As a North Carolina-based renovator who specializes in flipping old homes, Adam Miller knew he had a unique opportunity when the owner of the Chester House reached out to see if he could help save her historic farmhouse.
The 1886-built Davidson, NC, property was in rough shape, but Miller knew he wanted to take on the project.
“The whole house felt like a North Carolina piece of folk art,” he tells Realtor.com®. “It just felt sad to tear it down, because it was one of the oldest surviving farmhouses in Davidson.”
Citing the original beadboard walls and boxy door frames, Miller could immediately picture the property’s origin story.
“You hear about somebody building a house with their bare hands, and this is the type of house I think about, you know?” he says. “The old-school North Carolina farmer gets done for the day and he’s like, adding onto his house, or he’s just doing cool stuff because that’s what he needs to survive and live on the land. That’s the vibe I get from this house.”
Known as “Old House Adam,” Miller has been transforming historic North Carolina homes for 15 years. While he says his team can “save anything,” he’s careful with choosing projects that are also good business, avoiding properties that would be “financially irresponsible” to tackle.
“If we’re not able to make the numbers work, sometimes we have to pass on really cool, beautiful projects,” he explains.
The Chester House was a particularly exciting case for Miller and his team—which includes his wife, Jessica Miller, a talented interior designer and portrait artist.
“We actually beat out a developer that was hunting the property,” he shares, noting that this plot of land was exceptionally desirable, given its access to a 48-acre nature preserve. “It was really pretty awesome.”
They were also able to secure the two properties on either side of the Chester House, where they’ll erect “heirloom farmhouses,” leveraging vintage floor plans and salvaged materials to create something new with an old-school feel.
Although the home ended up needing much more work than initially anticipated, Miller was able to restore its original character while adding a few modern luxuries.
Two gorgeous and generously sized bathrooms were added—even if they both required extensive changes to the footprint of the home.
The kitchen underwent a more extensive renovation than he typically carries out in these kinds of projects, receiving fully-customized cabinetry. And the home’s most defining features—like the original wood floors—were given their moment to shine.
“You don’t want a house where you’ve pulled all the character out of it, but you also don’t want a house that feels like it’s still 1886,” he says.
For Miller, that means finding a balance between keeping original features and making additions that “embrace the imperfections of the house.”
In an “awkward” corner, they added “interesting bookshelves” to give the space new purpose. Built-ins and storage space were added to make the home more functional. And aesthetics were chosen to provide a mix of on-trend features and classic design, which Miller points out, are sometimes one in the same.
Miller also believes that it’s important to choose the right materials when breathing new life into an historic property.
“You’ve got to pull in a little bit of personality,” he says. “People don’t acknowledge this. It’s the material choices. If you stick to old-school materials and there’s no real plastics involved or…
