Gainesville is at risk of losing a piece of local history; the 170 year-old Matheson House is in desperate need of renovations.
But rehabilitation won’t be simple, or cheap.
“Because it’s designated as a contributing historic structure, any kind of work we do, including roofing materials and things like that, all have to get approved by the Historic Preservation Board, so we have begun that process and getting the proper permits for that. Also all of the work has to meet Florida building code standards, so the city will have to approve the work we’re doing,” said John Barrow, President of the Matheson History Museum Board of Directors.
The estimated cost of the first phase of this project is set around $200,000, and while the rest of the project hasn’t been officially budgeted for, Barrow hopes the total cost will be around $300,000-$400,000.
The Matheson History Museum began its fundraising efforts this year. As of now, they have raised about $124,000, including a $40,000 grant from the city through the Gainesville Community Redevelopment Area and $24,000 from a friend of the late Sarah Matheson, according to Barrow.
“We’re still fundraising and anybody that would be interested in donating at any level, we’d appreciate,” said Barrow.
House history
The Matheshon House was built in the late 1850s by Alexander Matheson, and his wife Harriet Mary Perry, just a few years after the city was founded in 1854, making it the second oldest residence in the city.
Alexander and Harriet didn’t live in the house for long and during the Civil War they moved back to South Carolina to fight for the Confederacy.
After the war, Alexander’s brother, James Douglas, moved to Gainesville, opened a mercantile store downtown, married Augusta “Gussie” Steele and started a family.
JD and Gussie had a son, Christopher, who served as Mayor of Gainesville from 1910-1917, served as a state legislator and married Sarah Hamilton Matheson.
Sarah Matheson was very involved in the Gainesville community; she had her house deeded as a living estate and when she passed in 1996, ownership was transferred to the Matheson Historical Center.
It was Sarah’s wish that her house would be a place for the community to learn about local history.
Current state of the house
For almost 30 years, Sarah's wish had come true, but now it’s in jeopardy as the house is in desperate need of renovations.
The almost 170 year old Matheson House used to offer tours regularly. But due to the deterioration, they haven’t done any tours for about a year now, according to Barrow.
It still contains some of the original parts like the floor boards. Over the years these have shrunk, creating visible cracks.
In some rooms, the gaps are big enough you can see light shining through and when you look down you can see the ground underneath the house.
The holes are large enough to make maintaining and regulating the interior temperature of the house difficult, if not impossible, especially with Gainesville’s intense weather.
While the original sections of the house are around 170 years old, it has been expanded and modernized before. Sarah’s bathroom, for example, was added after initial construction and had running water installed. Despite this being a new addition to the house, there were leaks in the plumbing. This caused the wood floor around the toilet to rot.
Aside from the floor in the bathroom, the back porch, which was also a later addition, droops more than an inch; The connected disability ramp is also unusable.
Along with the floor problems, the Matheson House also faces problems typical in aging houses including cracks in the walls and the ceilings.
The $40,000 city grant comes with terms. According to Barrow, they were given a timeline to have the project substantially completed within 18 months. Ideally, the project would start early in the new year.
“We’re still fundraising and anybody that would be interested in donating at any level, we’d appreciate,” said Barrow.