It now looks like a $21 million tax-reduced loan could ride on the fate of a former frat house. At its September 17 meeting, City Council opted to defer approving a $21 million bond for the Jefferson Scholars Foundation—a move city staff confirms is unusual. The reason? Continuing ambiguity over whether the Foundation will tear down or renovate the 94-year old colonial revival structure.
 The Compton House, a.k.a. the Beta House, in 1913. UVA Architecture Professor Daniel Bluestone says, “The house flows into the surrounding landscape and the landscape flows into the house." |
The Jeff Scholars Foundation, most well known for their full ride “merit” scholarships, bought the property of 124 Maury Ave. for $3 million in February with ideas of building a center for their burgeoning graduate fellows program. This summer, the Foundation applied for an $18 million bond, and recently went back for $3 million more. The county has said yes, but the city is still making up its mind.
The issue is about more than preserving a legacy of Beta Theta Pi binge drinking. The Beta House is known in local historical preservation circles as the Compton House, so called for the doctor who had it built in 1913. But it was the architect that really makes the house something many are now cheering for.
“Eugene Bradbury is the premier architect working in early 20th century Charlottesville,” says Daniel Bluestone, a UVA professor of architectural history. While Charlottesville has two world heritage sites, “overall, it’s not a city that’s blessed with a huge stock of really distinguished residential architecture.”
Bluestone particularly admires the Compton House. “What he’s doing is setting up a porous connection with the surrounding landscape. In other words, the house flows into the surrounding landscape and the landscape flows into the house.”
Yet it is not designated historic, largely because it is less than 100 years old. Since Bluestone learned of the sale in the spring, he’s been trying to meet with the Foundation to discuss preservation options, but so far the Foundation has not been receptive to his offers.
James Wright, president of the Foundation, says that if he could, he’d love to promise City Council that the Compton House will be saved, but that he’s constrained by financial considerations.
“We are in the process of analyzing what would be the optimum configuration of what we want to build there,” Wright says. “Until we know, we can’t really answer the [preservation question]. There is no question that the house is in really, really poor condition. It’s sited in a way that might be challenging—I’m not saying that it is, but it might be. That poses challenges.”
“We have a fiduciary obligation to utilize our assets in the most beneficial way possible,” says Wright. “Our primary mission is to offer scholarships and fellowships. So we have to be mindful of that.”
But Bluestone thinks that there are more than enough preservation options in this instance. “There are many situations in which we as a society have to decide between preserving the past and building the future, and those are situations in which there is no way to accommodate the two simultaneously. This is not one of those situations.”
The Foundation, with an endowment of nearly $200 million, doesn’t have to use municipal bonds. But if it goes through a private lender, that means higher interest rates and fewer scholarships, says Wright.
“We’re looking forward to creating something there, whatever shape or form, that will be an asset to that neighborhood,” Wright says, “and will be an asset to the City of Charlottesville and will help us fulfill our mission.”
Previous coverage:
Jeff Scholars ask for $21M loan [September 11, 2007]
Merit scholars buy disgraced frat house [May 8, 2007]
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