Hooper House was 'a fun place for growing up'

By Rose Hooper

"These were the stairs going up to my bedroom," said 80-year-old Kathleen Hooper Nash, daughter of Dr. Delos Dexter Hooper. "When my sister, Annie Josephine, was married in the living room, I remember coming down these stairs and carrying the flowers." Jackson County Chamber of Commerce Director Julie Spiro assists Nash down the steps during a visit this summer. Dr. Hooper built the house, which doubled as his medical office, in 1906.

Built in 1906 by Dr. Delos Dexter Hooper and now on the National Register of Historic Places, the Hooper House is Sylva's last Victorian-era Main Street home. The Hooper House Preservation Foundation, a non-profit organization formed in 1999, is dedicated to preserving this turn-of-the-century home that also served as Dr. Hooper's office.

"We had lots of relatives who lived nearby, mainly behind us. Our back door was always open and people were always coming and going. That's back when you never even thought about locking your doors," said Nash, who now lives in Placerville, Calif. "As children, we'd walk the streets of town at night with never a worry. We always felt completely safe."

Nash said she and her little lamb became a familiar site to locals and tourists alike.

"Daddy had a farm in the Savannah community, and he had some lambs, and there was one that the mother wouldn't claim," she said. "I never knew why she rejected it, but I took it for my own. I'd dress that lamb up in doll clothes and play with it out on the front lawn at home. Tourists would stop and talk to me and ask me questions about my little lamb."

"Mr. Clark tore those down to put in a parking lot, but that's where I kept my little 'Lambie' at night because Mamma never allowed pets in the house," she said. "But now Mamma used to keep canaries in the house." Her mother was Mary Rebecca Wilson Hooper, originally from Webster.

Nash's bedroom was located on the second floor, with windows "facing Main Street, towards the current library and Wilma Jones' house," she recalled the cozy room that would fill with laughter on Friday nights when her parents let her have slumber parties.

When the renovation is complete, Nash's bedroom will be the new home of the Jackson County Chamber of Commerce. The spring Nash was about 7 years old, her sister, Annie Josephine, was married in the front living room.

"My first cousin Bill Wilson and I were dressed up as the miniature bride and groom. I remember how I had to come down the stairs with the flowers," Nash said.

On Nov. 23, 1971, her son, Loyle Jr., married Patricia Zugrubski in the very same spot. The late John Parris served as best man. The couple, who now live in California, celebrated their 29th wedding anniversary this past Thanksgiving.

"Mamma and Daddy loved company, and Mamma loved to decorate and have parties - from Thanksgiving through New Year's was always the best," Nash said. "She'd put greenery and lights around the front door, and our Christmas tree would be right by the big living room window so everybody going by could see it. Oh, and there were goodies everywhere. Our house was the perfect place to be for the holidays."

In 1941, the 21-year-old Hooper daughter married Loyle Nash, and they moved to Juneau, Alaska. Throughout the subsequent years of half a century, Nash returned many times to her childhood home where "it always felt good to go back."

Her sister, Annie Josephine Hooper Williams, now deceased, and her brother Charles "Mack" Hooper of Chattanooga, Tenn., sold their portions of the house to Nash for $10 in 1978. Nash sold the house in 1981, and when it was foreclosed on in 1985, she bought the house at auction for $123,047, then granted it to the county.

Painters scraped through 16 layers of white paint this summer, getting down to the original color and wood of the Hooper House, Sylva's last Victorian-era Main Street home. Architect Odell Thompson matched that color, Colonial white, using Victorian-era color charts.

That happy home of Nash's childhood remains safely and fondly preserved in her memories. The resurgent effort to preserve her childhood home has surfaced those memories and delighted her senses, Nash said.

"I think it is wonderful what the foundation is doing to preserve the house. I was so excited when Julie told me about it that I had to come this summer and see what had been done so far. I really liked the exterior colors - they were just like I remembered them," said the 80-year-old Nash.

This summer, painters scraped through 16 layers of white paint, getting down to the wood. Using Victorian era color charts, architect Odell Thompson discovered a color, Colonial white, near-perfect to the home's original.

"These Victorian homes were called 'painted ladies,'" said Thompson, noting that those in the rural south were not quite as "flamboyant" as those in other areas like San Francisco, for instance.

"It's coincidental, almost serendipity, that the original color of the Hooper House is so similar to our old Jackson County Courthouse," Thompson said.

Fund-raising efforts continue for the home's restoration. To find out how you can help, contact the Jackson County Chamber of Commerce at 586-2155 or toll-free at 1-800-962-1911.

Editor's Note: This is the first in a series of articles devoted to an examination of the renovation efforts of the D.D. Hooper House.

Back to Archive: 11/30/00.