THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, August 30, 1994 TAG: 9408300372
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY PERRY PARKS, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: ELIZABETH CITY LENGTH: Medium: 58 lines
An 18th century home southwest of the city has made a long trip through time, but its survival now hinges on a short journey across a farm field.
Known as the Pendleton House, the small wooden structure off Nixonton Road is believed to be the last unaltered 1700s home in Pasquotank County. Local residents banded together this spring to preserve the house, which would have been demolished if it had remained at its current site.
Now the group, whose members include descendants of the home's residents, are making arrangements to give the structure a new resting place - and to get it there.
The Pendleton House Association is about to close on a deal for five acres of land within a half-mile of the home's current location, said architectural historian Thomas Butchko, who serves on the association's board of directors.
The new property is historic in its own right, holding the 1830s-era Thomas Davis House. Butchko says there are also connections between the Davis and Pendleton families, namesakes of the homes.
Association members are working with a house mover in Edenton and plan to transport the structure toward the middle or the end of next month. Organizers say the move will probably cut across a field instead of along the road, to save the expense of dealing with utility lines.
The association has hired an architect from New Bern to help with the move, as well as with foundation and renovation plans. Organizers hope to restore the Pendleton House and create a museum-like atmosphere that describes the periods in which the house was built and underwent additions.
Things are coming together, but association members say they're learning as they go.
``It's real new to us,'' said Laura Parker. Her husband, Richard, is the grandson of the home's last occupants, Richard and Mable Barclift.
Late last year, Richard Parker bought the home, which has been vacant since his grandmother died in 1981.
``We've really had to go one step at a time,'' Laura Parker said. ``Blindly almost.''
The Pendleton House Association has raised more than $15,000 to pay land, moving and renovation expenses. Gifts of $5,000 each have come from the Pasquotank County Historical Society, the Elizabeth City Historic Neighborhood Association and an anonymous donor, Butchko said.
The move alone is expected to cost up to $15,000, and the property will be around $10,000. The association also plans to pay for an extensive expert historical description of the house before it is renovated. Butchko said fund-raisers will be planned after the house is moved.
And association members say the work is just beginning.
``The Pendleton House is going to take so much just to get it moved,'' Laura Parker said. Restoration is ``going to be a long, tedious process. . . . We realize it's going to take quite a few years.
``We need an awful lot of support, financial and otherwise.'' by CNB