Hope hard to come by as clock ticks on Folsom House future

Efforts to save Carter County's historic Folsom House from the wrecking ball are now in a race against time, but County Commissioner Wes Holtsclaw is leaving no stone unturned still hopes that race can be won. "We have 90 days," Holtsclaw, who chairs the county's building and grounds committee, said Friday during a walk-through of the roughly 3,500-square-foot house built around 1861 by Henderson Folsom, Carter County's highest-ranking Confederate officer. "If we could save it without costing taxpayer money, we would love for that to happen," Holtsclaw said. That scenario, though, appears difficult to impossible if the county can't get clear title in a way that would allow it to seek grants, or potentially private funding. Commissioners voted Oct. 19 to give County Attorney Josh Hardin 90 days to try and obtain clear title – and If that doesn't happen by mid-January, the county is likely to follow the existing deed and begin the process to tear the house down. Holtsclaw knows the odds of preserving the house are long. So does Kathryn Nay, one of the three living Folsom heirs who play a key part in the drama. Nay, who lives in Arizona, fondly remembers visiting the home during her childhood and teenage years, before her grandparents deeded it over to Carter County in 1976 so the land could be used for a new courthouse – one that was never built. "I would prefer that the house be preserved, because it has historical significance to a lot of people in Carter County," Nay said in a phone interview. But with the deed itself a complicating factor, and the likelihood that restoring the home would be a multimillion dollar endeavor, Nay was realistic – if a little tearful – as she discussed the likely outcome. "I will be very emotionally sad if it gets torn down," she said. "But I'm 67, I've been an adult a long time, and I know there are financial considerations. In the end it's going to boil down to finances." A deed that may not go unpunished Discussions about the structure's future have gone from casual to intense since the county's Agricultural Extension Office vacated it Sept. 27, 2024 due to flood damage caused by Hurricane Helene. Those offices had occupied the house since 1977, but even that occupancy wasn't part of the deed. Nay's grandparents – Henderson's grandson Murray and his wife Rose – opted to deed the house to the county in 1976. They were aging and had decided to move west. Carter County leaders, meanwhile, had ambitious plans to build a new courthouse, communications center and sheriff's offices, and the several acres the home sat on was an ideal site. The Folsoms signed the property over – with a caveat. "It is understood and agreed … that the house now located on the property will be completely razed to the ground," the deed states. If that didn't happen, it would revert to the family. The courthouse project stalled. The ag extension officer was a relative of the Folsoms by marriage, Nay said. That led to a "gentlemen's agreement" that the house could host any public function of the county. More than 45 years later, the ag extension office was still there, though Nay said she'd like to have seen more care put into the home's upkeep and preservation. What Murray and Rose Folsom didn't want was private ownership of the house, and Nay said she and her siblings feel obligated to honor that. No county cash to be had and a Catch 22 Despite strong sentiment to preserve the home, and its status on the National Register of Historic Places as a "contributing resource to the Elizabethton Historic District," the odds do not appear to be in preservation's favor. Holtsclaw has contacted state Rep. Renea Jones and state Sen. Rusty Crowe, both of whom represent the county, hoping they might be able to help at the state level. The state's own historical commission, meanwhile, has weighed in twice on the matter in writing. In April, Interim Executive Director Miranda Mongtomery wrote that her office believes "rehabilitation of this building is in the best interest of the county, the people of Elizabethton, and visitors." She noted that the commission had toured the house in late 2025 and concluded that "the building is highly intact and the historic materials and fabric remain." Montgomery added that an initial assessment didn't identify any red flags that "would prevent the building from being rehabilitated or that would indicate the building is in a high state of disrepair." She pointed to numerous potential funding avenues, including a Federal Historic Preservation Fund grant and historic tax credits. The commission, she wrote, "urges the Carter County Commission to consider rehabilitation over demolition. Once a building is lost, it, and its history, is lost forever." The building would need a structural study before any further steps could be taken. Beyond that, Holtsclaw said he expects rehabilitation could cost up to several million dollars, and the grantmaking agencies and foundations are held back by one thing right now. "It's hard for us to apply and really seek the resources we have and have some forward conversations without the clear deed," he said. The fact that the house lies in the Doe River floodplain is another complicating factor, he said. If the county decides on demolition another hurdle will remain, at least in the form of some box checking. Because the house is in Elizabethton's historic district, the city would have some oversight and involvement once moves to tear the house down began in earnest. Holtsclaw shared his frustration, and his hope for some type of miracle, on a quick tour of the house. Large amounts of materials left behind by the ag extension office after Helene remain in several rooms, including even some food items. Nay saw the same scene when she visited the house in April, and said she's been disappointed by the failure to at least clean the inside – what she sees as a continuation of a sort of benign neglect of the home since the offices went in nearly 50 years ago. "The house was not a high priority after the flood," she said. "The only remediation was taking the wet carpet out." She said the family is open to a solution that would return the building to public use by the county, but she knows time is running short and she's not brimming with confidence. "They have spent the last two-plus years talking back and forth and talking back and forth about what to do," Nay said, adding that Hardin has not reached out to her family since the Oct. 19 directive. "Wes Holtsclaw has done more to move this issue forward in one month since all the time after Hurricane Helene."