News

Historic Flat Rock sells Greenville Hwy. house

By Bill Moss, Published: May 20, 2013

FLAT ROCK — An early to mid-1880s house restored by Historic Flat Rock Inc. has been sold to an Asheville couple.

"It's a young professional couple out of Asheville," said Historic Flat Rock president Rick Merrill. "They're both nurses. They're going to use it as a residence."
The house is on Greenville Highway
After buying the house for $120,000 in May, the Historic Flat Rock Inc. spent more than $100,000 fixing it up. The remodeling included new kitchen appliances, a furnace and air conditioning. The exterior of "the little skinny house," as one historic reference had it, remained intact.
Research by Historic Flat Rock suggests the house is one of the oldest remaining homes in the historic village. A title search confirmed a deed transfer of the house as early as 1845 in its current location but researchers think it could have been moved from the site of the old mill at Highland Lake. One clue the history detectives turned up was in a short book called "Seven Months a Prisoner," written by David Stradley, that contained a description of "a house that sits sideways on the road," which then would have been the Buncombe Turnpike.
The sale is expected to close at the end of the month.
"We were asking $285,000. It's going to be close to that amount," said Merrill, who is also a Realtor. "We're doing some seller financing on this deal so we've got to wait till they pay us before we can say we're whole." The term of the financing is 18 months, he said. After that, "We'll recycle it and do it again."