News

Historic Brookland wins landmark status

By Bill Moss, Published: February 6, 2014

Brookland, built in 1836 as a summer home and isolated on a 9½-acre hilltop even while surrounded by post-World War II subdivisions, is now an official historic landmark in Hendersonville.

Although the property is already on the National Register of Historic Places, it had not until Thursday received local landmark designation. The certification allows the property owner to apply for a 50 percent tax break in city and county property taxes.
Built by Charleston businessman Charles Edmundston, the home was owned by Confederate Maj. Theodore G. Barker, one of the largest landowners in Henderson County at the turn of the last century. It has also been the home of prominent Charleston lawyer Henry H. Ficken and Dr. Marion Ross and Ann B. Ross, the author of the popular "Miss Julia" novels. Since 1977, Brookland has been the year-round home of retired banker Christopher Eugene "Gene" Staton Jr. and his wife, Deborah Holmes Staton. With a tax value of $511,000, the designation would make the owners eligible for a tax break of $1,312.25 a year.

The council approved the landmark designation unanimously after the city Historic Preservation Commission reviewed and recommended the application.