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GREENSBORO -- The ugliest house in Fisher Park sits at 910 Magnolia St.

Largely abandoned since Mrs. Thelma O’Brien Keaton grew ill many years ago, the house that stands out like a dingy gray ghost among a neat row of homes was nearly demolished by the city after a petition by neighbors in 2009.

Yet beyond the exterior’s peeling paint, exposed wood and sinking front steps, Benjamin Briggs of Preservation Greensboro sees an architectural gem.

“I like old houses to look like old houses, so I’d probably do very little” beyond what’s necessary to bring it up to code, he said.

The 1917 house — white in its original state — is among the offerings of Preservation Greensboro’s inaugural Tour of Homes for the Fisher Park and Aycock neighborhoods, including homes that have undergone comprehensive restoration work.

But this house, which once belonged to the eldest son of UNCG founder Charles McIver, is in need of a buyer. Preservation Greensboro, which is keeping the house from being destroyed by the city, is cleaning out the property and fielding offers.

“This house has been a curiosity to a lot of people,” said attorney Marsh Prause, chairman of the board of trustees of the Preservation Greensboro Development Fund.

“The best rumor was that there were hundreds of thousands of Confederate war bonds hidden here. Sadly, we haven’t come across any.”

A look inside 910 Magnolia St. is at the same time off-putting and fascinating.

It’s a place frozen in time, with authentic art deco lights and handcrafted door and window moldings that would make antique buffs giddy. At the same time, there are stacks of junk covering the floors and piled high in closets that would appeal more to hoarders.

The house where Keaton and her husband, Joseph, lived out their life together gives Prause pause — with its fully intact period brass door knobs, push-button lighting system that still works and beveled glass in the front door.

“Compared to most houses of this age, what you are looking at are cosmetic issues, not so much structural ones,” he said.

The disarray at 910 Magnolia St. developed over time.

“It certainly is one of the least-kept houses in the neighborhood, and that’s not the house’s fault,” Briggs said. “It means the owner was elderly and did not keep up with the building in the way that Fisher Park was kept up. No building … is maintenance-free.”

Keaton, who was born in Danville, Va., graduated from Bessemer High and worked at Print Works of Cone Mills for many years until the plant closed in 1977, and she retired.

She died in 2007 at age 92, spending her last years in a nursing home. Her husband, Joseph, died in the 1960s, and the two never had children.

“She was a very private person,” said longtime neighbor Eula Wray. “I never got past the inside of the front door.”

Over time, in a community where neighbors take pride in artfully arranged yard flowers and big Southern porches, the house stood out as the eyesore on Magnolia Street.

Fisher Park was designated a historic district by the city in 1982, and several years later, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places.

Neighbors signed a petition in 2009 asking the city to tear down the house. When the city filed papers to demolish the property, no one showed up to appeal.

The city’s minimum housing board approved the request, but in historic districts, there are additional steps required before demolishing a structure. The city had to go before the Greensboro Historic Properties Commission, which governs historic neighborhoods.

“They cannot deny the city demolition, but they can delay it 365 days,” said Wanda Hovander, the inspector involved in the case.

The delay gave the nonprofit the time to save the house.

Keaton’s relatives, too, were older and had tried unsuccessfully to keep up the maintenance. When Keaton died, her brother had a copy of her will, which named him as executor. No one could find the original.

Preservation Greensboro, which had the benefit of board members in law, real estate, architecture and engineering, walked the man through the process. That meant getting a judge to sign off on the copy of the will and tracking down more than a dozen relatives, some as far away as New Zealand.

Preservation Greensboro now has a purchase option on the sound, yet largely abandoned, property, which the city earlier had found to be unfit for human habitation because of the inattention.

“Unfortunately, the city would have had no alternative but to proceed with demolition,” Hovander said. “(Preservation Greensboro) did save that house.”

Proceeds from the sale — which doesn’t have a minimum bid — will go into a revolving fund to save other properties.

Prause estimates a buyer might spend $500,000 to $600,000 buying in the neighborhood and renovating with, say, fancy chandeliers, a dream kitchen and other special upgrades.

This four-bedroom, two-bathroom classic Craftsman bungalow with handcrafted tongue-and-groove interlocking wooden floors represents one of the most popular historic architectural styles in the city. It has Asian architectural influences throughout, including columns that grow fatter at their base — the popular battered-post-on-pier supports — separating some of the rooms.

Despite huge bedrooms and closets, the house looks smaller from the street. Wide overhanging eaves and a low roofline hide almost a full second floor.

“You just don’t see that craftsmanship in contemporary houses,” Prause said, pointing out inlaid five-panel doors and built-in window benches.

Paint is peeling from the ceilings and some walls, but the roof was replaced after a tree fell on it and that kept rain from causing any damage. The heart pine wooden floors — not even available today — don’t even creak.

“We couldn’t even build with that quality of wood today,” Briggs said. “The trees that were cut then were hundreds of years old. We don’t have those forests anymore; the wood just doesn’t exist. Today, they’re using plywood and particle board and laminates.”

An estate sale expert has spent hours sifting through the things Keaton collected over the years.

Among them are unopened items ordered from QVC; a circa-1960, and possibly earlier, camera with boxes of flash bulbs and camera equipment; and batteries so old they have a “Bell Labs” stamp on them. Old Listerine bottles, now vintage, sit among knickknacks, old mail and an old-fashioned hooded hair dryer.

A daily newspaper from 1970 is at the foot of a bed.

Women’s stockings and a pair of pajama pants hang over a claw-foot bathtub, likely placed there to dry.

Many of the items will be available through a planned estate sale that likely will include complete antique bedroom sets and retro appliances, dating back to the 1940s. Some of the things ended up in bags of trash.

Not simply selling but matching 910 Magnolia St. with someone who will provide the necessary TLC is Preservation Greensboro’s top priority. Buyers must submit rehab plans through the Preservation Greensboro office.

“We’re not going to sell it to the highest bidder, but the person who will be best to the neighborhood and the house,” Prause said.

Contact Nancy McLaughlin at 373-7049 or nancy.mclaughlin@news-record.com