SAVANNAH, Ga. (WSAV) — Built in 1913 in the historic Cuyler-Brownville neighborhood, sits the Kiah House. After sitting in probate for two decades, the home is now ready to be sold and restored.
“Virginia Kiah, like even getting down to the nitty-gritty, she was a portrait artist,” said Ryan Jarles, Historic Savannah Foundation’s Director of Preservation and Historic Properties. “She did portraits for some of the most major civil rights movement individuals. So like, she’s an important person in even national history.”
In 1959, Virginia Kiah and her husband Dr. Calvin Kiah turned their home into a museum. It’s one of the first museums started in Savannah by African Americans. Well-known civil rights activists Martin Luther King Jr. and Rosa Parks have walked the halls.
“I think this house kind of went unnoticed. I think a lot of people, I’ve met a lot of people who have lived in Savannah their whole life and said, ‘the Kiah House, what’s that?’ Like they didn’t even know it existed,” Jarles said. “And so I think it’s important that since this property sat in probate for so long, it kind of was forgotten about.”
The Historic Savannah Foundation bought the home last year. Since then they’ve been looking for a buyer but not just anyone, they want someone who will preserve it and invest a lot of money into it.
They want the new owners to restore the home and keep it open to the public in some respect. They also want the Kiah name and legacy to live on through the building.
“It could be upwards of $700,000 could be more could be less,” Jarles said. “We really don’t know but really we’re looking for someone who could potentially do a project of that maybe 700 or more mark.”
Jarles said the vetting process for the home is a bit more thorough. Before a potential buyer can even look at the home, they’ll have to prove they’ve restored historic properties in the past on a similar scale.
Savannah Mayor Van Johnson said whoever buys the home should respect its history.
“This was not only a museum, it was also a home. And so I think that anyone who purchases it should be someone that respects that,” Johnson said. “Obviously, there is some opportunities for some institutional use there. Certainly the restoration of the house in a way that is consistent with what it looked like when the Virginia Kiah was there.”