New life for one old house
Updated: October 4, 2012
CHAMPAIGN -- An historic building is getting a much-needed facelift. State money is helping save the Solon House. WCIA-3's Anna Carrera finds out it's going to take a lot to get this building back to its former glory.
It's weathered about 150 years of wear and tear. You can see loose bricks and erosion. But people who grew up near the home are happy it's being restored.
At first glance, this old house doesn't look like much. But, it used to be quite a sight back in 1867.
"I used to sit and look out the window at that house and daydream and think I would love to just sit up in that tower and look out at the town and all sorts of things like that. It was pretty tough labor. People had to work very hard. They didn't have a lot of power tools and they came up with some pretty fantastic details."
Details which have deteriorated. The only two owners of the property covered up some of the problems instead of fixing them.
"They added mortar on top of that and then they added concrete on top of that and soon it was building up and up and up."
Two grants from the state will help fix up the outside of the house. Each is worth $250,000. That's the price Champaign County's Preservation and Conservation Association would have had to pay to keep history alive.
"It's like walking into the past. It looks exactly like it did in the past 100-years or so."
Inside, workers are preserving the intricate details of a home that's been empty for a long time. They hope to finish fixing it up for many future generations to enjoy. The preservation group wants it to be a home for non-profits or sell it to a family. No word when the work will be done.
It's weathered about 150 years of wear and tear. You can see loose bricks and erosion. But people who grew up near the home are happy it's being restored.
At first glance, this old house doesn't look like much. But, it used to be quite a sight back in 1867.
"I used to sit and look out the window at that house and daydream and think I would love to just sit up in that tower and look out at the town and all sorts of things like that. It was pretty tough labor. People had to work very hard. They didn't have a lot of power tools and they came up with some pretty fantastic details."
Details which have deteriorated. The only two owners of the property covered up some of the problems instead of fixing them.
"They added mortar on top of that and then they added concrete on top of that and soon it was building up and up and up."
Two grants from the state will help fix up the outside of the house. Each is worth $250,000. That's the price Champaign County's Preservation and Conservation Association would have had to pay to keep history alive.
"It's like walking into the past. It looks exactly like it did in the past 100-years or so."
Inside, workers are preserving the intricate details of a home that's been empty for a long time. They hope to finish fixing it up for many future generations to enjoy. The preservation group wants it to be a home for non-profits or sell it to a family. No word when the work will be done.
