Submitted photo
Contractor Leon King has boarded up all of the windows
of the Victorian house until they can be replaced.
THOMPSONTOWN — Some folks might be busy planning their vacations for an anticipated summer getaway.
Leon King will likely spend much of his summer in Thompsontown, renovating the Doctor Greenleaf’s log and Victorian home at 188 E. Main St.
King, owner of Leon King Construction in Mifflintown, has been working on the circa 1796 house, which is a shelf of its former self. But its future seems much brighter since King purchased the abandoned property in September 2023 for $6,000.
King won’t have much time to spend on renovating the house this spring due to commitments from his construction business.
In the meantime, a new roof has been installed on the house, the stone foundation has been repaired and the surrounding yard has been excavated so the pipes could be connected to the city water line and regraded to make certain water flows away from the dwelling.
Submitted photo
The architect’s renderings of the Victorian house at 188 E. Main St., Thompsonstown.
King also hired an architect to put together renderings of the house to make sure his anticipated repairs were sized correctly. “There were just a few things with the porches where if he draws it, it just confirms that everything was going to look like,” said King, who said the drawings will give him a better overall picture of the project.
“It helps people visualize how things look, so that it’d be beautiful when it’s finished,” he added.
Despite some rot on the front and a leaky roof, King believes the house is coming along nicely. “It’s in better condition overall. It’s well built,” King said. “Not the log part, but the back addition was built really well. The lumber held up and was still strong. It was plumb and square.”
Inside the home, framing has mostly been completed.
Unfortunately, King was not able to salvage as much of the hardwood flooring as he had hoped to.
As far as his timetable for the renovation, “our goal is to have the exterior finished by the end of the summer,” King said.
He found a flooring company in Middleburg which produced made the same profile to match the existing siding. Once repairs are made, exterior painting can begin. Building the porches will be another significant project as well as the installation of new windows.
Seemingly every time passersby see work being done on the house, they stop and offer well wishes and thank him for saving the dilapidated house. “I’m super grateful for the community support,” King said.
A member of the excavation crew even told King he lived in the house at one point.
