In Edenton, community members rallied around a cherished landmark after a big gust of wind damaged the long-neglected house. Now it's protected in perpetuity with a historic preservation easement.

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The wind storm on April 8 blew down a tree that was next to the grounds of Pembroke Hall (1850), a grand residence on West King Street. The tree crashed into one of the massive Doric porch columns on the first floor and damaged a parlor window in what the late architectural historian Tom Butchko described as "one of the landmarks of the Greek Revival style in North Carolina."

"I don't know if there would have been the push without the tree falling through," said Mary Ann Warmack, one of 31 shareholders who banded together as Pembroke Hall Foundation to purchase and restore the house.

Residents in Edenton had been concerned about Pembroke Hall for several years. Its property subdivided, the house sat empty. Then the bank repossessed it.

"We had someone incorporate an LLC," said Sam "Sambo" Dixon, another of the shareholders, "and within three weeks we had raised $900,000."

"Friends called friends," says Mary Ann. "It was just a matter of getting the word out." A Facebook profile for Pembroke Hall helped broadcast the need far and wide.

As soon as they closed on the property, shareholders in the newly formed Pembroke Hall Foundation began fixing things up: repairing the damaged column and windows, sealing the roof, mending a broken railing on the southern piazza, painting, and more.

In May the shareholders gathered to sign an easement to PNC to protect the interior and exterior of the house and its full, reunited lot, right down to the lapping waters of Edenton Bay. Claudia Deviney, PNC's Northeast Regional Director, attended the signing. "I don't think I've seen a happier group of people in a long time," she says. 

Pembroke Hall is now on the market for $1.4 million. Given their investment in repairing and holding the house, the shareholders won't make any financial gain from their involvement. But they know, thanks to their dedication, and to the easement, that it will be protected and remain a pivotal part of the Edenton Historic District.

"We want a family to live here," says shareholder Larry Sellers, "someone who will continue to share the house with the community."

"People came together as a community to save this house," he says. "It just makes you feel good to see it."