The Charlotte Observer
Saturday, January 28, 1995
By Lisa Holm, Special to The Observer Piece by piece, couple took 15 years to build their dream houseLet
Chan Thompson talk about his baby
and watch him beam. This 5,000-square-foot house took 15 years to build and is filled with exquisite Victorian details, such as gingerbread trim, ornamental gables and brilliant stained-glass windows. It sits atop a hill
overlooking Lake Wylie. Yet, surprisingly, this house started out as a humble home built in 1928 on Wilkinson Boulevard. Chan and Nancy Thompson call it their "Victorian Villa." It has five bedrooms, five baths, four
fireplaces (two in bedrooms), a pool, a hot tub, a gazebo and a separate apartment. Over the years, he has scoured antique stores and flea markets looking for authentic Victorian details. The house has come together piece by
piece. "Nancy has had to put up with a lot of mess at times," says Chan, a contractor. But the outcome was worth it. As you approach the house from the road, you see a gingerbread-trimmed mailbox, dog house
and a 2-story playhouse
that is identical to the main home. Chan says he build the playhouse, complete with air conditioning and heater and a slate roof as a gift for his 10-year-old daughter, Amy.Walk up to the front and you notice beveled glass on the
French doors, which came from an airport in France. The sidelights were salvaged from a house in Fourth Ward. Chan had an architect build a frame around the structures so they would look like a set.
"I try to make the old fit and work with the house," he says. In 1980, the Wilkinson Boulevard house was being prepared to be moved. Chan bought it for only $7,000 and moved it to the 1-acre Lake Wylie property he had
bought from his family 25 years ago. He tore everything away from the old house except the frame, and replaced the damaged existing wood underneath the home. Next, he went to Savannah, Ga., and Charleston to take pictures of
Victorian homes. Later, he enlisted the help of Charlotte architect Charlie King to design his Victorian dream from the existing walls of the old house. For nearly 10 years, the Thompsons - including children Amy, Chan, Jr. and
Michelle - lived in a mobile home on the property. Chan worked on the house on nights and weekends. Often, he would visit Fourth Ward homes set for destruction with a list of specific architectural features. He'd buy salvage
right from the demolisher for about $100, then take roof slates, old bricks, gingerbread trim and stained glass windows. Historical pieces are used throughout the house. Take the wood beams in the kitchen, for instance. They are
from an 1865 home in Salisbury. He found a beam that became a fireplace mantle in a tobacco smoke barn. Low cost wasn't the motivation. In fact, many pieces - such as the French doors - ended up costing much more than a
prefabricated piece. But to look original, he says, you have to have all that detail. That's one reason he used a beaded ceiling, carved moldings and heavy baseboards throughout the house. And it's why Chan and Nancy, a
cytologist, placed Victorian antiques in each room. Eventually, they may make the house into a bed & breakfast inn. "This house is like my baby," Chan says. |
