Dixons purchase their 'forever home,' the historic Blackmer House

Salisbury, North Carolina

SALISBURY Glenn and Beth Dixon bought one of Salisburys most historic houses Friday when they signed closing documents on the Fulton-Mock-Blackmer House at 112 S. Fulton St.

This is our forever home, Glenn Dixon said. At one point, if we live here long enough, it could be the Fulton-Mock-Blackmer-Dixon House.

Historic Salisbury Foundation sold the 1820 house for $150,000, and now the Dixons will begin a bottom-to-top restoration, which by any measure, will be challenging.

Realizing its an ambitious goal, Beth Dixon said she hopes her family can make the house their new residence by Christmas.

The house encompasses 4,800 to 5,000 square feet. It has four chimneys and eight fireplaces. Once it becomes a residence again, it will afford four bedrooms and two bathrooms upstairs.

The Dixons plan to add a master bedroom downstairs, and they also will be bringing back the once grand porch/portico in front, which featured four full columns.

The Dixons will count on contractor Al Wilson and architect Jon Palmer to guide the restoration. The couple also want to accomplish as much of the project as possible this year, because N.C. historic preservation tax credits available for this property are scheduled to sunset Jan. 1, 2015.

The project will qualify for residential tax credits of 30 percent. Glenn Dixon said the couple would not have considered buying the house without the tax incentive.

The house, once owned by famed film and stage actor Sidney Blackmer and his wife, Suzanne, was severely damaged in a 1984 fire.

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Dixons purchase their 'forever home,' the historic Blackmer House