Florida couple transforming rural treasure (11/22/06)

Robert Malt was sitting in the waiting room at Ball Memorial Hospital in Muncie last year when a real estate flyer on a nearby table caught his eye.

"Step back in time. Grand entrance to the estate from county road 800 South. This 3,272 square foot, 1840, three-story Williamsburg style home sits on 6.09 scenic acres. Located in Jay County."

He picked up the flyer, depicting all angles of the unique property and asked his wife, Julie, "What do you think?"

"I want that," she told her husband.

On the drive to the airport before catching a flight back to Florida the following day, the couple made an offer on the property contingent on their return to the area.

On June 9, 2005, the Malts found themselves owning a bit of Jay County history.

"We were so intrigued," Julie explained about their first visit.

The property has long caught the eye of the locals. Sitting stately off county road 800 south of Redkey is the two-story brick home with four oversized concrete pillars. Then there's the barn and a half dozen other unusual small buildings located nearby on the farm that was originally home to John Anderson and Mary J. Carder and their 11 children.

"It's so peaceful here," Julie Malt said about the setting and what drew the couple to the location.

While its ownership the past few years has changed, it seems on a regular basis, no one had the significant plans the Malts are implementing.

History shows the Carder homestead received a major renovation several years ago by Alwyn Carder, the last of the family to call the place home. According to those who knew him, he wanted the homestead to resemble the stately mansions that could be found in West Virginia.

Following his death, plans called for the home to be renovated to a historic museum, but those who found themselves owning the property said the project was just too large a financial undertaking.

"Alwyn would be so pleased with this couple's plans," said Jane Ann Spencer of the Jay County Historical Society. "This is what he wanted."

The Malts' plans call for opening the site in 2007 to visitors as a bed and breakfast, a spa, a wedding and party venue, or a tranquil place to spend the day.

Parsons Construction of Muncie has been hired as the general contractor for the renovation project, which has been underway for the past several months.

"We've never done anything quite like this," Ray Parsons, who has been in the construction business for 54 years, said as he described the plans for each room of the house as well as the overall project.

Since early spring workers have replaced all the windows in the unique home, replaced fencing around the home as well as the gates at the road that open to visitors. Inside, the many small rooms are being renovated, with special care to keep the prototype of the original construction.

"We want to preserve as much of the history as possible," Julie Malt said last weekend as the couple looked over the construction thus far.

Julie Malt, a native of Parker City, and her husband Robert, a West Palm Beach, Fla., real estate developer, were visiting her mother in the hospital in Muncie when her husband saw the sale pamphlet.

According to records from the Jay County Historical Society, the Carders began their trek to Indiana from Montgomery County, West Virginia, in August, 1859. Arriving in Richland Township on Sept. 6, that same year, the family found wilderness, with just a few homes and lands that had been heavily timbered. "Roads were Indian trails and the fields were swamps," the story reads.

On the site the Carders constructed a brick kiln and began making bricks for each of the structures on their property. Many of their bricks can be found in surrounding communities as well. The main house, as well as a two-hole brick outhouse, one room school/chapel, smoke house, loom house, and well house sit on the property.

Alwyn's father, Fremont Parmer Carder, was raised on the Richland Township farm, and returned to the homestead after the death of his parents. Likewise, after a career in education, Alwyn moved to the estate to care for his elderly father and lived there until his death in 2003.

The three-story barn additionally caught the Malts' eye and was also soon in the design plans for an expanded bed and breakfast.

How do design plans for such intense renovations take shape?

"There are no plans," Ray Parsons said chuckling. "We just kind of do it as we go."

"We thought about fixing it up and selling it, then we thought about fixing it up to reside in," Julie said, "then we decided to fix it up as a historic site for everyone to enjoy. We want it to be as Mr. Carder would have wanted it to be."

Every room in the home shows signs of renovation in progress and recently workers on the project were creating dormers in the roof on the front of the barn, designed to let light into the top of the structure. Barn lathe removed to make way for the dormers, was reinstalled.

The first step inside the three floor barn erected by the Carders as a home for their horses, finds a brick floor. Recently constructed stairs will lead visitors to a second and then a third floor.

New wood floors can be seen throughout the structure as well as beams that will divide the three floors into bedrooms. Plans also call for the placing a silo at the back of the barn that will encompass an elevator to take visitors freely from floor to floor of the completed venture.

The bricks will be removed and cleaned, a concrete floor will be installed, and the bricks will be replaced on top of the concrete.

"There are bricks everywhere here," Ray Parsons said, walking around the home. A large stack of bricks could be seen nearby and will be used for replacing broken or damaged ones as the outside renovation gets underway.

Plans call for creating five bedrooms in the main house, each with its own fireplace and bath. Because of the open space of the barn, a total of 16 bedrooms will be created there for visitors.

Original lights fixtures as well as other ornate fixtures throughout the home, such as hand-painted tile, will all be included in the home's renovation, Julie said.

Other plans for the grounds include a swimming pool, a pavilion inviting wedding parties and other larger events.

"We want to make the setting attractive to outdoor weddings," Julie said.

Additionally, dozens of fruit trees planted by the Carder family will be designed into the expansive landscaping undertaking the Malt's have planned.

An unusual one-room schoolhouse/chapel will be maintained as a "place to meditate if you want," Julie said of its plans. A bell in the steeple as well as a clock under the front roofline are still operational.

"There will be year-round blooming gardens," she said, looking out the window over the now unkempt yard.

Future plans include conducting specialty workshops such as gardening, scrapbooking, flower arranging and more.

"We want it to be a calm and serene place," Julie said of the setting. "We want to make it the most beautiful bed and breakfast."

"This is Julie's baby," Robert Malt said about his wife's plans.

As a real estate developer throughout the country for more than 40 years, Malt said he designs and constructs new factories and homes.

"This is a challenge," he said about taking on such a renovation. "This is wonderful."[[In-content Ad]]