Stephanie Miller, Arthur Miller and Jim Sease have been busy restoring a large house since purchasing it in January of this year. The building has stood along Mathews Main Street since it was constructed in 1840.

TYLER BASS / GAZETTE-JOURNALA photo of the Southern Century Club was found during renovations.

The house has held the titles Edwards Hall and Mathews Academy and has served as a home in the past few decades. However, the house has sat empty and in disrepair for some time.

Stephanie Miller said she was looking for a property to buy in Mathews with her real estate agent, Maxine Hudgins. She thought she had settled on a property elsewhere in the county but then saw the “For Sale” sign out front of the former Edwards Hall. The choice may have been easy, but the work has not.

Miller, along with her father Arthur Miller and their friend Jim Sease, went in on the house together. She said the two of them had experience and connections to help them restore the building. Ar...