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 1012 Thompson Place, a home designed by the architect George F. Barber, was built by John F. Gresham around the turn of the 20th Century. James A. Wright bought the property from Gresham in 1923 for the sum of $5,000. The National Register Historic District nomination dates the house to ca. 1910. Barber designed a one and one-half story Queen Anne style with 1300 square feet. The porch features a rounded corner, wood columns with Ionic capitals, and a sawn wood balustrade.
The house had a hip roof with lower cross gables and had two small dormers, one on the back and one of the right side of the house. When the house was built there were two brick chimneys, one exterior located on the back and partially collapsed and one offset interior with a stack containing ornate brickwork visible from the street.
The home had been heavily damaged by several fires. There was evidence of at least 3 fires, with the first sometime in the 1930’s, another in the early 1960’s and the last in the late 1970’s. The 1960 fire caused major damage to the rear portion of the home, the entire second floor and most of roof structure. At that time the house was remodeled into three apartment units. This remodeling included the relocation of the original interior stairs toward the kitchen area, a metal "fire escape" stair was connected to the second floor on the East side of the house and replacement of the original windows with aluminum double hung units. A large aluminum slide-by window was also added to the front gable at the second floor at that time.
The interior of the house was completely altered with thin wood paneling and modern fixtures dividing the house into three units, two on the main floor and one upstairs. The interior stairs were converted to only a small enclosed stairway to provide outside access to the second floor. Although neither fireplace worked and one chimney was completely removed, there were also two fireplace mantels in the house, one with a mirror and an over mantle on the front interior chimney and a simple mantle on the rear collapsing chimney. Unfortunately these mantels were heavily damaged and removed during the reconstruction of the home when portions of the floor collapsed. No other historic architectural detailing remained within the house.
In 2002, Victor Jernigan purchased the house and started the restoration process to bring this beautiful home back to its original state. Mr. Jernigan removed all modern siding and aluminum windows and replaced them with appropriate wood siding and wood windows to fit original window opening sizes. The apartment door was also removed and replaced with an original size gable window. A rear deck was added using the existing piers. The removal of the entire roof was needed in order to reframe to the original hip roof. All modern partitions were removed and the center hallway was restored to the length of the house as it was in the original floor plan. The kitchen was completely remodeled and added space to the dining room, leaving you with a beautiful room to entertain guests in a relaxed, less formal setting. 12 foot ceilings with stepped crown molding and 8 inch baseboards complete the downstairs. The original living room was turned into a master bedroom and master bathroom. Three bedrooms, two baths, a small kitchen, and living room complete the second floor.
In the spring of 2006, there will be landscaping and new steps to complete the restoration of this home. The interior of this home shows you that although it was restored to its original architectural structure, it can be lived in on a more modern scale without losing its charm.
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