Samuel J. Childs House receives Local Historic Landmark Designation
After five years of restoring the Samuel J. Childs House in Hendersonville, the dream of owners Michael and Aleda Coppola came true earlier this month, thanks to the Henderson County Board of Commissioners.
At its Sept. 5 meeting, the board approved the house to have a Local Historic Landmark Designation, making it just the second building in Henderson County to receive the distinction, with the other being St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Edneyville, which was designated in 2020.
The Samuel J. Childs House at 105 Turley Falls Road was purchased in 2018 by the Michael and Aleda Coppola, who have lived in Hendersonville for the past 11 years.
"We are very excited about being named a local designation," Aleda Coppola told the Times-News on Sept. 25. "We are so proud to be a part of helping to preserve the rich history of Henderson county and the Brightwaters community."
It's been a long journey with many hours of hard work to get to this point, because when they first bought the home, it was in need of desperate attention, the Coppolas told the Times-News in late July.
"We fully renovated the interior of the home and updated the essentials on the exterior. The hardwood floors are original and were buried underneath several layers of linoleum and carpet, which preserved them perfectly for us," Aleda Coppola said. "Our goal is to keep as much integrity to the home as possible."
Henderson County tax records list the appraised value of the property at $640,500, which includes the house and the 2.62-acre parcel of land. For 50 years (1923-73), the house was a part of the Childs family. He was a real estate developer in the county beginning in 1922, when he started purchasing land for his farm and house.
According to a report from the Henderson County Historic Resources Commission, Childs was involved in the farm, but his sons were the ones who performed the majority of the farming operations. Childs’ main occupation was in real estate and in the development of the Brightwaters Resort to the north of his property, a community that annually drew summer-long residents from Florida.
The house was built by local builder Ervin J. Anders, with stonemasonry done by local stonemason Lee Dewey Wright. The report said the house is "a highly intact example of the Bungalow/Craftsman style with some minor elements of the Colonial Revival and Tudor Revival styles." The stonework of the house is notable for its randomly-laid coursing and detailed outlining of stones with a grapevine mortar.
Aleda Coppola said she and her husband are also still in the process of working to have their home listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
"We are still working on the national historic landmark designation which we hope will be completed early 2024," she said.
Dean Hensley is the news editor for the Hendersonville Times-News. Email him with tips, questions and comments at DHensley@gannett.com. Please help support this kind of local journalism with a subscription to the Hendersonville Times-News.
This article originally appeared on Hendersonville Times-News: Local Historic Landmark: Samuel J. Childs House earns distinction
