- Last Updated on Friday, 29 July 2016 01:58
The Washington County Community Foundation (WCCF) is pleased to announce that it has received a $500,000 grant from the Richard King Mellon Foundation to complete the rehabilitation of the first floor and central staircase of the historic Brownlee House in Eighty Four, home of the WCCF.
The Brownlee House in Eighty Four, which boasts Georgian-Greek revival architecture. Home of the Washington County Community Foundation, the house is on the National Register of Historic Places. |
In its grant-making, the Pittsburgh-based Richard King Mellon Foundation focuses on regional economic develop¬ment and conser¬vation, along with education and human services and nonprofit capacity building.
This grant recognizes major efforts of the WCCF to build capacity in the county’s nonprofits with training and fundraising opportunities, and also its work to preserve the Brownlee House, built in 1848 and donated to the WCCF in 2013 by William and Dr. Saundra Stout.
“We are delighted in so many ways with this extremely generous grant from the Richard King Mellon Foundation,” said Betsie Trew, President & CEO of the WCCF. “In addition to enabling us to move forward with preserving a building on the National Register of Historic Places and an historic symbol of Washington County, the grant importantly recognizes the efforts of the WCCF to grow and nurture philanthropy in Washington County and to serve as a resource for local charities.”
WCCF moved to the Brownlee House in April 2015, after completing extensive rehabilitative work to the second and third floors of the House. With the Richard King Mellon Foundation grant, rehabilitative work will move forward to prepare the first floor for use as a Scotch-Irish heritage museum. The Foundation hopes to open the heritage museum to the public in 2017.