Saving Miss Belle's: Small town hopes to save beloved 1800s home from demolition

A small town is rallying to save a beloved old house from destruction – a home that once belonged to the woman whose life and poetry was a love story to that very town.

Though its paint is peeling, the stately Victorian home stands, grand as ever, along the town's historic main street – tucked behind a curtain of Magnolia trees and small purple flowers.

However, the home is at risk of being demolished - unless the community can raise $175,000 to move the historic house to safety.

Built in the late 1800s, the home was known for decades as the treasured Miss Belle's Tea Room, owned by the charming Isabelle McKeithan Thomas.

Born and raised in Cameron, she preserved her hometown in poetry. She served tea and coconut creme pie to customers.

Isabelle was born in that house. Today, she's buried just down the road from her long-time home.

Built in 1892, the home itself is a love story.

"It was built as a wedding gift by my great-great grandfather Murdock McLeod McKeithan," explains Nick Levy, who is one of several townsfolk fighting to save the home. "Belle Ferguson was her name. Isabelle was their granddaughter, and she was named after Belle."

Saving Miss Belle's home from demolition

Several years ago, a nearby church purchased the land Miss Belle's home sits on. Several months ago, they requested a demolition permit from the town. However, that demolition has been temporarily put on hold to allow the community time to raise money and move the home to safety.

According to Gary Oldham, who has put forth $50,000 towards moving the house, the cost of saving and restoring the home is a really large investment.

Oldham, who grew up restoring old homes with his father, had originally had hoped to be able to pay for it all himself. Sadly, after investigating the costs, he discovered it would cost in excess of $65,000 just to raise the utility lines and power lines high enough – and that doesn't account for paying movers and, finally, restoring the house.

"I eventually had to raise the white flag," he says. "I realized I couldn't afford to do it."

However, within a few days the community rallied around him and asked him, if they could raise enough money to make it affordable, would he consider taking the house onto his property and restoring it.

"I said, sure! There's no other option than to save this house - and I think once it's all said and done, we're going to look back and be really glad we did," says Oldham.

The community has formed an organization called Cameron Historic Preservation, Inc. to raise money for the home's restoration and moving costs. So far, Oldham says they've raised around $85,000.

Once the home has been restored, Oldham says he wants to open an Air BnB, allowing Miss Belle's to be open to the public once again – and allowing anyone who wants to step inside the home and take in the history.

"The type of work we'll do on this house is slow and meticulous and methodical. When you walk in, it'll look like 1892," says Oldham.

Why is Miss Belle's so special

Miss Belle's, also known as the McKeithan House, is part of the historic main street that Isabelle loved so much.

Less than half a mile down the road, Isabelle is buried in the churchyard near her beloved home. Her grave marker has a poem called 'Growing Up in Cameron' that gives insight to what life was like on that historic main street.

"This was the world, or so it seemed to be when I was young, each day a new delight. It's smallness brought a warm security, a feeling that all life was good and right. Just down the hill the store, and Daddy's there, and Grandy's house close by, across the street. The sound of church bells on the Sunday air, combined with home to make my life complete."

Back in 2007, Isabelle gave a charming interview to WRAL's Tar Heel Traveler inside Belle's Tea House.

"Oh, lord, I've had the best [life]. I got the man I wanted. I had the best marriage in the world. I had the Town of Cameron behind me. What more can I ask?," she said.

With such a love for her home and for Cameron, it seems hard for many locals to imagine a version of Cameron without Isabelle's home standing along the main street.

Oldham's property, where the home is slated to move, is even closer to Isabelle's final resting place.

"The history of the house gives a lot of reasons for people to be attached to its story," says Levy, whose great-great-grandparents were part of that early wave of people who built Cameron back in the 1870s.

"It's one of the grand old houses of Cameron that was built in the first couple of decades, when Cameron became a map dot thanks to the railroad – and then grew rapidly thanks to the dewberry industry," he explains.

In 1985, Isabelle opened Miss Belle's Tea Room & Antiques, creating another generation of history and memories for the home.

"People have memories of having gone there with their elders, who are no longer with us," says Levy. "But the buildings are still there, and the stories are still in that space."

Isabelle's memories, captured in poetry, describe many of the other historic places along historic Carthage Street – many of them having seen better days, but still standing.

Want to help Save Miss Belle's? Want to visit?

Anyone wanting to help save Miss Belle's can donate online or mail a check to:

Cameron Historic Preservation, Inc.

P.O. Box 1

Cameron, NC 28326

Organizers are also throwing a huge fundraising event with hopes of raising the rest of the needed funds. The fundraising event will take place on the exact property where Miss Belle's will be moved – only around 400 yards down the road from the home's current site, and just across the road from where she rests today, allowing her to rest in the shade of her childhood home.

The Save Miss Belle's Bash is scheduled for March 25 from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. at 637 Carthage Street in Cameron, NC. The fundraiser will include food, a bake sale, live music, an auction, a raffle and more.