Whitesell House - 420 Morris Street

The most impressive of the remaining houses on Morris Street is the house at 420 Morris St., the Whitesell House. It retains signficant elaborate exterior millwork on the porch and each gable peak. Some resemblance can be noted with the houses that were located on the the corner of Morris and Morgan St.

The Whitesell house was purchased by Measurement Incorporated for $1,000,000 in February 2008. It's a safe assumption that they don't plan to keep it here for that price. I assume, given their plans for redevelopment of the rest of the block, that this house will go away when the time comes. Likely the best we can hope for is, given Measurement's overall support for historic preservation, they will move the house somewhere else rather than demolish it.

05.30.11

UPDATE: This house was demolished in late 2015 or early 2016.  In spring 2019 it and adjacent properties are being used as staging grounds for construction at the corner of Foster and Corporation overlooking Durham Central Park.