207 Pekoe Avenue

This one-story, side-gabled Period Cottage is five bays wide and double-pile with a brick veneer, flush eaves, and original metal-framed windows that wrap the corners of the façade. The center three bays project under a front-gabled roof and include a three-light metal window on the left (west) end, a metal-framed picture window flanked by casement windows and a transom on the right (east) end, and an entrance near the center. The batten door with two lights features a classical surround with fluted pilasters and is sheltered by a two-bay-wide aluminum awning on decorative metal posts. A brick chimney is located on the façade, left of the front-gabled wing and a side-gabled porch on the left elevation is supported by grouped square posts with diagonal braces between the posts, is enclosed with screens, and has plain weatherboards in the gable. There is an entrance centered on the right elevation. County tax records date the house to 1948 and the earliest known occupants are Richard S. George, president of Radio Electric, and his wife, Willie B. George, in 1950.  They were the parents of one daughter.

According to deed records, North Carolina Life Insurance Company sold this lot to Richard and Willie George on September 15, 1944.  In February 26,1955, J. Neal Hughley and his wife, Sadie S. Hughley sold the lot next to their house at 203 Pekoe Avenue to the George family.  The City Index to Incorporations shows that Radio Electric Company was formed on October 6,1949.  Mr. George was president of the company and Percy L. Hall, who lived at 402 Dunstan Avenue, was vice-president and treasurer.  Records do not indicate when the business was dissolved.  According to the 1960 City Directory, Richard George owned Muriel Construction and Supply Company.  The name of this company suggests that it was named after their daughter, Muriel, who had died at the age of 12.  Richard died in 1962.

According to 1956 property records, Richard and Willie George owned several parcels of land on Elm Street between Ramseur on the north and the northern boundary of the North Carolina Railroad right of way on the South.  It was sold to the City of Durham as part of urban renewal.

Later, Mrs. George and G. Wendell White married.  Mr. White died on May 17.1980.  Deed records and his will show that he did not have any children and left his property at 1706 Fayetteville Street, to his wife, Willie B. George White.

On August 17, 2007, Thelma D. Lanier and her husband, James A. Lanier., who had power of attorney, sold the house to Steven Easley Jr. and his wife Kenya Easley.  On March 7, 2012, Mrs. Easley transferred the property solely to her husband, Steven Easley, Jr.  He is the current owner and resident.