Will and Katie Harbin, both in their early 30s, have an appreciation for historic restoration. The couple is restoring a Greek Revival home on North Jefferson Street.

In its bygone days of glory, the rundown Greek Revival home on North Jefferson Street graced Athens with a stateliness shared with several other homes of that style.

Until the past year, it seemed as though what is known as the Craig-Hine-Wilson home was destined to be razed for the prime real estate upon which it sits.

Will and Katie Harbin didn’t want to see that happen. The couple, both in their early 30s, have an appreciation for historic restoration.

Will acquired before their marriage a Craftsman-style bungalow on North Madison Street, the backyard of which backs up against the backyard of the Wilson home. Katie, the daughter of Wayne Kuykendall, grew up in a restored 1830s Judge William Walker home on Clinton Street that Kuykendall renovated.

After the death of longtime resident Margaret Wilson, the house came up for sale. But, the newly married couple couldn’t come up with the asking price. However, the house finally went on the auction block and the Harbins were able to purchase it.

New baby

“We bought the house in August and I found out we were expecting a baby in September,” said Katie.

Now the fun begins. They know it’s a long-term project, but they are determined to see it through.

Their new son, William “Maclean” Harbin, was born Friday.

A major restoration project and a new baby would seem like too daunting a prospect for most.

“We wanted this house,” Katie said.

Will is an instrumentation mechanic for TVA at Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant and Katie is a teacher at Piney Chapel Elementary School. They moved into the upstairs of the Wilson house in mid-May to get settled before the baby arrived.

They are installing a small kitchenette upstairs, but in the meantime they were running through backyards to the Madison Street bungalow to use the kitchen until that house is sold. Will has torn off a back wing, which will be built back as a story-and-half wing to contain the kitchen and a living room and two bedrooms above.

“My dad is working with the plans,” Katie said. “He wants the plans for the back addition to be historically correct.”

History

The house was built by James and Harriet Craig in 1845, according to Lure and Lore of Limestone County by the late historian Faye Axford. Craig sold the house in 1850 to William Anson Hine, who was partner with his uncle Roswell Hine in the Hine mercantile establishment southwest of the Athens Square.

When Hine died the house was sold to David Lee Rosenau in 1901. Rosenau and his wife, Alice Lewis Rosenau, raised their children, Margaret and David (Judge David Rosenau), in the house. After Margaret married Dr. D.J. Wilson, she exchanged houses with her parents and raised their children, David and Wayne, in the house.

The Harbins bought the house at auction from David Wilson, who now lives in Huntsville.

“Judge Rosenau’s daddy moved the house from the middle of the lot and destroyed the old millwork,” Will said. “No one knows why he moved the house. It’s rare to be this close to downtown and have an open lot.”

But in the moving to the south end of the spacious lot at North Jefferson and Bryan streets, much of the old millwork was destroyed, Will said.

“The replacement millwork dates from 1790 to 1810, and came out of Kentucky,” Will said. “The floor boards come out of the old Murphy house, which was on land owned by Nucor Steel. The old floor is still there, but he put oak and pine over it.”

A servants’ house in the backyard will also have to be moved.

Modern updates

“I want a walk-in closet,” said Katie, as she toured her visitor around the upstairs living quarters. “All my life I’ve lived in an old house with small closets. I had to move clothes to the attic with each season.”

Once the addition has been built on the back, the Harbins will move into it while doing the front portion.

“I predict we’ll be able to move into the back addition by the end of the year,” Will said.

That’s the prediction, but Will concedes, “With old houses it’s always something.”

“In the front part we want to put back the original mantles, chimneys and the original stairway,” Katie said.

“The house is in pretty good shape structurally,” Will said. “A lot of the house has dry rot. Getting the old radiators out was something else. We had to cut them in sections and put them on hand trucks.”

Right now, the downstairs is like a mine field with piles of old lumber and fixtures. Heavy, faded brocade draperies, the height of elegance in former years, still hang over the windows. Ornate crystal chandeliers hang from the ceilings of the two front parlors and foyer, intact but in need of cleaning.

Despite the clutter and refuse of the restoration, it’s easy to visualize that this home will one day be a beautiful residence once more.