1010 Urban Avenue - House

The two-story Foursquare is located in the Trinity National Register Historic District.  It was erected as a single-family home in the 1910s, was divided into a duplex in the 1920s or 1930s and then further divided into four units. It is one of a large number of homes that were erected in then area in the early decades of the twentieth century and then converted to multi-family housing, representing the need for middle-income housing in the rapidly developing neighborhood adjacent to Duke University.

The house has a symmetrical facade with original one-over-one, wood-sash windows and fifteen-light French doors with two-light transoms and colonial surrounds. The house has aluminum siding throughout and the full-width, hip-roofed porch is supported by grouped columns on stuccoed piers. The interior features plaster walls and ceilings (some of which have been covered with drywall, paneling, or drop ceilings) hardwood floors in the first-floor living spaces, linoleum in the first-floor kitchens and bathrooms, and a combination of linoleum and carpet  on the second floor and in the attic.  It retains four original mantels (though no working fireplaces) and most original woodwork.  The floor plan remains largely intact, despite the conversion to four units.

The current owners propose to renovate the units, retaining the existing four-unit configuration. The project is slated to receive federal and state Rehabilitation Tax Credits.

Captain John S. Pope Farm (Cedar Grove, NC)

The Captain John S. Pope farm is located at 6909 Efland-Cedar Grove Road near Cedar Grove, North Carolina, approximately eight miles northwest of Hillsborough in rural Orange County.  The two-story I-house was constructed around from 1860-1874 and is one of the earliest remaining examples of a rural form that was found throughout Orange County in the mid- to late-nineteenth century.  The house retains its original 73.05-acre tract and a collection of twenty-five outbuildings that date from the c. 1865 through c. 1970.

The Captain John S. Pope Farm is significant under National Register Criterion A for agriculture and under National Register Criterion C for architeture. The farm has remained in continuous operation by the Pope family since at least 1870 and may be been farmed by the McDade family even earlier.  It retains the original 1874 acreage as well as one of the largest collections of extant agricultural outbuildings in Orange County. The farm retains its historic arrangement of fields and forests and buildings dating from 1865 through 1970.

The National Register nomination is scheduled to be reviewed by the National Register Advisory Committee in Raleigh in February. An Orange County Landmark report has also been completed and is under review by the Orange County Historic Preservation Commission.

Star Historic District (Star, NC)

The Star Historic District meets National Register criterion A for commerce. Established along the Aberdeen and West End Railroad, the town of Star served as a regional commercial center for eastern Montgomery County and western Moore County in the early twentieth 
century, with the railroad making the mining, logging, and textile industries possible.
 

The Star Historic District also meets National Register Criterion C for architecture.  It includes a range of architectural styles including ornate turn-of-the-twentieth-century Queen Anne- and Gothic Revival-style houses, early twentieth century vernacular houses and streamline commercial buildings, Colonial Revival-style houses and churches, Craftsman-style houses, Period Cottages, and Ranches. 

The Star Historic District encompasses portions of nineteen city blocks centered on Main and Railroad streets and includes the majority of the late nineteenth and early twentieth century town.  The 60 primary contributing buildings consist of houses, churches, commercial buildings, and warehouses all erected during the period of significance from c. 1870 to c. 1957.  The earliest contributing building constructed in the district is the Star Railroad Depot (102 Depot Street), which was erected c. 1870.  While houses continued to be erected on vacant lots and in newly platted neighborhoods at the outskirts of town, the majority of development within the district was completed by 1957.

A full architectural survey of the district has been completed and a draft of the nomination has been submitted to the State Historic Preservation Office for review.

Ahoskie Historic District (Ahoskie, NC)

The Ahoskie Historic District is located in Ahoskie, North Carolina, in the northeast portion of the state. The district encompasses an existing Ahoskie Downtown Historic District, adding to it nearly five-hundred resources dating from the 1860s through the 1960s. Resources
are predominantly residential and vary in style from Victorian and Italianate forms of the 1800s to Craftsman and Colonial Revival styles of the 1910s through 1930s to the Period Cottages and Minimal Traditional architecture of the 1940s and 1950s. Commercial, industrial, and institutional resources include early twentieth century downtown buildings, warehouses and manufacturing facilities along the railroad, several churches along Church and Main streets, and the Ahoskie High School.

The Ahoskie Historic District was listed to the National Register of Historic Place in April 2012.  For a downloadable version of the nomination go to: http://www.hpo.ncdcr.gov/nr/HF0034.pdf

1808 Vale Street - House

The c. 1900 house is located in the East Durham Historic District in Durham, North Carolina. The two-story folk-Victorian home will be updated with a new roof, exterior woodwork repair and paint, and interior plaster repair. Kitchen and bath renovations will occur during a later stage of renovation. The project is slated to received state Historic Preservation Tax Credits.

Cameron Village Historic District (Raleigh, NC)

The Cameron Village Historic District encompasses the single-family residential portion of the Cameron Village neighborhood, which was designed to include single-family housing, multi-family apartment buildings, and a commercial district. Believed to be the first mixed-use development in the Southeast, Cameron Village was developed by J. Willie York with housing and commercial buildings designed by Raleigh architect Leif Valand and others.

The neighborhood was identified in a 2006 survey of Raleigh's mid-century resources that included all construction that took place between 1945 and 1965. Portions of the original neighborhood have been significantly altered, leaving the documented historic district comprised of about 50 houses (approximately 1/3 of the neighborhood). Platted in 1950, the neighborhood homes were mostly built in the early 1950s and in variations of the Ranch style. Residents included businessmen, politicians, developers, architects, and other upper-class occupants.

Cameron Village Historic District was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in December 2011. For a downloadable version of the nomination go to: http://www.hpo.ncdcr.gov/nr/WA4602.pdf

523 Holloway Street - House

The c. 1890 house at 523 Holloway Street is located in the Holloway Street Historic District in Durham, North Carolina. The two-story Victorian home has undergone a full renovation including extensive structure work, all new mechanical systems and completely remodeled kitchen and bathroom spaces. After many years as a rental property, divided into two units at the start of the project, little interior fabric remained. The original stair newel and railing were retained and woodwork and flooring on the first floor were refinished. The house is a single-family home once again and is slated to received state Historic Preservation Tax Credits.

Hampton-Ellis Farm (Bahama, North Carolina)

The turn-of-the-century Ellis Farm is one of the most intact farmsteads remaining in Durham County. The three-room farmhouse, tenant house, feedhouse, and tobacco barn were purchased by the Ellis family in 1922. The house was enlarged by addition a room to the left end of the main side-gable. Additional outbuildings were erected to support the 100-acre farm that raised corn, wheat, barley, hay, oats, and tobacco. The buildings continued to be occupied and the land farmed until 1988.

The 15-acre parcel currently contains the Ellis farmhouse (for which renovations are planned), a tenant house, two wood sheds, two smokehouses, a cannery, garage, feedhouse, packhouse, order/stripping house, and four tobacco barns.

The property was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in December 2011. For a downloadable version of the nomination go to: http://www.hpo.ncdcr.gov/nr/DH3310.pdf

Barker House (Henderson, NC)

The Barker House was constructed in the early- to mid-nineteenth century, potentially as a tenant house for the larger Barker Farm nearby. It stands on 115 acres and originally had a series of domestic outbuildings and barns. It may have been constructed in three stages as variations in the flooring and chimneys suggest that the two main rooms may have been constructed at different times, though the roof framing is consistent between the two rooms. The rear room and porch were likely added in the mid- to late-nineteenth century. The house was abandoned for a period around the turn-of-the-twentieth-century. It was likely updated with new windows, doors, drywall, and electrical systems when the house was occupied again in the early twentieth-century. The rear porch was likely enclosed and the bathroom and kitchen adjoined to the house in the mid-twentieth century.

The house has been vacant for approximately thirty years and the current owners, descendents of the Barkers, have cleared the area around the house, removed the failing outbuildings, and removed the later kitchen and bath additions.

1111 N. Duke - Willis and Emily Aldridge House

The Willis and Emily Aldridge House was erected in 1927 by University Home Builders. The first residents were listed in city directories in 1928, however the house was operated as a rental house until 1934.

The earliest residents were W. Avery Sorrell and John V. Barnhardt, president and vice-president of Sorrell Hardware. As the Great Depression wore on the house continued to be inhabited by two separate families. By 1932, the Sorrells and Barnhardts had moved out and another set of co-workers had moved in, Clifford W. Tilson and H. Connor Kennett, managers of the Durham Farmers Mutual Exchange.

In 1934, property was sold to Willis Aldridge and his wife Emily Dowdee Aldridge. Willis worked for Carolina Auto Service and later formed the Montgomery & Aldridge Company, which provided automobile-related service and supplies as well as appliances and televisions. The Montgomery & Aldridge Company remained in business until at least 1951, during which time Aldridge was also listed with the Durham Transportation Corporation (1944-45) and Hotel Gas & Storage Company (1944-51). Emily Aldridge worked at the Thomas Book Store.

Living with Willis and Emily Adridge were Emily’s parents, Leon and Catherine Dowdee. By the time Willis and Emily Aldridge purchased the house on North Duke Street in 1934, her parents were aging (Leon was 59 and Catherine was 54). While living on North Duke Street, Leon was listed as a tobacco worker and Catherine was listed alternately as both a department manager and seamstress at Baldwins. Leon passed away in 1945 and Willis and Emily Aldridge sold the house in 1952, moving to a large home on Devon Road in the Hope Valley neighborhood.

In 1952, the Aldridge’s sold the house to Emily’s sister Catherine and her husband, Garland Frank Penny. The elder Catherine Dowdee remained in the house with her older daughter until her death in 1958, after which the Penny’s sold the house.