226 Hill Street

Historical Research and Compilation by Sarah Brown

Photos by Matt Brewster, Marigold Solutions

226 Hill Street is a craftsman bungalow, built between 1908 and 1913, making it one of the later properties constructed on the street. The 1926 Insurance map for Athens, Clarke County notes that the house has a wooden frame and is fireproof. For much of the 20th century, it likely functioned as a boarding or rental house.

Over the course of the past 112 years, the property has changed ownership multiple times. However, it was primarily cared for by just three individuals during most of its history: J.C. Sims, who owned it for 38 years; John English, who held the property for 18 years; and David Lynn, who had it for over 25 years. In the 1940s, while J.C. Sims was the owner, there were several land exchanges between 226 and 234 Hill Street. Eventually, John English acquired both properties in 1981 before selling them to separate owners. Today, David Lynn owns 226 Hill Street, while Cullen Timmons owns the neighboring 234 Hill Street.

J.C. Sims, whose full name was James Cleo Sims, was born in 1911 and ran the Athens Army Supply Store. An interesting story about him is that, despite the house having bathrooms, J.C. never used the shower there. Instead, he went to the YMCA daily to take showers! He initially rented the home from 1937 to 1942, sharing it with his mother and a boarder, before purchasing the property in 1943.

Between 1914 and 1950, several other names were associated with the house, including Robert N. and Mamie V. McLeod, Hortelle (a Brenau University student), J.M. Hood (a Buick Sales manager), W.C. Potts (a druggist at Prince Avenue Pharmacy), Carter and Maude Daniel, E. Hulme, Louise Kinnebrew, Vonnie and William F. Abercrombie (a University of Georgia student), Alma Ward, Henry D. Coffee, T.W. and Myrtle Paschall, the Sailors family, Lavada Walker, Rembert T. and Edith Gladden, Jeff and Julia McDuffie, and Clyde and Estell Ellison.

To give some perspective on the cost of housing in the early 1900s, the first recorded deed for 226 Hill Street occurred in September 1919, when Easton Hulme Kinnebrew bought the house from Equitable Life Insurance for $2,250 in gold coins—equivalent to $41,054.57 today. When David Lynn purchased the property from John English in 1999, the price was $133,000, which adjusted for inflation is around $252,000.67. This marks a 513% increase in value over 80 years. Currently, the house is valued at $588,000, reflecting an impressive 1300% increase in value over the past 112 years, after accounting for inflation.

David Lynn acquired the home in 1999 following renovations by John English, a local resident of Cobbham. 

Renovations:

During John English's ownership, the house underwent several significant historical renovations. When David Lynn purchased it, the upstairs remained a separate apartment, but he removed the kitchen from the top floor and transformed the space into a single-family home. As part of this conversion, he modernized and renovated the downstairs kitchen and completely gutted and remodeled both bathrooms.

In the early 2000s, all of the lighting fixtures were replaced. The electrical system was upgraded, and in 1999, HVAC was installed upstairs, with a system added downstairs in 2004. Prior to these updates, the house had no air conditioning. The original coal-burning fireplaces have all been decommissioned, and the chimneys are now capped. In 2020, gas logs were installed in the living room fireplace.

Personal Stories:

There is a reason the chimneys are capped - 

“It was a blustery day in Spring of 2010 and the gusting wind made the trees bend and the house creak. In a strange moment of downdraft, a whooshing sound came from the chimney followed by hundreds of pounds of decades old coal soot, covering the entire house with an inch of dust. The horror was complete when the living room was filled with approximately 50 chimney swifts, forming a small black tornado inside the house desperate to get out.

After closing doors and waving a broom, the Hitchcock-like horror was contained into the rear bedroom. Upon catching my breath for a few moments, I reentered the room expecting the same cacophony of movement I experienced in the living room; but to my surprise, all was still. The birds had all perched upon the picture railing, waiting…watching…no sound. The horror show was complete, I just knew they were biding their time for the right moment to attack. Cautiously, a window was opened, to no effect. With a glove and a fishing net, I began removing the birds out the window, one by one. 

A half hour later, all were removed safely with the exception of one casualty.”