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| Vol. 16, No. 37 | July 24, 1997 |
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| Vol. 16, No. 37 | July 24, 1997 |
Love is blind" seems to be one of those clichés that's often proved true.
In the case of John and Lisa Elias, the object of their affection is the historic Huguenot House on Taylor's Bridge Road in southern New Castle County. The house, listed on the National Register of Historic Places, had been on the county's list of endangered historic buildings.
John Elias, electrical engineering, said many people had been interested in buying it over the years. But, because the need for repairs and restoration was so overwhelming, he and his wife were the only ones who decided to take the plunge and put an end to the landmark's decline.
The Eliases had been looking for a house in the country when a friend suggested they look at the Huguenot House. The moment they first saw it, in August 1995, they were captivated.
"We didn't see anything but the house. It was love at first sight," John Elias said.
What they saw was a massive 18th-century, native brick plantation house, with six rooms, a fireplace in each of the main rooms, hand-cut wooden floorboards throughout and simple but exquisite features. The land behind the house is filled with trees, and Blackbird Creek runs through it.
The Eliases also noticed that a bald eagle nesting in one of the trees had chicks. Because this land is protected under the Farmland Protection Act, no one can buy less than 10 acres, which means the Eliases'12 acres are safe from encroachment.
"It was certainly a mansion in its day," John Elias said. "Inside, it's really quite beautiful-high ceilings, huge rooms, wood paneling with arched doorways and cabinets, an all-brick, walk-in fireplace (5' high and 7' wide) and fireplaces in every room."
According to a description from the Historic American Buildings Survey:
The Huguenot House is an extraordinary example of an early to mid-18th-century Delaware plantation house. The house, which reflects three major periods of growth, contains exceptionally well preserved interior finishes including paneled fireplace walls in all principal rooms. The house also exhibits a number of regionally identifiable vernacular building characteristics....
What the Eliases did notice but ignored was the immense pile of garbage, including farm machine parts and years of accumulated rubbish stacked up in front of the house, the dirt and animals living inside the house and the fact that the house needed a tremendous amount of work.
Elias described their first visit.
"It was amazing. The back door was open. There was no rubbish inside but the house was filled with dirt and animals. There were rats and mice, snakes, owls, bats and squirrels. The attic was filled with corncobs and acorns, and there were insects, especially bees and wasps. The large fireplace was filled in with bricks, there was rubble in the dining room and paint was peeling everywhere."
They chose to ignore the three large barns behind the house that had been sold for wood, collapsed and left in three huge junk heaps, the magnitude of the hordes of "critters," and all the rubbish surrounding the house.
They bought the house in November 1995 and started working on it right away. Their children, as well as most of the rest of the world, thought they had lost their senses. "During our investigation leading up to the buying, we met a lot of people who had been interested in buying but didn't because of the huge cost of restoration, "Elias said. But, the couple had decided to do a lot of their repairs themselves and keep costs down.
First, the house had to be cleared of "critters." They did some of it by walking through and picking up the friendly rat-eating snakes and taking them outside.
Little by little, with the help of their cats, they managed to evict the rats, mice, squirrels, bats and all but one owl. They even got the bees out of the joists between the first and second floors after a friend told them that the sticky substance on the floor below was honey from concealed hives.
They bought a truck and a tractor and hauled off the rubble themselves. It took them nine months. They saved the cedar beams from the fallen barns to use in the future. Once the landscape was clear, they began working on the building.
"My wife is restoring the wood surfaces. Our intention is to make it look as it did in the 18th century," Elias said.
That means restoring the pent eaves that used to hang over the first-floor windows in the front and back that rest on the second-floor joists and the kitchen, which is in total disrepair.
They also want to remove the bricks from the windows that are in the closets on the second floor at the gable end of the house.
Elias explained that, in the 18th-century, windows were built into closets for light. Some people believe that windows like these were later bricked in to avoid paying the British window tax.
They are so passionate about bringing the Huguenot House back to its original state, inside and out, that hard work, hardship and deprivation are no object.
Contractors had been hired to rebuild the front porch. But, when the Eliases realized the ancient sycamore tree that grows beside the porch would be damaged, they decided to do it themselves. In January 1996, their insurance company suddenly canceled the coverage on the house because no one was living there.
Despite the fact that it was February and the house did not have insulation, a working heating system, a kitchen or hot and cold running water, John Elias moved in.
"The children think we're crazy and if they were older, they might have had us committed," Elias said.
They ran water to the bathroom near the smallest second-floor bedroom, the room that he would occupy. Since the house had electricity, he was able to plug in a space heater, but the water in the pipes still tended to freeze. He constructed a bed out of barn rubble, used a foam pad for his mattress and slept in a sleeping bag all winter. Primitive as it was, the first thing he moved into his room was his computer and a microwave. He had no refrigerator in which to store food, but, Elias said, some neighbors took pity on him and would invite him over for meals.
He said the worst part of it wasn't the cold or lack of food or common conveniences, it was being away from his family all winter. They joined him during the summer.
The best part, he said, was that he got a lot of work done on the house. He had the roof repaired and installed a water well and heating system.
In May, the Eliases were among the 14 recipients of the 1997 New Castle County Historic Preservation Awards. But, he said, they didn't do it for recognition. They bought the house and have been dedicating their time and resources to it because of their love and respect for its beauty and history.
He said he is hoping the whole family will be able to live in the house full-time by the summer of 1998, and says he expects the place will be fully restored in about five years.
| --Barbara Garrison |
