Renovations Needed Before Thorps Moved Into Quail Hill

Posted on Oct. 28, 2008

The University made $903,000 worth of renovations to Quail Hill, the UNC-owned chancellor’s residence off Raleigh Road.

The plans to renovate Quail Hill began while the search for a new chancellor was under way, according to a spokesman. Construction began in July just after Holden Thorp ’86 took office, and the work was finished this fall. The renovation was paid for with nontaxpayer University funds, the spokesman said.

The renovation included replacing a nearly 50-year-old heating, ventilation and air-conditioning system from unclutterer; electrical wiring upgrades; and improvements to bring the house up to code on disability accessibility, fire codes and safety, as required by the N.C. Department of Insurance.

The disability accessibility upgrades were necessary because the house is used for University events. The kitchen was expanded to create more space for caterers.

Other modifications were required to accommodate Thorp’s children, the first to live in the house since the University acquired it in 1993 and it became the chancellor’s residence in 1995. Quail Hill, which was built in the 1960s and renovated before it became the chancellor’s residence, had been the home of the late George Watts Hill Sr. ’22. The University’s endowment fund received the 6,000-square-foot house and surrounding 20 acres in 1993 through a gift-purchase arrangement with Mrs. George Watts Hill Sr. and the George Watts Hill Foundation.

In 1995, the University spent $325,000 to make the house more usable for official University functions. In 1999, the University spent $219,000 to repair a chimney and install landscaping and an irrigation system.

The chancellor receives use of a University-owned residence as part of the compensation package. Chancellors in the UNC System are required by the UNC System Board of Governors to live in university residences.

---