169 Virginia Ave

169 Virginia Avenue sits on land that once belonged to the plantations that lined Prince Avenue and developed along with much of the Boulevard neighborhood. The home is a pyramidal cottage-type built in a vernacular style in 1905. It has undergone many alterations throughout its history, though always retaining its historic character, including the replacement of its front porch in the early 2000s, the expansion and screening of its back porch, the addition of a new roof in 2018, and the recent rehabilitation of its interior between 2022 and 2023. 

The recent rehabilitation, undertaken by Didi Dunphy in collaboration with painter and carpenter Sam Stabler, preserved much of the house's original charm while addressing significant issues caused by deferred maintenance and adapting the house for modern living.  The project won an Outstanding Rehabilitation award from Historic Athens in 2024. Despite alterations, the home has retained many of its original elements, including plaster walls in six rooms, double-hung windows, four transoms, fireplace mantels, and pocket doors. 169 Virginia Avenue stands as a strong representation of a historic home that has undergone changes while retaining its historic character. 

The earliest recorded residents of 169 Virginia Avenue were George and Annie Wingfield, who resided in the home from around 1912-1913 until 1915 at the latest. George Wingfield worked as a clerk at Wingfield Bros and Co, a popular men’s fashion store in Athens, and was a member of the Sons of Confederate Veterans, a prominent Lost Cause ideology. Until at least 1958, 169 Virginia Avenue, like much of Boulevard in this era, was primarily home to working-class and middle-class families and individuals, with residents working as yardmasters, fertilizer dealers, and school teachers. 

One resident, Hazel Burt, who lived in the house as a child in the 1930s and 1940s, later became a successful artist and returned to showcase her art at the Georgia Museum of Art in 1963. Hazel Burt was a member of the Burt-Huntsinger family, members of which lived in the home from the 1940s to at least the 1960s. A prominent later resident of the home was Pratt Cassity, a long-time professor and director of the Center for Community Design and Preservation within the College of Environment and Design at UGA, who lived in the house from 1989 to 2022. Overall, the house has been home to residents from a variety of backgrounds, all adding to its rich history.