County commissioners may finally decide the fate of the River John Conrad house tonight, after months of getting conflicting recommendations on whether to let the owners drop the house's historic status.
The county gave the house on Conrad Road the historic-property designation in 1981. The current owners, Nadja Lesko and Kerry Link, want the designation removed so that they can expand the house.
The couple appeared to have everything going in their favor earlier this year, when state and local historic-preservation officials agreed with the owners that alterations have caused the house to lose the characteristics that made it historic.
Some local people interested in historic preservation objected to the proposed delisting. In September, an official with the State Historic Preservation Office told the county that the state was reversing its stand and now considers the house worthy of historic status.
After that, commissioners sent the matter back to the Forsyth County Historic Resources Commission for another review.
That group met on Nov. 4, and voted unanimously after a public hearing to recommend that the county keep the house's historic designation.
Commissioner Ted Kaplan predicted Friday that commissioners will vote by a narrow margin to overturn the house's historic status.
"I'm voting to let the people do what they want to do with that house," Kaplan said. "It is a property-rights issue. They bought the house and never took advantage of the historic designation. The fact that (preservationists) want to figure out a way to take control of their house without putting out any money is wrong."
Commissioner Debra Conrad said she will support the decision of the historic-resources commission since she's not an expert on historical properties.
The owners knew the house had a historic designation when they bought it, Conrad said.
"If they no longer want to reside in a historic home, there are lots of wonderful, big expensive homes out there," she said.
Dave Plyler, the chairman of the county board, said he's received assurances from County Attorney Davida Martin that he can vote, even though his son-in-law, Richard Sieg, is the attorney representing Lesko and Link.
"I am still thinking at this stage that I might have to consider dropping out because there is a family relationship," Plyler said. But Plyler added that he doesn't think the house should keep its historic designation.
wyoung@wsjournal.com
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