Jenna and Chuck Davis were looking for a change of pace, a change of venue, and a change of location when they happened upon Washington. Three years later, they’re new parents, the proud owners of a historic home on East Main Street and are now being recognized for their historic preservation efforts by the City of Washington.

The Davises join Mary Anne Foy and Don Stroud as recipients of the 2015 Rena K. Terrell Award, an honor named for one of Washington’s founding historic preservationists.

It was with some trepidation that Chuck Davis entered into city life, however. Moving to downtown Washington was quite a departure for one raised on a farm in the tiny piedmont town of Caldwell.

“I told my wife, ‘I’ve never lived in downtown anywhere — I don’t know about this,’” Davis said.

But the deal to be had on the foreclosed-upon East Main Street home was too good to pass up. It wasn’t just the space, about 3,000 square feet, nor was it the high ceilings or heart of pine floors, mantelpieces, custom built-ins, and paned-glass partitions, most of which was original to the house. It was all those things combined, at a low, low price.

“The stuff that made the house ‘it’ was still there. … We walked in — we were like ‘Wow!’” Davis said. “You kind of don’t think about the money because it’s a no-brainer. … You can not find a newer-construction home for this kind of price.”

The couple had their work cut out for them and immediately got to work: fixing a leaking roof; painting the entire interior from floor to ceiling; removing trees that hovered over the house, branches scraping the exterior; repairing parts of the foundation; replacing the breaker panel; redoing the floors, courtesy of Davis’ lifelong friend Brandon Bullock, owner of Brandon’s Hardwood Floors and More.

“He just showed up one day with a crew,” Davis said.

By far, the largest job entailed windows — 24 of them that had seen much better days.

“These windows were in horrible shape. I’d never seen so bad,” Davis said. “The majority had been broken at some time and most were not the original ‘wavy’ glass.”

Many also sported gaps between glass and frame, large enough for Davis to fit his hand through. To rebuild each of those windows in the original style would have cost the Davises $40,000. Working with the city, an arrangement was reached: they would replace the old with new vinyl windows, but each would be custom built to the originals’ size and would require an exterior, six-over-six grill — a $100 addition per window — in order to keep the original look, but with newer materials.

A young couple taking on such a project might appear to be a huge leap of faith, but in fact, this is the second home the Davises have rehabbed. One might say Chuck and Jenna Davis come by it naturally: he’s an engineer; his father’s a contractor; she’s an engineer turned pharmacist; her father is also an engineer, one who built a few of the family homes.

“My wife literally grew up in a construction zone,” Davis laughed.

Through the entire process of restoring their 100-year-old home, the two have been able to count on many helping hands, for which the couple is very grateful. Davis said they were pleasantly surprised to be chosen as recipients of the Terrell Award for a residential property; they’re just doing what comes naturally — blending modern convenience with traditional form.