CARRBORO On a steamy Wednesday, Dolores Clark took refuge in the small, cool parlor of her home on Jones Ferry Road.

A smallish upright piano stood against one wall, and a fireplace was recessed in another. Old-fashioned armchairs and a pair of settees welcomed visitors, and shelves held family memorabilia. Overlooking the room were a striking pair of portraits of her great-grandfather and great-grandmother, Toney and Nellie Strayhorn, who built the house in 1879.

“I call this my Fancy Room,” she said. “I promised my mother I would live here in this house until I pass and take care of her antiques.”

The peril to that plan was evident beneath her feet. The wooden floor had uneven sags and swells, and it bounced slightly underfoot.

“Termites,” said Ernest Dollar of the Preservation Society of Chapel Hill. “The floors need to be replaced, and, at the same time, we need to attack the termites.”

The Preservation Society is trying to raise money to do just that. The Strayhorn House is the society’s first preservation project in Carrboro, and it’s the first dedicated to preserving a historic African-American family’s home.

Dollar said he recognized early on the Strayhorn House’s significance, which derives largely from the remarkable couple who built it and raised their family in it. The handsome but well-worn white house is on the National Register of Historic Places study list.

He knew, too, that the house was in trouble: foundation problems, poorly sealed windows, deteriorating wiring … the litany of ailments that befall old homes when their owners can’t afford to make repairs.

The Preservation Society has been raising money to help. Covenants have been placed on the house to ensure that it remains protected – but it has to be restored to sound health first.

“It’s been subject to the unforeseen disasters that lurk in the bowels of every historic home,” Dollar said. “But the story this house holds is a special one, and it would be a terrible shame to lose it.”