Historic Latham House to undergo restoration

A group of concerned Buckhannon residents is trying to save a downtown structure that dates back to the end of the Civil War.

The Latham House, built around 1866, once was the home of Col. George Robert Latham. It soon will receive new siding, as Create Buckhannon and the city are searching for private and public funds to restore the home.

Latham helped lead the 2nd West Virginia Infantry in the War Between the States. In 1864, he was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives, a post he held until 1867. Latham served as a consul at Melbourne, Australia, before returning home to be the Upshur County school superintendent. He died in 1917, and is buried in the Heavner Cemetery in Buckhannon.

"The Latham House is central to a complete downtown revitalization program and will be a focal point for community organization and activity," the Upshur County Commission stated in a recent letter of support for the project.

Bryson VanNostrand, architect for the project, said the foundation has been replaced and stabilized. New stones were installed in the work.

"That was absolutely essential," he said.

Over time, the building on Madison Street had settled about 5 inches, and it has been brought back to level by using jacks. The building also sits in a floodplain, and VanNostrand said the next step will be obtaining approval from the Federal Emergency Management Agency to make the structure flood-proof.

"It's something that's not done very often," he said.

The plan would be to reinforce the concrete walls to a point above the floodplain, he said.

Long-term plans call for the Latham House to become the permanent home of the Buckhannon-Upshur Chamber of Commerce and possibly the Upshur County Convention and Visitors Bureau. There is a plan to construct a small addition to the back of the property in a way that would not overpower the historical look of the current building.

See the article here:
Historic Latham House to undergo restoration