Hillyer-Kernaghan House added to Historic Macon’s ‘Fading Five’ list for 2024

 The Hillyer-Kernaghan House, located at 2715 Cherokee Avenue, is an Italianate villa-style home that was built in 1910 by architect Neel Reid.

MACON, Georgia (41NBC/WMGT) – The Historic Macon Foundation announced this week that the Hillyer-Kernaghan House will be its newest target for preservation, replacing the Willingham-Mcbrearty House on its annual “Fading Five” list.

The Hillyer-Kernaghan House, located at 2715 Cherokee Avenue, is an Italianate villa-style home that was built in 1910 by architect Neel Reid. The home immediately caught the eye of Julia Morrison, a Cherokee Heights resident who lives two doors down.

“When I was driving down the street to my house show, before I even owned my house, this pink house stuck out on the streetscape to me,” Morrison said. “It was so beautiful, so elegant, had all these columns.”

Morrison watched the home go for sale and start to decline after it caught fire. That led to her nominating it to be added to the Fading Five list.

As they do each year, Historic Macon Executive Director Nathan Lott and other members reviewed applications to create a list of five properties across Macon that could be lost due to insensitive development or neglect. A property remains on the list until it is no longer under threat. The Willingham-Mcbrearty House was marked saved, and the Hillyer-Kernaghan House joined the Roxy Theater, D.T. Walton Building, First National Bank and Trust Co. and the Dr. E.E. Greenhouse on the 2024 Fading Five list.

“The jury for this year’s Fading Five really felt like this house was more deserving of inclusion and attention,” Lott said. “There was a unique opportunity and a really acute need here.”

As for Morrison, she says she’s excited to watch the pink house in her neighborhood that she fell in love with be restored. Morrison believes the home being saved will not only be appreciated by adults like herself, but also young students in Cherokee Heights who walk through their neighborhood on the way to school each morning.

“They deserve to go to school and see neighbors out on their blocks and homes that are taken care of,” Morrison said. “And that will give them hope for the future.”