LITTLE ROCK — Jason Bean, 38, director of recreational life at Ouachita Baptist University in Arkadelphia, and his wife, Sarah, 37, a hall director, live on campus with their children, Emma, 13, and Caleb, 11.
The family’s home is their two-bedroom apartment in a dorm there.
But they also own a house in Little Rock - one in which they’ve never even spent a single night - and what a whopper it is.
The 159-year-old, 7,000-square-foot, 2 1/2-story, William E. Woodruff House at 1017 E. Eighth St. is one of the city’s most historically significant.
In 2002, the Beans, then living in Plano, Texas, bought the house for $285,000 as an investment with Bean’s brother Eric, who lives in Sherwood.
“The plan was my brother would manage it, and I’d be a financial backer,” Jason Bean says.
Back then, the bleak area’s future seemed bright. The Clinton Presidential Center was under construction nearby, followed by the building of the headquarters for Heifer International. The World Services for the Blind planned its headquarters in the same area.
But World Services changed its plans, and a 2005 fire in one of the house’s 14 apartments compromised its electrical and plumbing systems, leaving the house uninhabitable.
Situated on two lots in the eastern edge of downtown, wedged between Interstate 30 and a gritty industrial district, the 1853 antebellum Greek Revival house was once the centerpiece of a 25-acre country estate.
The large brick rural homestead, surrounded by a large garden and orchard, was built by Woodruff, the Arkansas Gazette founder, who lived there until his death in 1885. The only exception was during the Civil War when Woodruff, loyal to the Confederacy, was banished while his house served as a Union Army officers hospital.
After Woodruff’s death, the house became a boardinghouse, then apartments. Its 18-inch brick walls have survived a Yankee invasion, a late 1800s about-face remodel, a direct hit from a 1999 tornado and a fire. And much of the home’s original interior remains intact.
But two years after buying it, the Beans were ready to sell, asking $428,000. Now the price is $162,000.
There have been offers, but from people who find the land more valuable than the house.
“There are no restrictions on someone razing it. We don’t want to sell it to someone who would tear it down but I also have a responsibility to myself and my family,” Jason Bean said.
Bean has been paying on the loan for seven years now with no rental income, trying not to default.
“It needs someone with vision to see what it could be and the money to make it happen.
“It’s survived a Civil War occupation, tornado, fire and 10 years of my ownership. If it can survive all that, it must be destined to be restored into something amazing and beautiful.” Contact Linda Caillouet at (501) 399-3636 or at lcaillouet@arkansasonline.com
Arkansas, Pages 15 on 11/25/2012