‘Time has not been kind’

The city of Smyrna, which owns the structure, has announced it will demolish the house if no buyer steps forward by Christmas. City officials say they’re out of patience waiting for someone to purchase it. The asking price: $150,000.

Preservationists are eyeing the calendar while looking for someone with cash and a passion for the past to save the building. So far, none has shown up, said Mableton resident Meggan Delano. “People (potential buyers) who’ve seen the building, we’re calling them back,” she said.

For Delano, the push to preserve the old house is a family affair. Her husband, Michael, is a member of the Mableton Improvement Commission, and would like the house to help showcase Cobb County history.

When Smyrna officials said they planned to demolish the home “things got hot,” she said.

The heat increased Nov. 10. The Cobb County Historic Preservation Commission, meeting to review Smyrna’s request to flatten the structure, was host to about 50 people pleading that the structure be saved. Some discussed its past. Others talked about its potential for the future.

Still, the house is scheduled to go. The commission chose not to challenge the demolition.

“Someone should buy if they want to save it,” said Ron Fennel, a member of the Smyrna City Council, whose ward includes the house. “It’s been sitting there for 10 years, waiting for a savior.”

The city has a point, said Delano. “As much as I hate it, I understand,” she said. “It’s an old house. Time has not been its friend.”

The house is atop a rise in what was the heart of the River Line, a defense set up on orders from Confederate Gen. Joseph Johnson during June and July 1864 as Union forces bore ever closer to Atlanta. According to some accounts, the house served as a field hospital when the armies clashed.

The house, according to deed research, was built by Thomas Hooper, one of the first white settlers of Cobb County, who came to the region in the 1830s. He deeded it to his son, Thomas Jr., in 1868. After Thomas Jr. died, the home was deeded to John Turner. He and his wife stayed in the home until their deaths in 1899 and 1913, respectively.

The house remained occupied until about a decade ago, when Smyrna bought the house. It purchased the house only to hold on to it until a buyer came forward.

Engineers have estimated it would cost $85,000 to tear down the house. According to some estimates, the one-acre tract land on which the house is built is worth about $70,000 to $80,000. Smyrna would nearly break even if it goes forward with destroying the house and selling the tract.

Smyrna, said Fennel, would be willing to consider giving the building away — provided the new owner moves it. “If somebody wants it, I’d be more than happy to give it to them,” he said.

Restoring it? Whoever refurbished the structure would have to deal with mold, asbestos and shaky timbers, Fennel said. “It would cost a lot more than (the asking price of) $150,000,” Fennel said.

Behind the drywall and later additions is a valuable old building, said Richard Laub, director of the Heritage Preservation Program at Georgia State University. A history professor, he visited the house six years ago and wrote a report on its historic significance.

“Inside, the guts of the building still exist,” Laub said. “If you looked at it, you wouldn’t think there is any authenticity left. I think that authenticity could be recaptured.”

The house still has some potential life left in it, said Mike Hein, another proponent of saving the old building.

“If it could be restored and used as a small-events venue, I think it would be a tremendous asset to the community,” said Hein, who’s been active in cemetery preservation and other historic projects in the county. “When you look at something like that, and its value to the south Cobb area, why would you want to destroy it?”