Artists' $95K bid to save Nina Simone home ends with $850K restoration

Nina Simone’s 650 sq ft childhood home in Tryon, North Carolina, has been restored after sitting vacant and severely decayed for more than two decades. The three-room house, where the legendary musician and civil rights activist lived with her family from 1933, was bought for $95,000 in 2017 by four Black artists. Its rehabilitation was completed last year, after nearly $850,000 was spent on materials, construction and engineering.According to The Guardian, the restored home is now painted white, while parts of its original structure have been retained. A piece of the home’s original rust-brown varnish has been placed in a shadow box on a mint-blue wall. A small section of the original Great Depression-era linoleum has also been preserved on the restored wooden floor.For Simone’s younger brother, Samuel Waymon, returning to the house after its restoration brought back memories of his childhood.