There's a somber view of a gray, desolate house with a weakening tin roof on Northwest Eighth Avenue.
The Smith-Griffin house stands amidst throngs of weeds and trees as a memory of a family's past and as a reminder of the neighborhood's history.
"We're trying to preserve history, and we need a place to put it," said Melanie Barr, the Smith-Griffin House chairwoman and Pleasant Street Historic Society corresponding secretary.
"The best thing to do is have a museum where people can donate their artifacts."
In order to make a dent in the $250,000 it will take to restore the home, the Pleasant Street Historic Society will host Rock the House, a 1960s- and 1970s-themed benefit with live music, food and people dressed in tie-dye clothes.
The event will be held Sunday at the Thelma Boltin Center, 516 NE Second Ave., from 7 to 10 p.m. Tickets are $25.
Guests are encouraged to wear bell-bottomed pants, tie-dyed shirts and headbands. Mike Boulware and the Boltin Bad Boys will play songs from the 1960s and 1970s.
There will also be a silent auction with donations from downtown restaurants, the downtown Hampton Inn and the Magnolia Plantation Bed and Breakfast Inn, Barr said.
"We're all about downtown revitalization, historic preservation and preserving the history of the neighborhood," Barr said. "When people's grandparents die, if you didn't ask the right questions, your history's gone. We don't want that."
Built in the 1870s by the last resident's grandfather, the house was home to the family until Claronelle Smith-Griffin, the last descendant, passed away in 2003.
In her will, Smith-Griffin donated the house to the Pleasant Street Historic Society, an organization that preserves the history of houses in the area north of downtown Gainesville, in hopes that it would be turned into a black history exhibit.
But before any restoration is done, the society needs to raise money.
The house can't be opened to the public until central air, insulation, new wiring, new plumbing and a new roof are all installed, Barr said.
