinctive homes has diverted attention from more common dwellings. Preserving this home and homestead will tell the story of 19th-century, middle-class Chapel Hillians in tandem with the stories of the Franklin Street upper-class.
Since the property became vacant, the house has been vandalized and numerous period architectural elements, such as mantles, have been looted. The current owner boarded up the building in December 2008 to prevent further destruction. The Preservation Society believes that renovation of this house as part of a development plan not only will protect an important part of Chapel Hill's history, it also will create an economic advantage for potential businesses and clients.
To that end, the Preservation Society has been working on a complete history of the site and a business plan that will make the restored house attractive to potential investors. Additionally, the Preservation Society is working with a LEED-certified consultant and building contractor to present a "best practices" model for a "green" restoration of the farmhouse. The Preservation Society of North Carolina will offer financial aid for this restoration through a no-interest loan from the society's revolving fund.
The Kirkland/Hogan farmhouse symbolizes Chapel Hill's vanishing past; if preserved, it will surely become a unique place of pride and inspiration for future generations.
Ernest Dollar is an Orange County native who currently serves as director of the Preservation Society of Chapel Hill.
see for yourself
For images of the Kirkland and Hogan families, as well as the Altemueller home, visit the Preservation Society of Chapel Hill's photos at http://www.flickr.com/photos/chapelhillpreservation/
