River View (Fairfax), c. 1845-1856, White Pine, Tennessee: An Historical Analysis

The purpose of this study was to produce a thorough documentation of Fairfax, a National Register property, and to organize rehabilitation recommendations supportive of the home's social and architectural history. Specifically, the study included three phases of research:

-- accumulating the history of Fairfax' original construction and ownership,

-- determining and establishing the style of the home through design and construction analysis,

-- proposing an adaptive use for the home and enumerating economic and design recommendations sensitive to its style and history.

The first two phases of research were achieved primarily through traditional methods of historic research which included the examination of historic documents and the comparison of Fairfax' interior and exterior features which nineteenth-century architecture and pattern books. Results established that Fairfax was constructed in a late Greek Revival style between 1845 and 1856.

In the third phase of research, a regional survey was used to support Fairfax' proposed reuse as a country inn. Results of this survey, combined with data collected through historic and design research, served as a basis by which recommendations were made for the home's rehabilitation. These recommendations included marketing and tax credit options as well as aesthetic guidelines for the adaptive use and interior design of the newly-formed inn. Indeed, the three combined phases of the Fairfax study confirmed that historic and design research can be contributing factors in the economic feasibility of contemporary rehabilitations of historic properties.