The house at 46 North Crest Road has seen some substantial changes in its 112-year life.

It was originally a four-square vacation home built on a wide expanse of Missionary Ridge for Charles Hall, who was the owner of a doll house manufacturing business.

Later, the house was altered for rental as a duplex.

When Don and Jackie Fillers bought it in 2004, it had been on the market for a year and a half. Mr. Fillers said, "The realtor asked if we planned to tear it down so we could build a new house.

But that was not what the couple had in mind. In fact, Mr. Fillers was so entranced by the home's possibilities that he offered $1,000 more than the asking price. It was a good thing since another offer came in that same day for the asking price.

The couple began drilling down through later additions and discovered windows and doors that had been covered up with sheetrock and false ceilings that hid much-higher ceilings. They also found that every room in the house originally had a fireplace. Several of those fireplaces have been opened back up, including one that was outfitted with a mantel that came from a century-old home. For the hearth, Mr. Fillers used a sample piece of countertop that his wife did not want to use as a counter.

A spot for a heat and air return was located near one of the fireplaces, and for the first time the home got an air conditioning system.

Mr. Fillers said that an entryway from the south side had a bathroom just inside the door. This was taken out and used as the location for a stairway. Mr. Fillers confied that the couple ran out of money during the extensive remodeling and had to do without staircase rails for some months. "We just clung to the walls," he said.

They discovered buzzers in the floor that he said were used to summon help from nearby servants' quarters.

He said there was once a porch on the north side. But a neighbor erected a fence that scooted up against the porch, so he took the porch down. He said the builder of the home to the north had acquired the house he now owns just to get the land for a house next to the old Hall place.

The Fillers couple took full advantage of the marvelous view of downtown by installing a sunroom at the front with a deck on top.

Mr. Fillers said the view actually was not so great until the tornado last year really opened it up. The twister also brought down huge trees on his car and truck. But it cleared a space at the rear for a herb garden for his wife and a vegetable garden for himself.

In 2010, the couple focused on landscaping the yard, including constructing a large terrace, marked by rose topiaries, and a walkway to North Crest Road.

The house is near Colyar Street that once led to the exquisite Colyarton Mansion that was long ago razed.

Driveway by the Fillers home on Missionary Ridge