Travel Back In Time With This 1970s Home, Frozen In Time

You won't believe what this house looks like now!

A succession of determined female owners have preserved this mysterious old house in Louisville, Georgia. Lavishing T.L.C. on the home, the women saved it from demolition, as well as running successful businesses from the house after a painstaking restoration.

Click or scroll through this gallery to take a look around and discover this time-warp home’s hidden history...

A Gothic residence

Despite years of dilapidation creating a somewhat eerie exterior, it's clearly an architecturally interesting building. A hint of Gothic Revival drama with homespun wooden siding makes it hugely intriguing.

So why would someone leave a wonderful house like this standing empty? Well, a devastating ice storm hit the home in 2014 and knocked out the power supply prompting the elderly owner to vacate the property, never to return. Thanks to photographer Leland Kent of Abandoned Southeast, we can slip inside to take a look...

The time-warp interiors

Locked in a time warp, this image shows the home was left untouched, looking the same as it did years ago.

Located in the heart of Georgia’s former state capital of Louisville, it was built between 1904 and 1907, according to a local lawyer who compiled a history of the house. 

A Louisville landmark

Before the house was built, the original property on this site was a bustling hotel. Known as Central Hotel or Louisville Hotel, it first appears in official records in 1861.

Sold to Mary Kirkland Lettice in 1877, she ran this successful business for almost 25 years, alongside her husband. 

Musical legacy

The hotel was often filled with music as Mr Lettice, a Scottish immigrant, entertained guests with lively tunes on his accordion. So, it’s pleasing to see how music continued to be important in the house, with a lovely old grand piano in the living room.

Mary and her husband may be descendants of an earlier wave of settlers from Scotland and Ireland, who were offered free passage on a ship and a $2,300 incentive to make the area their new home - that's the equivalent of around $55,000 today!

Into the flames

This vintage living room looks frozen in time with retro Seventies-style colours and furnishings, plus an old-fashioned analogue TV.

Disaster struck the old hotel when it burned down, probably in 1905. By this time, a woman called Anna Harrell Walden owned it and the Lettices continued as managers. Sadly the building went up in flames and Anna scraped together the money to have the current property built as her home. 

County court connection

Despite standing vacant for three years, the homely room looks as if its owner has just stepped out for five minutes. It’s a spacious family residence of about 3,500 square feet with four bedrooms and three bathrooms.

So, it was perfect for Jefferson County Court clerk, Waller Murphy, whose family occupied the property from 1917 for an impressive 46 years.

Working from home

Children’s toys are still scattered around this living space, with a fine fireplace partially obscured behind an antiquated TV.

While Waller Murphy had a long career at the courthouse, it was his wife who created a business from the home. In the 1940 census record, Claudia Murphy’s occupation is listed as ‘tourist home manager.’ The enterprising lady rented out rooms in her home, providing a boarding house service to boost the family’s cash flow.

Next generation

Peeling paint on a fancy dresser, utilitarian furniture and a modern microwave make for an eccentric mix in this vintage kitchen.

After her husband’s death in 1948, Claudia continued to run her boarding house business from the home. Hattie Mae Willie Smith first entered the house as a boarder. Little did she know the journey that would unfold here for her and her descendants.

Falling in love

Hattie Mae rented two rooms here, probably from the 1950s; one for herself and one for her teenage son. What was likely intended as a temporary arrangement soon switched to permanent as she cared for the elderly Claudia Murphy, until the old lady's death.

Hattie Mae fell in love with the old house. So, she changed from renter to owner, purchasing it from the Murphy Estate for $6,500 (around $67k today) in 1963.

Property in peril

Although the furniture and furnishings are old-fashioned, you can see the elderly owner cared about the property. It has a warm and homely feel with cute kitten and puppy pictures on the wall.

Sadly, Hattie Mae passed away in 1997. Apparently, the local telephone company, who owned the lot next door, showed interest in buying the property, but only to tear it down. 

History lesson

The Old Slave Market, pictured here, still stands on Broad Street, which is a main road in Louisville. It runs parallel to the road where the house is located (and also where another amazing abandoned house sits, too).

This image was taken in 1934, not long after the house was built, and the market would have been a well-known landmark to the home's inhabitants over the decades. Louisville was Georgia’s capital from 1796 to 1806. It was named after King Louis XVI of France, to honour French support during the American Revolutionary War. 

Rescued from ruin?

This spacious bedroom looks like a comfortable place to relax. You can see a heater obscuring the attractive original fireplace. Thankfully, one of Hattie Mae’s daughters couldn’t bear the thought of the beautiful home her mother loved so much being destroyed.

Eve Perdue managed to buy out her siblings’ shares and save the historic house. Eventually Eve’s health began to decline, so she could not maintain the property and it fell into disrepair. The house was in peril again.

Saved again!

Another bedroom shows potential despite the crumbling ceiling and wall plaster. Its large window floods the room with light and the sparse furnishing shows off the wealth of space.

The property sat vacant and slowly decaying for three years until another female family member stepped in to save it, purchasing the house in 2017. 

Family affair

A new chapter of life unfolds for this old house as it remains in Hattie Mae’s family. The new owner is a determined go-getter, just like the other women who have preserved this property.

A major restoration began in July 2017 and with relatives helping out it’s a real family project. Many stunning period features remain just waiting to be revived, such as this elegant fireplace with wonderful relief sculpting.

Big project

Now called the Willie Family house because it’s been owned by this family for about 57 years, you can follow the highs and lows of the restoration journey here.

There’s certainly lots of work to be done, as you can see from the rusting bath and interesting plumbing in this vintage bathroom!

Labour of love

The attractive shape of this bedroom, with its three large windows, suggests it’s going to look great when cleared of clutter.

The new owner believes ‘an old home tells a story; you just have to listen’. It’s a quote from a favourite author. So, restoring her family home is a real labour of love. Preserving its beautiful original features are top priority.

Emotional journey

Clearing out the remnants of the life of someone you care for is always an emotional journey but there have been plenty of great period features discovered along the way, such as uncovering the original pine floors.

A set of pocket doors in the parlour were another lovely find. They looked like French doors until the plaster was removed and the pocket door hardware was revealed.

Peeling back the years

You can see the restorations in progress here and it’s a huge task. The plaster was in very bad shape. It probably started deteriorating in the 1940s, so it was a big job to remove it all.

A demolition crew was hired to tackle it but even they found it a challenge! 

Carved in stone

An upstairs chimney is shown here, with restorations ongoing. One of the most rewarding parts of the project will be getting the drywall back up, says the owner.

It was also fascinating to uncover little bits of a house's history, such as dates inscribed on two of the fireplaces. The carved numbers appear to be from the mid-1920s.

Message from the past

Other fascinating glimpses into the past include this stash of old letters, discovered in the pantry. They date back to World War One but some are earlier.

A couple of the letters have been donated to the historical society in Louisville. 

Restoration beauty

See how lovely the restored exterior looks now! A hugely impressive change from the creepy, crumbling wreck it was before. The interior is now fully renovated too, and is filled with pieces of period furniture in keeping with the home's long history. 

Saving this historic beauty has been a dream come true for the new owner and she plans for it to remain a family home for generations to come.

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