A part of Chapel Hill's history is up for grabs as the historic Edward Kidder Graham House can now be purchased on the real estate market.
Built in 1908 the 100-year-old house located at 115 Battle Lane in the Franklin-Rosemary Historic District was condemned in January after a tree fell into the house.
Preservation North Carolina wants to sell the house in order to restore and preserve a part of Chapel Hill that has significant historic value. The group has six months to sell before other measures will be taken.
The location was home to UNC alumnus professor and president Edward Kidder Graham as well as his cousin former UNC President Frank Porter Graham" whose name dawns the Student Union's entrance.
The home was also the location for the 1968 film ""Three in the Attic" an early sexual revolution film in which three women essentially love their cheating boyfriend to death in the attic of Graham's abode.
Having the movie shot here puts the house in a whole other category" said Ernest Dollar, executive director of the Preservation Society of Chapel Hill.
This film proves that preservation is sexy.""
Preservation North Carolina is searching for an owner to make the proper renovations to the home.
""We are catering to a certain niche"" said Todd Dickinson, president of Dickinson Restorations Inc. in Hillsborough. We're looking for people who care for and appreciate older houses more than just a new"" big one.""
But restoring the two-story building will require much more than a love for elegant staircases and a quintessential early-21st-century feel" as Cathleen Turner regional director of Preservation North Carolina described the house.
The market price of the house is $9000 but according to Dickinson renovations to get the house in full running order could cost up to a million dollars more.
Renovations would begin from the inside out he said. It would include tasks such as covering walls repairing doors and windows replacing floors and repairing heating" cooling and plumbing facilities.
Dollar said the price tag of the renovation home is worth the significance of the home.
""You get to wake up in the morning and hear the Bell Tower" walk to the basketball games walk to Franklin Street" he said. This house really embodies Chapel Hill.""
Dickinson said the house was unique to many homes in the area.
""So many folks are now buying new 'McMansions"""" Dickinson said. ""But there's a big difference between an old house that's been tastefully restored and a new house that just jumped out of a blue sky - there's style and grace.""
Contact the City Editor at citydesk@unc.edu.
