Chancellor’s house shaped in 20 years

It’s been 20 years since Quail Hill first became the official residence of the UNC-Chapel Hill chancellor, per a Board of Governors policy that requires UNC-system chancellors to live in official university residences.

Independent of state money, the University has paid for about $1.5 million worth of renovations since 1995. UNC acquired the residence in 1993 from the George Watts Hill Foundation.

Since it became the chancellor’s residence in 1995, the 6,000-square-foot house has served as a temporary home for Michael Hooker, James Moeser, Holden Thorp and, today, Carol Folt.

Folt’s home is decorated simply, with fossils and books lining the environmental scientist’s walls. Though the house has been renovated drastically in the past, there aren’t many changes planned in the near future.

“The only projects planned for Quail Hill are maintenance-related,” said Karen Moon, UNC spokeswoman, in an email. “We are replacing equipment in the pool pump house and plan to replace the existing greenhouse, which is in need of repair, with a new prefabricated unit.”

The original renovations needed to make the home accessible for University events in 1995 cost around $325,000. In 1999, about $219,000 worth of renovations went into fixing a chimney and installing landscaping and an irrigation system.

The residence experienced the most drastic renovations in 2008, before Thorp moved in with his family — the first time children lived in the house. This cost about $903,000, according to records obtained by The Daily Tar Heel.

The home needed to accommodate certain handicap regulations and become more accessible to the large crowds that gather at the residence for UNC functions. Some of the changes included enlarging the kitchen, widening certain doors and addressing the heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems that were nearly 50 years old at the time.

The house underwent some minor changes again in 2013 which cost approximately $108,000. These included replacing the buckled cork flooring in the kitchen, updating lighting and maintaining the upkeep of the air conditioning and heating systems.

More recently, Moon said an access control gate was installed at Folt’s residence in 2014.

N.C. State University built a completely new residence for its chancellor in 2011.

Marvin Malecha, dean of the N.C. State College of Design, was the head designer and architect of the N.C. State chancellor’s house.

Malecha said the house has a modern look that also ties in N.C. State’s traditional elements.

“We wanted it to be the house of the University family and draw from the culture of North Carolina,” Malecha said.

“The house should be representative of North Carolina history and culture.”

Malecha said it was intimidating to design the chancellor’s home.

“I jokingly referred to it as suicide mission,” Malecha said. “I am also a dean, so I used to joke, ‘If you fire the architect, does that mean I still get to keep my job?’”

Construction on the N.C. State chancellor’s residence began in spring 2010 and was completed in 2011. It was paid for entirely with private money. The previous chancellor’s house is now a museum for art and design.

university@dailytarheel.com