CENTRAL FALLS -- How much will it cost to level it?
That was the first question the Chopoorian family asked when it purchased the historic Edith Conant Thornton home at 103 Clay St. shortly after it was condemned in 1996.
Once a sprawling one-family home that was part of the Conant family compound, the house in its later years had been subdivided into 14 units. From there, things deteriorated. The house was falling apart, with floors you could fall through, and filth everywhere. Drug-users and prostitutes hung out there. When the Chopoorians -- father Jack and son Greg -- circulated a petition to condemn it, three residents who were living there signed the petition.
You would never know any of this if you saw the building yesterday during the open house held by the Chopoorians and REACH, Realty Endevours for Affordable Housing. REACH was founded in 1992 in response to a housing crisis of the late 1980s.
The classic, Victorian-style house will provide living spaces for four working families with low incomes. Painted in a light beige with dark trim, the sparkling house stood out yesterday in its Clay Street neighborhood like it had just been plunked down from the sky. A wrap-around porch and turret were among its crowning glories.
The Chopoorians own Mansion Nursing Home, which serves 62 elderly residents and is across the street from the Edith Conant Thornton home. The mansion was part of the Conant compound.
Inside the restored Edith Conant Thornton house, spacious rooms are accented by generous windows and high ceilings. Fireplaces with ceramic bricks accent a couple of the rooms. Visitors fell for the round room on the first floor with all the windows where dreamy plans were made to sit and read. The house was abandoned for 13 years. This place was so bad the Fire Department used parts of the house for fire practice.
The irony of a house that once belonged to a wealthy mill owner now being rented to working families with little means was not lost on Greg Chopoorian.
People who are working and trying to get on their feet will have the opportunity to have a good place to live while they work their way up, he said.
"This to me is very satisfying that people that are trying to realize their dreams and aspirations have some help along the way. It's a win-win situation. It will look nicer and feel nicer," Chopoorian said.
The Chopoorians received funds from the Rhode Island Housing's Neighborhood Opportunities and Home Programs and Citizens Bank. In turn, they will rent the units to working families at a cost of 40 percent of their income.
To qualify, a family must be working and fit the income guidelines. A family of two, for instance, would be earning about $23,500. The guidelines call for close scrutiny of the person's income and other sources of revenue. If their salary increases, they pay a larger portion of the rent.
Jack Chopoorian said that the building still needs to get its necessary permits from the city before it opens. He estimated that the apartments will be available in January.
Bill Siemers, director of REACH, said that REACH and the Chopoorians shared the same accountant and that he and Jack Chopoorian talked after Siemers asked the accountant what Chopoorian was going to do with the building.
"They didn't know and we started to talk. That may have been the worst building we have worked on. We have worked on some pretty bad ones," Siemers said. REACH worked on the house for a year. REACH has worked on some 130 units, constructing and repairing them for affordable housing in Central Falls.
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