The Lowery House project consists of the preservation of a pre-civil war farm house on Main Street in the City of Fairfax. The original house, as you can see in the before pictures, had been neglected for some years since the death of its most recent owner, Mr. Lowery. Once on the Fairfax Garden tour, this house was a "tear down." However, the City of Fairfax Historical Society required the project developer, Landmark Atlantic Holdings, Inc. to save the house.
Landmark subdivided the original property to build 12 homes and was in a fight with Fairfax trying to get approval to tear down the historic landmark. We were working with Landmark on another project when they asked us to take a look at the Lowery property.
Where others saw a tear down, Seth Ballard saw opportunity. Seth asked to meet with the Fairfax Historic Society and they willingly agreed to allow us to raise the top of plate of the house a little. This allowed us to wrape the original log structure, converting the original structure into a decorative timber frame. They further agreed to allow us to lift the house and add a new foundation in place of the original stones that served as a footing for this "lincoln log" house. Finally, due to Landmark's extensive efforts to save the original structure, we were allowed to add a modern addition in place of the mid-century bad additions that had been added to the house.
Donnie Freeman and his team at Landmark are now a positive example used by Fairfax for proper preservation. The house is a huge success and offered a home with tremendous history (the civil war was fought out of its dormers), with modern amenities. Even in the new part of the house, we added historic details and touches.
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