The House Down the Hill

It's an oft-heard question from passersby and visitors to Roanoke College: "Just what is that ramshackle white building at the corner of Clay Street and Thompson Memorial Avenue?" Folks who ask are often surprised to learn that the College owns the old house; they are even more surprised to learn that the modest, one-and-a-half story frame dwelling is one of the oldest - and one of the most historically significant - standing structures in Salem.

And soon it will receive a new lease on life, as renovations begin and as students born of the digital age explore what life was like in the days of spinning wheels and lantern light.  

The Clay Street House, as it's now known, was built in the mid-19^th century. While an exact date of construction and much of the early history has eluded researchers, the house may have been there to greet students and faculty when Roanoke (then the Virginia Collegiate Institute) moved to Salem in 1847. It certainly stood by 1855, when itinerant German artist Edward Beyer featured it in his well-known landscape of Salem.  

Local tradition has long associated the little house with an adjacent tannery, hence the name Tanyard House that was once applied to it. The house has also in the past been referred to as the Burke Cabin, after the last private owner, Katherine Albert Burke, who lived some 80 years just up the hill in Monterey. However, Burke never occupied the little white house; nor was it ever of log construction, as "cabin" would suggest. Hence, the current moniker preferred by the College: Clay Street House. Descriptive - and accurate.  

In the 20^th century, during the life of Mrs. Burke's parents, the house and lot became part of the larger, adjacent Monterey property. After Burke's death in 2002, Roanoke College acquired the entire tract. At the time, Monterey was understandably the main focus of the College's interest; the unassuming house down the hill, even then in poor repair, inspired less enthusiasm. Some suggested immediate demolition, despite Mrs. Burke's one-time promise to "come back and haunt" anyone who deigned to tear down the little house she loved.  

Fortunately, more preservation-minded supporters saw the promise of Clay Street House, precisely because it is so small and unpretentious. "A house like this was usually torn down a hundred years ago," notes Dr. Mark Miller, professor of history at Roanoke and the David F. Bittle College Historian. "That it survived this long makes it an important asset."  

Miller is quick to point out that while few modern families would find such a house - originally only two rooms - a satisfactory dwelling, in the mid-19^th Century this was "a perfectly acceptable home. Most people lived like this, not in brick mansions."  

The History Department, along with preservation groups such as the Salem Historical Society and the Roanoke Valley Preservation Foundation, proposed to the school that the house had value, including for educational purposes. Indeed, history Professor Whitney Leeson's archaeology classes soon began using the site for archaeological excavations. Other classes have toured the house to see in three dimensions what life was like only a few short generations ago. Still others in Gary Dent's "Architecture and Historical Preservation" course have analyzed the architectural features.

Still, the College was able to perform only basic work to stabilize the structure. Recently, undesirable asbestos siding has been removed, revealing the original board-and-batten walls underneath. But more significant repair and renovation has, of necessity, been lower on the priority list. Until now.

Recently, funding has been procured to begin the process of restoring the Clay Street House to its former (humble) glory. Two outside grants in the amount of $100,000 have been awarded to Roanoke to renovate the house. The project is expected to begin in late summer.  

The planned renovations at Clay Street House dovetail nicely with ongoing projects to preserve Monterey itself, as well as the building behind the mansion, a 19^th century kitchen and slave residence dubbed "The Quarters." The remarkably intact complex of antebellum structures promises great opportunity to explore the past.  

"This is an amazing opportunity to use these buildings as a laboratory for students in our new Public History program," Miller says. "Working to preserve and interpret these structures will provide valuable hands-on experience for students."  

Miller says the history department "inherited" the artifacts, furnishings, and costumes from Explore Park, a now defunct historic site in Roanoke County. Public history students have only recently begun sorting through the expansive collection, with an eye on identifying material that may be utilized for interpretive programming staged in the campus' 19^th-century buildings.  

Meanwhile, Clay Street House has been the focus of quite a bit of student attention. M'Elise Salomon '17, a history major with a public history concentration, has explored the pasts of all the structures on the Monterey property. Building on the prior research of Kathleen Ouyang '13, Salomon has traced the history of Clay Street House and examined the inventories of the owners' estates. People associated with the house are as disparate as Christian Wertz, a well-to-do farmer who likely rented the house to a tenant in the 1880s, to John Herbert, the African-American "yardman" for the Monterey grounds in the 1920s.  

"We have to care" about houses like this, opines Salomon. "This is part of our history. Each person, not just the rich and famous, is part of the spectrum. We may not know much about these residents, but the purpose of history is to explore these subjects and share the knowledge with others."  

"This is a structure we really have to cherish, since we don't have many of this sort of house left," she adds.

The long-term use of Clay Street House by the College is still under discussion. But whatever new life the venerable old building finds, it will continue to stand, a testament to bygone days in Salem and to a College that recognizes the value of architectural preservation.  

John D. Long '89 is director of the Salem Museum and senior lecturer in history at Roanoke College and a former editorial page columnist for The Roanoke Times.