Dilemma: How to sell your house and protect its history

Bayard and Nancy Allmond went before the Lewes Historic Preservation Commission recently with an unusual request.  Unlike most of the people who come before the commission seeking permission to make changes to a building in the historic district, the Allmonds sought the opposite. They asked commission members to help them preserve the history they have restored over the past 30 years.

The Allmonds have owned the 1790 original Bethel Church building at the corner of Mulberry and Third streets since 1980.  The structure is one of two original preaching houses still existing in Delaware that were recognized by John Wesley during the formative years of the Methodist Church.  The other is Barratt’s Chapel north of Frederica.

In the 30 years since the Allmonds bought the property in the heart of downtown Lewes for $17,500, they have poured hundreds of thousands of dollars into a painstaking and historic restoration.

Although the couple has deep roots in Delaware, they live in northern California where Bayard taught and practiced pediatric medicine. “We’re bi-coastal, but we grew up in Delaware and have many ties here,” said Bayard. Circumstances have changed since they purchased the property for eventual retirement to Lewes. Bayard retired 10 years ago but then watched helplessly as the stock market crash took away half of his savings.  He has since gone back to work and the couple realized this year that they won’t be retiring to Lewes.

“We have to sell the property, but we’re terrified of what will happen to it after we sell,” said Nancy.  “This has been a labor of love. It’s like putting up one of your children for adoption.”

“We see what other buyers are doing in Lewes,” said Bayard. “They buy properties and houses and then they go out and up with no respect for history.  The historic preservation commission has control over external changes, but they can’t say much about what people do to the interior of structures.”

“They realized their limits and we realized their limits,” said Nancy.

Of most concern to the Allmonds is the interior of the original section of the preaching house.  The 1790 section of the structure consists of a great room - a simple sanctuary - with the original cypress ceiling boards, as well as the original balcony where slaves were permitted to attend services.

In 1980 the Allmonds contracted restoration specialist Jack Vessels to restore the structure, including the rooms that had been added in 1828.  “It was a wreck when we bought it,” said Nancy.  “It had been divided into two small duplexes of five rooms each and was known as the Register House.”

“It was a very careful takedown process,” said Bayard. He pointed out corner molding boards with simple, ornamental beading that Vessels found  in the takedown process, further authenticating the historic nature of the building.  “It’s precisely as it was in 1790,” said Bayard. The couple has two three-ringed binders carefully organized and filled with correspondence about the restoration, old deeds, history, newspaper clippings and other documents about the structure.

First built at the corner of Market and Third streets, the building was moved in 1828 to the corner of Church and Mulberry streets, where it was enlarged for the growing Bethel congregation. It stayed on that property until 1870, when it was moved to make room for construction of a new Bethel church.  That new church served the congregation for many decades until it was sold, converted to a Mary Carter Paint store, and eventually became residential condominiums.

The oldest structure was moved to its present location at Mulberry and Third in 1870.

“If we had complete control, we’d like the structure to stay as it is, using the same footprint it’s been on for 160 years,” said Bayard.  “We’ve considered putting an easement into the deed to protect the restoration, but we know that would curtail buyers.  That’s the tough part.  We want to control buyers but not curtail them.”

The Allmonds have spoken with Lewes Historical Society about buying the property, which also includes a 19th-century corn crib brought in from the Milford area.  “But they tell us they don’t have the money for another property.” The property is listed at $599,000.  “It’s a great house for a couple,” said Bayard.  “Everything is in great shape and ready to be moved into. We would just like to have its structural history preserved, inside and out.”

Nancy talked about an old lady near Taos, New Mexico, who lived in a house with an upstairs that became inhabited by bats. “She has put the house on the market, but the sale requires taking care of the bats. I would like to find some way to protect the history we have preserved, but we don’t require that anyone take care of any bats.”