Sunrise Preservation Work Receives Award: ; Law Firm Honored for Restoration and Renovation of Charleston Landmark

By Bob Schwarz

bobschwarz@wvgazette.com

A Charleston law firm has won a regional award for its work in preserving, restoring and renovating Sunrise Mansion and the related grounds and hiking trails.

Farmer Cline & Campbell PLLC bought the mansion for $600,000 from the old Sunrise Museum before the museum moved downtown and became part of the Clay Center. The law firm spent $2 million in renovations, taking on the dual challenge of restoring a worn building to its former luster and converting it into an up-to-date law office complete with small workout gym and showers. The firm donated the woods and trails to the city of Charleston.

The award from The Garden Club of America’s four-state region covering Virginia, West Virginia, Kentucky and North Carolina recognizes someone outside the club for preserving a landmark important to the community.

The law firm took on the project after the Greater Kanawha Valley Foundation backed away from an arrangement to take over the property free and renovate. That idea fizzled when cost estimates vastly exceeded what foundation leaders were expecting.

“The future of the building was in serious question,” Farmer said after he had completed renovations. “In order for this building to be preserved, it had to be done by an entity that generated the revenue to sustain it.”

Nancy Thomas of Kanawha Garden Club helped submit the application, which honors someone not involved with the club for their preservation efforts. The award citation noted the special efforts of Steve and Karen Farmer who did the research to restore the building with period hardware, fixtures, furnishings and colors.

“That was an expensive undertaking,” Thomas said. “It was a wonderful thing for both Sunrise Museum and the city. It permitted the museum to do what they said they were going to do and it preserved the mansion.”

Since the law firm moved into the building nearly three years ago, nonprofits have used it for fundraisers that raised roughly $400,000 for charitable purposes, Thomas said.

To contact staff writer Bob Schwarz, use e-mail or call 348- 1249.

(c) 2007 Charleston Gazette, The. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.