Bolivar Home Rehabilitation Earns 2025 Honors

The rehabilitation of a nineteenth-century home in Bolivar has been recognized with an Excellence in Preservation Award by the Harpers Ferry – Bolivar Historic Town Foundation. The annual award in 2025 highlights the work of Adam Shively and Lesa Shively, owners of Shively Family Properties LLC for their contribution to maintaining and enhancing the architectural, historical, and cultural heritage of our community. His preservation work on the exterior of the house at 140 Taylor Street has ensured its longevity, while interior updates guarantee 21st-century comfort.

Shively, a Charles Town Realtor with Samson Properties,  purchased the house in February 2024 after driving by it repeatedly for a decade and watching it deteriorate.  The Shivelys typically take on up to four restoration projects a year as more of a hobby, but Adam says the word “flip” doesn’t register with him. To him the term can imply shoddy workmanship done in a rush to earn a profit. Their aim is to “renovate to a point they would want to live there and to do it right.”   Shortcuts are not a part of any of their renovation projects.

The Taylor Street project took about eight months under the able hand of general contractor Wayne Hutzell of Waynes Painting and General Contracting out of Hagerstown. The prior owner had replaced the caved-in roof and started a rear extension but never finished it. From there, Shively Family Properties had the interior completely gutted, including down to the logs in the original front section of the home, which he believes was constructed in the mid-1800s. He completed the addition, expanding the two-bedroom, one-bath house into a more family-amenable three-bedroom, two-and-a-half-bath home. While he hoped to save the fireplace, it was collapsing on the inside and had to be sealed and the chimney capped.  He was able to fully restore the original front door and doorbell.

Exterior rehab included saving the stucco, repainting the whole house a handsome gray with black and white trim. He added a second-story deck with full concrete patio underneath and reparged the foundation stone.

New owners Nick and Sierra Bitzel moved here from Pennsylvania and found the location worked well for Nick’s job. They say they love the house as well as their new community.

The Foundation presented its 2025 Excellence in Preservation Award to Adam and Lesa Shively of Shively Family Properties LLC at its annual meeting on April 29.