Support OpenDurham.org
Preserve Durham's History with a Donation to Open Durham Today!
OpenDurham.org is dedicated to preserving and sharing the rich history of our community. Run by our parent nonprofit, Preservation Durham, the site requires routine maintence and upgrades. We do not ask for support often, but today, we're asking you to chip in to help us reach our goal of raising $7,500 for annual maintenance by the end of the year. Your support allows us to maintain this valuable resource, expand our archives, and keep the history of Durham accessible to everyone.
Every contribution, big or small, makes a difference. Help us keep Durham's history alive for future generations.
Comments
Submitted by Phil (not verified) on Sat, 10/20/2007 - 3:39pm
"The proximity to Elizabeth St. is harsh on this house."
G -- can you tell us more what this means? There could be a variety of interpretations!
Submitted by Gary (not verified) on Sat, 10/20/2007 - 4:02pm
Phil
No deep comment intended; proximity to ugly too-wide roads simply doesn't inspire people to put money into improving historic housing. I think there is a neighborhood psychology to the proximity of negative and positive influences - if your neighbors have a place that is boarded up and decrepit, you're less likely to put money into your house to make it nice in appearance (unless you have some confidence that the situation outside your control will change.) I think Elizabeth St. is that blighting neighbor, and not one that one could feel confident is going to be improved. (It needs to be re-narrowed, but convincing someone to pay for that will be hard.)
Submitted by J.p. (not verified) on Sat, 10/20/2007 - 7:11pm
I would kill to have a house with a side porch. I can't imagine why anyone would rip one off. I suppose it needed some expensive repair, but it still offends me.
Submitted by Gary (not verified) on Mon, 10/22/2007 - 1:38am
I'm with you on the side porch, JP. Hard to understand what people were thinking in demolishing / removing some of this stuff.
GK
Submitted by John Martin on Mon, 3/3/2014 - 11:22am
It's now for sale for $119,000. If you think someone has messed up the exterior, wait until you see what they've done inside. You can see pictures on any real estate website. The listing agent is Marie Austin. Here's a sample:
Submitted by Ken Gasch (not verified) on Wed, 7/23/2014 - 7:04pm
I don't think this house was moved when Elizabeth was widened. I think that the home may have lost it's west porch at that time, though. I have recently been underneath looking at the structure for the new owners. The front original portion of the home is still resting on what appear to be original piers (old clay bricks and old lime sand mortar). If it was moved, it must have been moved very early on. Anecdotally, I have found that bricks were mostly all hard-fired by the 1920's and even earlier than that, it seems that folks had switched over to more Portland cement based mortars. Ken Gasch
Submitted by formertarheel on Mon, 5/15/2017 - 9:53pm
This house belonged to R.G. "Bob" Thacker in the early 70's. He had a Antique shop there, and lived in the east part of the downstairs. He rented the front right upstairs room, facing the house.
Yes, the widening of Elizabeth St. really wacked off the yard. So much if shown the image here, I would not recognize it as the same house. I do remember that at that time, there was not a side porch on the house.
Bob was active in the AA for many years, and had a home for Alcoholics set up a few blocks toward Downtown on Holloway. A super guy --- I called him 'Pops." My girlfriend worked for him in the Antique store. He was like a Father to me. Great times!!
Add new comment
Log in or register to post comments.