2024 Preservation Awards | Eurytania & Brown Buildings
Thursday, May 16th 2024
For years as other historic buildings along Main Street benefited from sensitive rehabilitation, the ca.-1901 Brown and ca.-1938 Eurytania buildings stood poised for reinvestment. Under the ownership of the Middleton family, the buildings recently underwent an extensive, historically sensitive revitalization. Directed by architect Scott Lambert, Mashburn Construction restored the Eurytania Building’s existing wood windows and returned the storefront to its original configuration with period-correct wood details, while on the Brown Building, Mashburn contractors restored cast iron columns, repaired extant portions of the building’s wood and cast cornice, and recreated an historically inspired new wood storefront based on archival images.
WINNER | Preservation, Rehabilitation, or Restoration (commercial, institutional, rental, or municipal)
Eurytania & Brown Buildings | 1728-1730 Main Street
GMS Revive Tenant, LLC — Property Owner
Mashburn Construction Company — Contractor
Lambert Architecture + Construction Services — Architect & Preservation Consultant
For years as other historic buildings along Main Street benefited from sensitive rehabilitation, the ca.-1901 Brown and ca.-1938 Eurytania buildings stood poised for reinvestment. Under the ownership of the Middleton family, the buildings recently underwent an extensive, historically sensitive revitalization. Directed by architect Scott Lambert, Mashburn Construction restored the Eurytania Building’s existing wood windows and returned the storefront to its original configuration with period-correct wood details, while on the Brown Building, Mashburn contractors restored cast iron columns, repaired extant portions of the building’s wood and cast cornice, and recreated an historically inspired new wood storefront based on archival images.
Inside the Brown Building, the installation of glass floors retained the feel of an historic interior courtyard while creating usable space for apartments. Hex-tile floors in the front portion of the building were retained and historic wood flooring on the second floor was either preserved or salvaged for use elsewhere in the property.
Today, the Eurytania and Brown buildings illustrate how previously vacant or outdated office space with historic relevance and material can be successfully adapted by following preservation techniques sensitive to preserving character-defining elements.
Before & After
Before image courtesy Lambert Architecture + Construction Services. After image courtesy Joshua Aaron Photography.
Hallway
Before image courtesy Lambert Architecture + Construction Services. After image courtesy Joshua Aaron Photography.
Explore the
Economic Impact Study
This study's findings reinforce our long-held position on the importance of historic preservation for the city's economy and support our work advocating for policies that encourage preservation and the reuse of historic buildings. Columbia’s architectural heritage is not simply an exercise in nostalgia; it is an informed, strategic investment in the future.
Check out some of the other 2024 Preservation Award recipients:
2024 Preservation Awards | Good Samaritan-Waverly Hospital
A state-of-the-art facility opened in 1952 as the first purpose-built hospital for Columbia’s Black community, Good Samaritan-Waverly Hospital operated until 1973. As a remarkable statement of resilience and perseverance during the Jim Crow era, the property received recognition by the Department of the Interior, which added it to the National Register of Historic Places in 2008. Despite this distinction, the nearly 20,000 square-foot landmark property remained gutted and windowless, languishing for years as it awaited rehabilitation.
2024 Preservation Awards | Longstreet Theatre
Originally called College Hall at its completion in 1855, Longstreet Theatre ranks among Columbia’s most iconic historic buildings and is arguably one of the best examples of Greek Revival architecture in the capital city. For nearly 170 years, the temple-like landmark building has served as a Civil War military hospital, a Reconstruction-era arsenal and armory, science classrooms and laboratories, a gymnasium, and, since 1977, as a theatre in the round.
2024 Preservation Awards | Maxcy Gregg House
Appreciating the value that historic buildings provide as unique work environments, owners Todd Avant and Mullins McLeod acquired this ca.-1841 former residence, which had fallen into disrepair following years of commercial use. One of Columbia’s oldest former residences, the antebellum property required extensive exterior, interior, and site work—rehabilitation guided by the State Historic Preservation Office and the National Park Service to qualify for historic tax credits and the Bailey Bill tax abatement.