The Huntingdon Project

A Dogwood & Deathcap Community Project

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Project Status Update

As of late 2025, the property owner indicated that the Huntingdon parcel is under contract with a buyer. The buyer’s long-term intentions for the site have not been publicly disclosed. We are hopeful that the structure will be preserved and rehabilitated.

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Prior to the property entering contract, Dogwood & Deathcap conducted an independent development feasibility analysis evaluating whether demolition of the historic structure and construction of townhomes would be financially viable.

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That analysis found no realistic financial scenario in which demolition and redevelopment would outperform preservation. Even under assumptions intentionally biased in favor of development, both build-to-sell and build-to-rent models produced significant losses or substandard returns.

With ownership transitioning, Dogwood & Deathcap is no longer engaged in active coordination. Our role at this stage is limited to documentation, public record, and historical context.

 

Overview

Some places carry a weight heavier than brick. Huntingdon is one of them.

Built around 1819 on a frontier tract off Williamson Road, long before Big Lick became Roanoke, Huntingdon has stood for more than two centuries. Flemish-bond brickwork, Greek Revival porches, and the Betts family cemetery still beside it.

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A two-room outbuilding, believed to have been slave quarters, stood on the property until sometime after 2020. It is now gone.

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That is how quickly history disappears when no one is watching.

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Huntingdon was previously considered for demolition due to vacancy and deterioration. A pause in action allowed community members, historians, and preservation advocates to examine what was at stake.

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Dogwood & Deathcap joined that effort not to lead, but to support through research, analysis, and documentation.

 

Feasibility Findings (Summary)

In December 2025, Dogwood & Deathcap completed a development feasibility study evaluating the Huntingdon parcel as a potential townhome site. The analysis assumed the most optimistic conditions reasonably possible for a private developer, including minimal infrastructure, compact attached housing, and aggressive cost controls.

 

Key conclusions included:

• Build-to-sell townhomes produced guaranteed losses ranging from hundreds of thousands to nearly two million dollars, depending on unit count and cost assumptions.

• Build-to-rent scenarios failed to meet basic lending standards, with debt service coverage ratios well below 1.0.

• Even an all-cash investor would realize sub-5% returns, far below acceptable risk-adjusted thresholds.

• The parcel’s interior acreage is largely non-buildable without costly new road construction, severely limiting yield.

• Any remaining premium value is tied to historic and cultural significance, not redevelopment potential.

 

In short, demolition-driven redevelopment was found to be structurally infeasible, even when evaluated generously.

 

Feasibility Report (Public Record)

For transparency and historical context, the full feasibility report is available below.

 

Independent Development Feasibility Report – Huntingdon House Parcel (2025)

 

This document reflects independent analysis conducted by Dogwood & Deathcap prior to the property entering contract. It is provided for public awareness and historical record only. It does not represent the current owner, any buyer, or any binding redevelopment plans.

 

Download the full report:

320 Huntington Development Feas…

 

Dogwood & Deathcap’s Role

Dogwood & Deathcap does not own the property and does not control its future use.

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Our involvement consisted of approximately 40 hours of time-limited, in-kind professional services, including:

• Development feasibility analysis

• Historical documentation and narrative framing

• Community awareness support

 

As our organization has grown, this type of work has transitioned into a structured consulting model with clearly defined scopes and boundaries.

 

Why This Still Matters

Preservation does not always hinge on activism. Sometimes it hinges on evidence.

 

The Huntingdon feasibility work exists to ensure that decisions affecting the site are informed by real-world economics, not assumptions about “highest and best use.”

 

Huntingdon has survived more than 200 years of change.

 

Whether the next chapter honors that history is no longer in our hands, but the record of what was true at this moment will remain.

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