A community dream came to life on Wednesday as the doors to Sabine Hill once again opened to greet visitors, some of whom moved through the home with tears in their eyes.

The white house on the hill was once in imminent danger of destruction but now, thanks to the efforts of the community, it is now preserved for the future.

Sabine Hill was built around 1818 by Mary “Polly” Patton Taylor, the widow of Brigadier General Nathaniel Taylor. In 1778, Nathaniel’s father, Andrew, left the colony of Virginia to seek a life west of the mountains with his family. Young Nathaniel was seven years old when his family moved to the Watauga settlement.

Over the years, the Taylors became a prominent family in the community as not only business owners, but local leaders as well. After Nathaniel’s death, Mary continued to live at Sabine Hill and run the family’s many business ventures until her death in 1853.

The home remained in the ownership of the Taylor family and its descendants for many years. However, as the years wore on, the home was in need of repairs and was ultimately abandoned. Around 1949 the home was purchased by James Reynolds with hopes of restoring it, but he never achieved that dream.

The home was placed on the National Registry of Historic Places in 1974. Then in 2007, Sabine Hill was placed on the Tennessee Preservation Trust’s list of the Top 10 Endangered Historic Treasures. Those designations were still not enough to save Sabine Hill. In 2007, the house was just one week away from being demolished so that condominiums could be built on the property when two local families stepped in and purchased the site to save it from destruction. Sam LaPorte and Helen and Jim Wilson purchased the historic home and held it until the State of Tennessee was able to purchase it from them in 2008.

On Wednesday, Sycamore Shoals State Historic Park hosted a dedication ceremony for Sabine Hill, which is now Tennessee’s 17th State Historic Site. The Wilsons and LaPorte were on hand for the dedication.

Following the ceremony, Helen and Jim Wilson toured the home.

As she moved from room to room in the house she helped to preserve, a smile spread across Helen Wilson’s face and teardrops began to form in the corners of her eyes.

“It just takes my breath away,” Helen said as she stood in the front parlor of the home.

Looking back, Helen remarked that they were lucky their efforts to save the home worked out and everything just fell into place.

“I just keep saying it was meant to be,” she said.

There were a number of reasons she and her husband felt the home should be preserved for the community, including the history of the home and its family.

“It just needed to be saved,” she said.