Fire destroyed the dining room, an upstairs bedroom, the attic, and most of the roof. The entire house suffered smoke, heat, and water damage. However, the quick thinking and hard work of the Asheville Fire Department saved the house and artifact collection from complete destruction.

All of the contents of the dining room were destroyed. Several pieces of furniture that were stored in a second-floor bedroom were also destroyed. The artifacts that survived - china, furniture, books, papers items and many smaller objects - were damaged by the intensity of the heat and by the water that ultimately saved the structure.

Responding to the emergency, conservation specialists went to work immediately, first assessing the damage and then carefully storing each artifact until each could have its turn in the restoration process. Second photo is the bedroom in which Tom Wolfe's brother Ben died.

Years have passed since that tragic day, and the Thomas Wolfe Memorial has rebounded from the smoke, flames, water damage, and senseless destruction of priceless artifacts to a new, restored version of Wolfe's boyhood home. In the wake of the fire, the staff at the Wolfe Memorial took great care to develop an accurate and historically sound method of restoration, and have been working with construction contractors and artifact restoration companies since that time to bring the memorial and its precious artifacts back to their original form.

Progressive Contracting Company, of Sanford, NC, was awarded the construction restoration project. With years of experience on a wide range of restoration projects all along the east coast, many of which are in North Carolina, Progressive Contracting continues to work with the Thomas Wolfe Memorial staff to retain as much of the original structure as possible. Historically correct materials and construction styles are also being employed. Third photo is of attic area currently under repair.

The addition of a state-of-the-art fire detection and suppression system is an important component of the new memorial. Handicap access for the first floor of the house has also been included in the new plan.

Most of the fire-damaged furnishings have been meticulously restored, many of them to their original, "like new" appearance. Some pieces have surprised even the conservation specialists and the Wolfe literary masters. For example, experts had generally agreed that the birthing bed Wolfe described in such eloquent detail in his writings as having a delicate, hand-painted floral design, had been a product of Wolfe's fertile imagination. When the restoration process began on the bed, to everyone's surprise, under layers of charred, gray paint, lay the very design about which Wolfe had written. The birthing bed and the two pieces that accompany it, have now been completely restored to their original beauty, and are ready and waiting for the reopening of the house itself.

As of the fall of 2002, structural work is about one-third complete. Artifact restoration is about two-thirds complete, but most of the difficult conservation work (such as the birthing bed and front door) has been completed. Work on pieces such as chairs, washstands, and upholstered pieces remains, but is progressing at a steady pace. Bottom photo is of the slate roof pattern that will be installed on the roof once the roof structure is fully repaired.

But the work is far from complete. While much of the structural damage is being repaired through funding from the State of North Carolina and fire insurance, artifact restoration has fallen largely on the shoulders of private donors.

The dining room furniture, which was completely destroyed in the fire, is yet to be replaced. Staffers hope to replace the original pieces with period antiques that are very similar in style to the original furniture, and will probably have reproduction chairs built to replace the original chairs. With this new arrangement, visitors after the house reopens may be permitted to enter the dining room and even be seated in the room where so many meals were served to boarders or shared with family during its years as the historic "Old Kentucky Home," the "Dixieland" of "Look Homeward, Angel."

Those involved with the project are working toward a Grand Re-Opening and Birthday Celebration in time for Thomas Wolfe's 103rd birthday in October 2003.

Until then, the Wolfe Visitors Center remains open, and visitors to the center as well as Wolfe's literary fans can all contribute to the conservation cause through the purchase of two new Wolfe posters that are on sale at the memorial's gift shop at 48 North Market Street or at the memorial's web site, www.wolfememorial.com. A signed, numbered, and framed version of either poster may be purchased for $150 each, and the unsigned, unframed posters are $24.95 each. The proceeds from poster sales benefit the restoration work currently ongoing at the site.

For more information, please visit the memorial's web site or call 828-253-8304.

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