Joe Taylor has bought the Shull Mansion and he plans to bring it back to glory.

“I think we have something that will be special,” Taylor said.

The West Columbia Zoning Board of Appeals voted Tuesday to certify the 2,660-sq-ft. house as an historic property, so Taylor can move forward with rehabilitation plans.

The house, and two other parcels owned by Taylor, is in West Columbia on an acre on Leaphart Street, at Shull Street. It’s behind Capitol Square. The structure is currently characterized by boarded windows and chipped paint.

Donna Mahoney lives on Shull Street in a house that was built in 1910. She spoke at the Zoning Board meeting.

“I’m very much in favor” of the plan to rehabilitate the Shull Mansion. “I want to see the area preserved as much as we can,” Mahoney said.

Taylor said his hopes are that the renovation of the house will serve as a catalyst for the whole area. Mahoney said she hopes the same.

The records for the house date back to the 1870s, Taylor said. He said it was once a boarding house and many of the original features are still apparent in the house. He said it has large fireplaces and carved moldings.

Taylor is the former S.C. Commerce Secretary and the CEO of West Columbia’s Southland Capital Partners. He has an office in a re-done building on State Street. He said he plans to have a seperate events facility on the scenic grounds surrounding the house on Leaphart Street. He said he hopes to begin the rehabilitation of the property on by the end of the year.

“I want to do it right, not fast,” Taylor said. The historic certification will be in effect for two years.

Taylor said he has had an architect look at the house. He uses John Powell as a contractor and he will bring in Landscape Architect Robert Chestnut of Charleston to design the gardens around the house. Taylor described Chestnut as the best landscape artist in the country.

Zoning Board Member Jerry Hill said he is “looking forward” to seeing the completed renovation.

Julie Huffman, another Zoning Board member, said it would be “a good TV show” to see the house repaired, as is featured on networks like Home and Garden TV (HGTV.)