The Roanoker - Sept/October 2021 - 61

" They didn't have any idea what my
intentions were at the time, " Thornton
remembers. " I had nothing to show
for what we could do. " In the end,
she prevailed by reaching out
to critics and explaining her
ideals and her background.
" These big, old, grand
dame houses, there's
not the same need for
them. But if you can
make them flexible
for families and make
them affordable ...
then suddenly they
have this great new use and new purpose, " she
explains. " This house was never going to get
restored under a home-ownership economic
model. "
Thornton learned from her mistake. In the
years since, she has gotten to know - and even
partnered with - area nonprofits focused on
housing. And she reaches out to neighborhood
groups long before renovations begin.
" I was very proud of the outcome, " she
says of the Day Avenue property. " I think it
convinced a lot of original skeptics that you
can make rental housing very beneficial to the
neighborhood. "
ENDURING
ARCHITECTURE
For Thornton, every project
begins with the house.
She knows the blueprint she
has to follow: the property must be
located in a designated historic district
and it must be so damaged that no other
nonprofit, homeowner or developer would
touch it. Typically, it has sat vacant for years,
making it a magnet for drug users.
She drives through neighborhoods,
searching for a structure with something
special: architectural details like the Dale
Avenue home or a unique history like the
yellow Queen Anne near the Rescue Mission
that once housed a Roanoke mayor.
In her shiny black Volvo, Thornton ventures
past failing fences and boarded windows and
litter blowing through the streets. What she
sees is possibility.
Once she's picked her house, she doesn't
let go. She brings in a designer, an engineer, a
contractor. Most have worked with Restoration
Housing for years. The structure and the
neighborhood reveal to the team the direction
they should take: duplex, apartments, singlefamily
home?
Thornton is always asking: how can this
house best serve this community?
" If you just tear something down, you have
a blank lot, " explains Chad Brown, owner of
the contracting company, Square 1, Inc., which
has worked on each of Restoration Housing's
projects.
AFTER
PATTERSON AVE
BEFORE
AFTER
TheRoanoker.com
SEPTEMBER.OCTOBER 2021
September/October 202
61
COURTESY OF ISABEL THORNTON

http://www.TheRoanoker.com

The Roanoker - Sept/October 2021

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of The Roanoker - Sept/October 2021

The Roanoker - Sept/October 2021 - 1
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The Roanoker - Sept/October 2021 - Cover3
The Roanoker - Sept/October 2021 - Cover4
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