Short Summary

My name is Varanese  Pryor. I am a native Memphian with a strong desire to restore civic pride and rebuild  communities in the Memphis Area. In recent years, there has been an incredible loss of historical properties due to new development, neglect and a lack of awareness concerning the value and heritage of Historical homes and establishments. In response to this incredible injustice, my company Rising Phoenix Development Group is partnering with a local Historical preservation organization-Memphis Heritage- to stabilize and restore this beautiful historical home. If we are successful, we will continue to rescue and restore historical structures all over the Memphis Area.

Newton Copeland Richards House is on the National Registry of Historic Places and our local preservation organization, Memphis Heritage, is partnering with us to see it restored. Your donations will help us greatly in making repairs needed to stabilize this home and keep this property from being lost forever.  The house was built in 1883 in an area know as Estival Park by Robert Brinkley Snowden, who built many homes in 19th century Memphis. This house is classified as a Stick/Eastlake style Queen Ann Victorian with 13′ ceilings, oak floors, mahogany woodwork and tile-trimmed fireplaces (all surprisingly still intact). More recently it became a focal point of the community and provided shelter, food and encouragement to those in need through the love and commitment of its owner. In lieu of her failing health, the home has been vacant for several years and fallen into a state of disrepair. It has also sadly endured vandalism that has put in danger of demolition.

What We Need

We are seeking to raise $60,000 immediately to stabilize this historical property and remove the threat of demolition. Find us here: http://www.risingphoenixdg.wix.com/rpdg

Repairs include:

  • Waterproofing the metal roof damaged by a falling tree
  • Exterior facade repair
  • Stabilizing the damaged porch
  • Repairing water damaged floor joists
  • Repairing rotted eaves and overhangs
  • Draining flooded basement
  •  We want to save this beautiful historical home and reintroduce it to the community as a viable part of new economic growth in this area. The people in this community have already offered great volunteer support. By supporting the revitalization of historical and other existing structures in our communities, we hope to create economic growth in areas where it is most needed. We want to restore the civic pride and see our communities revitalized. Communities respond to positive change. Your support can make it happen. Even if we don’t reach our entire goal, funds will be used to make as much progress as possible to prevent demolition and seek matching funds to finish the project. If we are fortunate enough to exceed our initial goal, we will apply the extra funds to the estimated $200,000 budget for the completion of the restoration of this beautiful historical home.

Other Ways You Can Help

Even if you can’t help financially, you can help us greatly by spreading the word about our cause by using the Indiegogo share tools. Even better, if you live in the area where our project is you can help us out by volunteering! We always need extra hands to help the work go by faster! Just go to risingphoenixdg.org and click on the “Get Involved” link. We would love to see you!

Find us here: http://www.risingphoenixdg.wix.com/rpdg

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