Historic Hillsborough home, circa 1770, on sale for under $1M. Here’s a look inside.
A restored house in Hillsborough’s historic district that some believe could date to 1770 is up for sale.
Known as the Ruffin-Snipes house, the two-story, side-gabled house at 320 W. King St. has an asking price of $995,000.
The Multiple Listing Service and a historic marker that sits outside suggest the original house was built around 1770. Other research sites and local historians say it’s more likely from 1800 to 1820.
It’s old, for sure. It’s certainly the oldest house currently on the market in the ZIP code, if not in the Triangle market, according to MLS, and one of only a handful of historic homes for sale in Hillsborough’s historic district.
But perhaps more importantly for discerning buyers, it’s in pretty good nick, says its listing agent.
“Historic homes [like this] don’t come on the market frequently,” said Robbin Taylor-Hall of Taylor-Hall Properties. “People tend to buy and stay a while.”
The house sits perched on a hill on 1.14-acre lot with a creek running through it. It has four bedrooms, one bathroom, two half bathrooms, and a private yard.
Cathleen Turner, regional director at Preservation NC, said it’s a well-preserved example of an early 19th century home, and retains many original features: gable-end chimneys, a flush-sheathed porch façade, multi-paned sash windows, heart pine floors, molded siding, a central door, and arched doorways.
It is believed the front four rooms are part of the original house, which could have been a small cabin dating to 1790, Taylor-Hall said.
The original owner of the house is unknown.
By 1840, Peter Browne Ruffin, the son of North Carolina Justice Thomas Ruffin and for many years treasurer of the North Carolina Railroad, owned the house.
Turner said he commissioned John Berry, a well-known builder in the antebellum Piedmont, to construct an addition around that time. She believes he added at least one of the gabled rear ells, a Greek revival-style front porch, and a Federal-style stairwell.
Enslaved master craftsman Joe Nichols, known to work on a number of Berry’s projects, most likely performed the intricate woodwork, she said. Many original mantels and doors, along with cornice moldings, are designs taken from the pattern books of Owen Biddle and Asher Benjamin sometime between 1790 and 1830, she said.
“The stairs and other elements in that 1840s expansion are indicative of his work,” she said.
Of course, the house also comes with a few ghost stories.
Former owner John Snipes reported hearing strange noises and other unexplained events. “My mother said, ‘It must have been the ghost,’” Snipes told the News of Orange County in a 2006 interview.
The current owners, Craig and Christina Nova, said they’ve heard similar stories, but quickly dispelled them. “We enjoyed the idea,” Craig said, “but as far as an actual sighting, ghosts, if they were ever there, have taken a powder or moved to some other old house.”
The couple purchased the house for $700,500 in 2007, according to MLS.
Over the years, Craig Nova said, they’ve installed new central air conditioning and heating, a new upstairs full bathroom, new appliances in the kitchen and an automatic backup generator. They’ve also built a greenhouse, made raised beds in the garden, and added power and plumbing to a separate workshop.
But as interest rates have shot up, interest in the house has wavered. The listing agent has lowered the price twice since its original listing at $1.2 million in late August, he said.
“Where it is now is a rock-bottom bargain,” Craig Nova said. “Some people have liked it, and often it will be a wife-husband split. The women will love the place and the husbands get uneasy. Maybe it’s the ghost.”
