724 Cobb Stret

Historical Research and Compilation by Sarah Brown

Photos by Matt Brewster, Marigold Solutions

House Instructions:

Downstairs only. Guest bathroom available.

House History:

The home is a late folk Victorian built in 1907 by William Asbury Jester, who also built 738 Cobb St. for his son, as a speculative project for the housing market. There is a twin of the house at 728 Cobb St. that maintains its single story layout with a large attic. The wood shingle siding and decoration,diamond panes, bracketed verandas, bay windows are interesting Victorian features. 728 has been a doctor’s office since the 1960s and once had four rental trailers in the back yard. 

Between 1909 and 1931, Mrs, G. A. Alexander, Mrs. Mamie Anderson, Bruce Carrier, T. H. Core, Edward B. and Emma G. Hudson, Clay and Claire Hanna, David B. and Dixie Nicholson

The Firor family owned the home for many years, passing it down through the women of the family. Guy Firor, who was married to Helen W., was a member of the Athens-Clarke County Adjutment and field representative for Production Cred Corp. Dorothy “Dot” Firor, who a teacher at the College Avenue School and was the principle of Chase Street Elementary, lived in the home for the entirety of her life until her death in 2002.

Many parts of the original architecture remains with the pocket doors on either side of the living room, tiled fireplaces, the majority of the hardwood floors, and the front door. The interior of the home combines modern furniture with antique pieces– the 1940s partner desk in the library, for example. 

The Sargans purchased the home in 2023. 

Renovations:

Prior to the Sargans, the owners of the home after Dot added the attic, an extension to the rear of the house that replaced a lean-to addition from the 1970s, and repurposed and rehung where doorways have been moved. Over the last 20 years, 3 rooms on the right side of the home were opened up to create an open layout kitchen diner, the butler’s pantry was removed, the enclosure on the back porch to make a mud room was added, and the car port with a room above was added. Within the last 10 years, the master bathroom and closet were reconfigured. The house has gone through a series of colors on the exterior from a bright blue ombre to white and finally, a mixture of darker tones more true to Victorian aesthetics. Most of the interiors have been repainted or accented with wall paper adding on to the victorian aesthetic. The Sargans added the built-in shelving in the library with the help of Oneta Woodworks. 

Personal Stories:

The camelia on the right corner and the magnolia at the front of the lot are either the same age or older than the house. During the late summers, up to 300 chimney swifts gather in the central chimney after their breeding season has concluded to prepare for their winter migration in mid-October. They leave the chimney as the sun rises and return as it sets, flying in large circles around the chimney stack and gradually slipping in to roost, spooky. For those with ornithophobia, the birds are inaudible within the home and the chimneys are closed at their base.