The Sara Holcomb house, built in 1898, was purchased by the county recently and will likely be torn down.
Yadkin County government officials have completed the purchase of the Sara Holcomb house at 110 E. Elm St. in Yadkinville, which is at the intersection with Jackson Street and across from the courthouse.
The house was purchased for $128,000 from the heirs of Sara Holcomb, who passed away in 2013 at the age of 103 and was a longtime teacher in Yadkin County.
“When she passed away, there was a lot of confusion of who the house went to,” said County Manager Lisa Hughes.
Initially, the house was willed to a senior services nonprofit, which no longer exists, Hughes said. Next in line was a woman who had passed away, she said.
“They had to figure out who it defaulted to,” Hughes said. “So then it would have gone to her two sons, and one of them had passed away. But he had a daughter so it ended up with that granddaughter and the other son and they were the heirs to property.”
Built in 1898, the 1,938 square-foot house is dilapidated and will likely be torn down.
The county owns adjacent properties that have water drainage issues on the site. The county had sought to correct those issues by installing a french drain years ago, but they needed permission from Holcomb and her heirs, who declined, Hughes said.
The land the house sits on will likely play a role in future needs for the courthouse complex.
“Some of the things we hear constantly is about how there needs to be more parking or people have said we have the ugliest courthouse in the state,” Hughes said. “We would like to do some things in the future — it’s not anything immediate, to do some things to the front of building to make it look more like a courthouse. I’d say probably within the next couple of years.”
Lisa Michals may be reached at 336-448-4968 or follow her on Twitter @lisamichals3.