Artists' $95K bid to save Nina Simone home ends with $850K restoration
Nina Simone’s 650 sq ft childhood home in Tryon, North Carolina, has been restored after sitting vacant and severely decayed for more than 20 years. Bought for $95,000 in 2017, the three-room house underwent nearly $850,000 in rehabilitation. The restored home, which retains original features, is expected to open to the public in 2027.
For over two decades, Nina Simone's 650 square foot childhood home in Tryon, North Carolina, lay vacant and in severe disrepair. The legendary musician and civil rights activist, along with her family, lived in the three-room house from 1933. In 2017, four Black artists purchased the home for $95,000 with the intention of preserving its historical significance.
After nearly $850,000 was spent on restoration, the house was completed in the previous year. The renovated property retains elements of its original structure and features, including a piece of the original rust-brown varnish on a mint-blue wall and a section of the original Great Depression-era linoleum on the wooden floor. The restored home now stands white, with Simone's younger brother, Samuel Waymon, expressing nostalgia upon its completion.
The restored house is set to open to the public in 2027, with plans to develop a cultural district around it and involve the surrounding neighborhood in programming.
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