Villa Heights served as a community recreation center for almost 50 years until the city vacated the property in 2007 during an economic downturn. The home sat empty for ten years, during which time it was heavily damaged by fire. It was in such a dire state that Preservation Virginia and the Roanoke Valley Preservation Foundation listed the home on their endangered sites lists. Restoration Housing was awarded the property in 2017 with plans to restore the space as a nonprofit hub serving the surrounding community.
Use the slider below the image to see the before and after.
Upon acquisition of Villa Heights, Restoration Housing was allotted insurance proceeds from the 2011 fire. Restoration Housing then used a combination of Community Development Block Grant Funding from the City of Roanoke, Historic Tax Credit syndication (after a successful nomination to the National Register of Historic Places), and private foundation support. Overall, Restoration Housing invested more than $868,000 into the restoration.
Originally constructed in the Federal style circa 1820 for War of 1812 veteran, Lieutenant Colonel Elijah McClanahan and his wife Agatha Strother Lewis (daughter of Col. Andrew Lewis Jr. and granddaughter of Brigadier General Andrew Lewis Sr.).
Completed in the fall of 2019, Villa Heights now provides affordable rental space* to nonprofits serving the surrounding community with shared programmatic space on the first floor and offices on the second floor. Villa Heights was awarded the 2019 Gabriella Page Preservation Award for Outstanding Preservation Project by Preservation Virginia and the 2019 Kegley Preservation Award for Historic Rehabilitation by the Roanoke Valley Preservation Foundation.
* 50% of the Market Rate for a commercial lease
