With addition of roof, Hooper House's exterior renovation is nearly complete

By Lynn Hotaling

Hooper House renovation architect Odell Thompson of Cullowhee stands in front of the parlor fireplace. Above the mantel is his drawing of the renovated Victorian home. Thompson believes the fireplace tile surround and mantel grate were among items ordered from a Sears and Roebuck catalog.

Constructed in 1906 by Sylva architect/builder Charles Wells for Dr. D.D. Hooper, the Queen Anne style Hooper House is Main Street's second-oldest structure (the oldest is the C.J. Harris Building, erected in 1902) and downtown's only surviving Victorian home.

Dr. Hooper, who died in 1973, used the house as both his home and office. It was a law office for a time during the 1980s and later served as an annex for the Jackson County Public Library. Its last occupant was the Friends of the Library's used bookstore. The structure was donated to Jackson County by Hooper's daughter Kathleen Hooper Nash of Placerville, Calif., and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Once slated to be torn down to make way for library expansion, the Hooper House is now under renovation and will soon be the home of a downtown visitor's center, the Jackson County Chamber of Commerce and Sylva Partners in Renewal. Dr. Hooper's former offices will be occupied by the Jackson County Historical Association and used as a museum.

Phase I, which consists of exterior stabilization of the 95-year-old house, is almost complete, said architect Odell Thompson of Cullowhee, who drew the plans for restoration project. A three-man crew, led by subcontractor Robert McMahan of Haywood County, has been at work since June making foundation and exterior repairs, painting and installing a new roof of 24-gage red metal shingles.

"I can't say enough about Robert, Ken (Hall) and Darren (Jones)," said architect Thompson. "They are giving this project the same attention that the original craftsmen who built it gave. It's remarkable what they've done."

Robert McMahan of Haywood County is subcontractor for Phase I of the Hooper House renovation project. Affectionately known as "Big Robert" due to the presence of another Robert on an earlier job, McMahan enjoys the special challenges of restoration carpentry. He is shown here next to one of the front porch columns that is topped with a capital (the part between the column and the porch beam) that he fabricated to match the originals.

"By and large it's in good shape for an almost 100-year-old house," Thompson said.

"Extra good," McMahan added. "It's a challenge to try and compete with (the house's original builders) even with the tools we have today. And they just had hand tools!"

The first step toward saving the vintage structure was invisible to passersby. McMahan, Jones and Hall made extensive repairs to the Hooper House foundation, pouring 21 new piers (concrete supports) and replacing two-thirds of the structure's beams.

"I put together the drawings and left it to Robert to determine which beams were bad," Thompson said.

McMahan and his crew also reconstructed the brick at the base of the house. They reused what they could and found similar old brick for those they had to replace. Some of the brick now in the Hooper House were once part of the Balsam Mountain Inn, said McMahan, who worked extensively on that restoration project.

The one-story portion of the house suffered extensive damage, said Thompson, because of water running down the two-story part.

"The biggest problem with an old house is water," Thompson said. "If you don't get it away from the building, it eats it up and causes rot."

Pressure-treated wood was used to replace failing timbers under the house, and foundation vents were opened to improve air circulation beneath the structure. McMahan rebuilt the foundation vents in the old style, with vertical brick, Thompson said.

Other exterior repairs were needed as well. McMahan rebuilt a column capital on the front of the house, and Duane Kriebel of Sylva built a new window and new upper porch door to match the originals. Kriebel will also fashion replacement stair ballusters (pickets) patterned after those in the porch rail, Thompson said.

Future carpenters working on the Hooper House will find a few surprises left by McMahan. The veteran builder placed a number of coins minted in the year 2000 inside the old house's framing, he said.

By and large the Hooper House will have its original windows, said Thompson.

Local craftsman Duane Kriebel built the window on the right from cypress wood to match existing windows.

Though a local builder constructed the Hooper House in 1906, Thompson believes it was based on a plan from a Sears and Roebuck catalog.

"A lot of pieces of the house, including the floor plan, were found in the 1910 Sears catalog," Thompson said. "But the house was flipped in the catalog." Builder Wells probably suggested the change based on the Hooper House's corner location, Thompson said. Items most likely selected from the catalog, Thompson said, include the fireplace mantel and tile surround, cast-iron grate, single-hung leaded glass windows (front), door hardware, plumbing fixtures, light fixtures and stair parts (newel posts, balusters and rails).

Both the paint and roof colors used in the restoration are very close to the house's originals, Thompson said. The only change will be to the frieze. Originally white, it is now the same shade of red as the roof. Changing to red, Thompson said, is "very Victorian, very believable."

The detective work required to return an old house to its original condition is something Thompson said he enjoys. Before moving to Jackson County, the architect spent five years working on historic preservation projects in Austin, Texas.

Spearheading renovation efforts is the Hooper House Preservation Foundation, a non-profit organization formed in 1999. So far the group has raised $296,000 of the $400,000 needed to complete the project. Included in that total is a $113,000 grant from the N.C. Department of Transportation, which will be used to fund the next stage of the renovation.

As Phase I draws to a close, project planners are looking ahead to the next steps. Phase II of the project will be the replacement of the house's electrical, plumbing and heating systems, and Phase III will consist of interior beautification, another task that McMahan would like to tackle. "This kind of work is so unique you have to love it to do it," he said.

Ellis Corp., headed by Doug Ellis, former director of the Great Smoky Mountain Scenic Railway, is general contractor for Phase I. Contracts for interior work at the Hooper House have not yet been awarded.

If things go well, said Jay Spiro, president of the Hooper House Preservation Foundation, the entire project will be completed by the end of this summer.

"If people want to donate, now's a good time," Spiro said. Funds are still need to complete interior finish work, purchase furnishings and construct a planned informational kiosk/visitor's center, he said.

Contributions may be sent to the Jackson County Chamber of Commerce, 116 Central Street, Sylva, N.C. 28779, or in care of Jay Spiro, P.O. Box 697, Sylva, N.C. 28779. For additional information on the Hooper House Renovation project, call the Chamber office at 586-2155.

Editor's note: This is the third in a series of articles devoted to an examination of the renovation efforts at the D.D. Hooper House in downtown Sylva.

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