407 N. Queen St.

This large cross-gable, Craftsman bungalow is three bays wide and triple-pile. The house has a painted brick foundation, German-profile siding, an asphalt-shingled roof with beadboard in the eaves, an exterior brick chimney on the left (south) wall, and an interior brick chimney at the right rear. The full-width, engaged front porch has pointed-arched spans and a three-light window with vents in the upper gable. The porch has brick columns on the exterior corners and brick piers on either side of the front stair, all with painted concrete caps. The house retains Craftsman-style features including four-over-one and three-over-one Craftsman-style windows and decorative knee brackets along all of the gables. The windows are generally paired or in sets of three with one window on the front elevation converted to an entrance. A low, hip-roofed block extends across the back of the house with French doors providing access from the (north) side yard.

George Steven is listed as the resident from 1934 to 1939.

City directory research shows George Stevens and his wife Mary living in the house beginning in 1929 (originally spelled "Stephens".) The house does not appear in the 1928 city directory. Stevens, along with William Emanuel (r 711 Yancey,) ran the Busy Bee Lunch at 114 South Corcoran Street.

The house was converted to a duplex sometime prior to 1980; in 2006 the house was purchased by Eleni Vlachos and Rob Gilbride (who also formed the local band Beloved Binge, which wrote a song I'm particularly partial to: "Endangered Durham.") Vlachos and Gilbride removed the partition wall dividing the front of the house as well as the added front door on the southern side of the front facade - visible in the 1980 picture above - and recreated the original symmetrical window pattern on the front facade.

04.05.12