Six years and about $125,000 in federal money later, a 100-year-old brick duplex has been flipped by the city to benefit a median-income family.
The city received the August Golden Hammer Award from the Historic City of Jefferson for improvements made to 304 Marshall St.
In 2010, city government bought the foreclosed home in a low-income neighborhood through the Neighborhood Stabilization Program, part of the 2008 economic stimulus package.
The city bought six properties through the stabilization program. Two were razed and the lots donated to River City Habitat for Humanity, and two were rehabilitated and sold to median-income owners. The final property at 408 Lafayette St. would have been similarly renovated. But in the 2012, FEMA revised its maps, and it was declared in the flood plain, said Jayme Abbott, neighborhood services coordinator.
The 304 Marshall St. property was the last of that program. The purchase price was about $50,000.
After several setbacks, including stolen copper utilities and a change in city staff, the rehabilitation began in April with LG Berry Construction.
The divided property was opened as one. New electric, plumbing, climate control, flooring and roofing were added. And mitigation was required for lead paint and asbestos.
Currently, the city is gathering appraisals to set the fair market selling price. Then it will sell to a median-income family. To qualify, a family of four would need a household income of $62,700 or less.
"This property is night and day," Abbott said. "I feel like I'm on that HGTV show."
Historic architectural features - including pocket doors, ornate columns and brick fireplaces with mantles - were restored.
Researcher Deborah Goldammer suspects Jeffrey Keane built the duplex after marrying his wife, Wilde, before 1913. Keane was the son and grandson of Irish immigrants, who worked in a shoe factory and later at the post office. His wife was a Capitol stenographer for a time.
The Keanes lived in one side of 304 Marshall St. until 1945.
"Jeffrey, the son of an Irish immigrant started as a factory worker, saved money and, at age 30, got married, bought property, built a house, got a job at the post office, worked his way up and survived the depression," Goldammer said. "While he was doing this he had built a duplex, which meant he got rent to help pay for it."
Others who lived in the duplex during that time included a state auditor's office clerk, a train dispatcher, a clothing salesman, Weber Ice Cream Company president, a highway department stenography equipment technician, a prison guard, a phone company caretaker and a couple of widows.
Ben and Lavinia Porter bought the home in 1947 and lived there until 1954. He was the city parks director, and she a bookkeeper.
A variety of people lived there through the next few decades, Goldammer said.
In 1991, the Jefferson City Housing Authority took ownership, then it changed hands several times again until Central Bank took over in June 2009 due to foreclosure.