PRESERVATION BURLINGTON'S

2018 Holiday Tour of Homes

Sunday, December 9, 2018, 12:00pm-5:00pm

Extended hours due to weather:

Saturday, December 8, 2018, 2:00pm-5:00pm

The second annual Holiday Tour of Homes featured eight beautiful homes. Seven of the homes were new to this years tour with one home being featured again (Cates-Cobb, from the 2017 tour) to show the renovation progress. With over 500 tickets sold, 23 sponsors, 6 professional interior designers and 8 homeowners, this years tour was a definite success. We added Saturday hours due to a snow forecast for that weekend and had an unbelievable turnout for both Saturday and Sunday tour times. The homes represented many different architectural styles typical of the late 19th and early 20th century Burlington. They were unique in interior style and several homes gave visitors a glimpse into ongoing renovation projects. Tour-goers witnessed the best of modern living combined with historic preservation.

FEATURED HOMES ON THE TOUR

The Atwater-Walker House, ca. 1901

Before there were Airbnb's this house on West Davis Street in Downtown Burlington, NC welcomed visitors.

This stately beauty on West Davis Street was constructed as a two-story Colonial Revival style house around 1901 by J. Wilson Atwater (of Daisy Hosiery Mill, and later Burlington Auto Company) and then sold shortly after to Dr. Levi A. Walker (Burlington City Health Officer and president of the Alamance County Medical Society) and his wife, Maude Ingle Walker.

In addition to publicizing the two rooms for rent, local newspapers mentioned this house the site of numerous social events in the 1930s and 1940s. The house remained in the Walker family until 2016.

The house was altered a number of times, including change in stairway location, replacement of the original porch with a central bay pedimented gable porch with Tuscan columns, several rear additions, and installation of aluminum siding. The house currently has a three bay facade with projecting central bay, large central hallway and rear-location staircase. It has a high hip roof with side gable and pedimented gable on left side of the house.

The house underwent an extensive renovation from 2016-2018 including the complete replacement of all major systems, i.e. electrical, hvac, plumbing etc. Although the floor plan stayed largely the same, the kitchen was expanded into the dining room, and the back of the house was reconfigured to allow for a laundry room and access to the back yard. Two bathrooms were added, along with upstairs and downstairs master suite. The homeowners plan to restore the original wood windows and update exterior landscaping over the next couple of years.

This home is being sponsored by S.H. Shoffner Construction Co. and professionally staged for the holidays by Home Made by Carmona.

Thank you to Lisa Kobrin at May Memorial Library for helping us research the information used in this article -Sources: An Architectural History of Burlington, North Carolina, Burlington Daily-Times News, Twice-A-Week Dispatch, The Daily Times-News, Greensboro Daily News, Raleigh News and Observer

Photo Credit: Debbie McCabe, Deb’s FlashMe Photography

The J. W. Murray House, ca. 1900

2018- 703 W. Davis J.W. Murray House 190

A photograph from the 1920's of the home

This grand home was built shortly after the turn of the century for James W. Murray and his wife Julia Elizabeth “Lizzie” Atwood Murray. Murray, a lawyer and prominent businessman, was president of the local Piedmont Bank and Trust Company. James and Lizzie lived here with their six children and Lizzie’s widower father until a tragic yachting explosion killed Mr. Murray in 1915. Lizzie was blown from the boat and survived by clinging to a life vest until she was rescued by fisherman. She later moved to across the street on West Davis (also on the tour). The house was later owned by prominent physician and businessman J.L. Kernodle.

This commanding two story NeoClassical Revival house sits high on a terraced rise at the corner of West Davis and Peele Streets with a pair of dramatic Ionic columns that frame first and second floor entrances from two story projected porticoes. A restored second story ballustratrade graces the porch roof. The main entrance features a heavy entablature on pilasters and leaded glass sidelights leading to a grand central and transverse hall. The wide staircase has symmetrical divided flights over bracketed archways. Original interior features include paneled wainscoting, late Victorian mantels, period trim and hardware.

The current homeowners have renovated and modernized the kitchen and master suite. Additional projects include restoring plaster, original hardwood floors and sensitively adapting the floor plan for today’s living.

This home is being sponsored by David Carter, Allen Tate Realtors and professionally decorated for the holidays by Our Carolina Home.

Photo Credit: Debbie McCabe, Deb’s FlashMe Photography

The Mrs. J.W. Murray House, ca. 1919

2018- 716 West Davis Street (Mrs. J.W. M

An undated photo looking south down Hillcrest Street shows the property on the left prior to the road being paved.

Mr. James W. Murray was a lawyer, businessman and President of the Piedmont Trust Company in Burlington living in the larger J.W. Murray House. (See separate description of The J.W. Murray House). On January 12, 1915, Mr. Murray, his wife Elizabeth and two guests were boating on a yacht in Pamlico Sound when an explosion occurred after someone lit a cigarette. Only Elizabeth Murray survived after being blown through a window of the boat and set adrift for two hours clinging to a life preserver before being rescued by fishermen. Local newspapers reflect that Mrs. Murray was an award winning quilter.

Elizabeth Murray inherited the larger home, but in 1918, the widow built and moved to a smaller house down the street, which is now the Mrs. J.W. Murray House. The one-story bungalow has a hipped roof with intersecting gables over side bays, a large front porch with brick piers and gable roof, sidelighted entrance, and gabled dormer.

The address of the house changed from sometime after 1940. Like many other houses on Davis Street, the 1940 census suggests it was a boarding house, or had rooms for let, during that period. The house has modern updates, but retains many original architectural details, including an original central vacuum system. In 2010-2011 the current owners renovated the kitchen and bathrooms.

This home is being sponsored by Castle Roofing & Greeson Cabinets and professionally staged for the holidays by Donna Coleman Design

Photo Credit: Debbie McCabe, Deb’s FlashMe Photography

The McIntyre-Rudd House, ca. 1918

This two story, three-bedroom foursquare was built in 1918 by William & Nina McIntyre. The address of the home changed from 510 to 620 West Front Street in 1951. William L. Rudd & Ruth Crosby Rudd owned the house from 1935 to 1984. Newspaper ads indicate that the Rudds rented part of the home from the mid-1950’s until the late 1970’s. The Rudds were active with the First Baptist Church and hosted several weddings in their home. They owned and operated Burlington Nursery & Landscape until Mr. Rudd died in an auto accident in 1973. Ruth remained in the home until 1984.

The house features a hip roof and dormer, a two-bay facade, side-hall configuration, and bungalow style windows. The one-story full-facade porch has a gable-roofed entrance bay and it supported by brick posts and heavy wooden brackets. The interior of the home is a craftsman style with heavy mouldings and stained glass. Originally a 4-bedroom home, one bedroom was converted into a bathroom in a 1990’s renovation. A half bath and a family room room were also added to the back of the house. The current owners have updated the kitchen, master shower, and flooring in the addition.

This home is being sponsored by Elon University Athletics.

Special thanks to Lisa Kobrin at May Memorial Library for helping us research the information used in this article. Sources: Architectural History of Burlington and Burlington Daily-Times News.

Photo Credit: Debbie McCabe, Deb’s FlashMe Photography

2018- 916 W Davis (Moses Jackson Hunt).j

The Moses Jackson Hunt House, ca. 1892

Said to the be the oldest house in the historic district, this home was built by Reverend Moses Jackson Hunt, a Methodist minister, around 1892. Reverend Hunt raised 10 children and died in 1901.The Victorian style, two-story frame, with gingerbread trim features a single pile, a side gable roof with a central facet gable, central hall plan, and Victorian interior details. Original hand blown glass windows and iron fencing remain. A one-story porch with turn and salt ornament is the dominant feature of the simple facade. The home has four bedrooms, two bathrooms, two enclosed sleeping porches, partially finished basement, and carriage house.

The home was sold to Mr. Robert and Mrs. Duree Taylor Durant. Mrs. Durant established gardens using over 200 varieties of wild plant species, including oaks, crocuses, violets, daffodils, wild shrubs, grasses, ferns, and rare vines on the fencing. The gardens were used by local schools, social groups and garden clubs for viewings, samples, and discussions. During the 1930s and 1940s a single bedroom rental apartment with private entrance was advertised.

The home was sold several times and was eventually purchased in 1968 by Daniel and Ann Morrison. Mr. Morrison was a manager of JCPenney's and Mrs. Morrison was a prominent realtor and first chairwoman of the 6 District GOP leader. After Mrs. Morrison’s death, the property was purchased by the current owner in 2017. The current homeowner updated the plumbing and electric systems and restored the original heart pine floors, and is in the process of a number of other updates and restoration projects.

This home is being sponsored by Harrison Whitaker PLLC and is being staged for the holidays by Perch Custom Home Furnishings and Design..

Special thanks to Lisa Kobrin at May Memorial Library for helping us research the information used in this article. Sources: Architectural History of Burlington and Burlington Daily-Times News.

Photo Credit: Debbie McCabe, Deb’s FlashMe Photography

The Thomas L. Sellars House, ca. 1894

This two-story Queen Anne Victorian has decorative fishscale shingles and decorative bargeboard on the gables of the T-shaped house. The interior features a central hallway, turned balusters on the staircase, beadboard ceilings, paneled wainscot hallways, southern yellow pine floor boards, and fireplaces with simple Victorian mantels in almost every room. The original porch was likely replaced in the 1920s to reflect the then-popular bungalow style. Amazingly, in over 125 years, the home has only been owned by 3 families.

The house was built in 1890 by Thomas L. Sellars, son of Dr. Benjamin Sellars, founder of the Sellars Department store which opened in Downtown Burlington in 1872.Thomas, was president for 25 years. Sellars married Lila Graves and had 3 daughters, Bessie Lee, Sarah, and Helen. Thomas and Lila lived in the home until their deaths in 1940 and 1955, respectively. Bessie Lee never married and stayed in the home until her death in 1980. In 1981 the house was purchased by Thomas and Sandy Harper.

The almost 3,000 square foot structure has several modern updates. The original kitchen ell was expanded into a large, bright family room with walls of windows overlooking the backyard. A two-car garage was added with a flat roof deck above, which open to the family room. The almost one acre yard boasts an ancient pecan tree perfect for a wooden swing.

The current owners have continued to improve the home over the last 10 years but always with respect for the history of the house.

This home is being sponsored by H-Co. Properties and is being staged for the holidays by Lee Ann Burkhart Interiors.

Special thanks to Lisa Kobrin at May Memorial Library for helping us research the information used in this article. Sources: Architectural History of Burlington and Burlington Daily-Times News.

Photo Credit: Debbie McCabe, Deb’s FlashMe Photography

2018- 712 W Davis (Walter and Pearl Brow

The Walter & Pearl Brown House, ca. 1915

This one-and-one-half-story bungalow features a wide shed dormer, a large front porch supported by wide wooden posts on brick piers, a side-lighted entrance, and solid triangular brackets under the gable roof. The original wooden clapboard shingles were covered by aluminum siding at some point prior to the mid-1980s. The original oak floors remain in much of the first floor, and original quarter-sawn heart pine floors grace the second floor. At the front of the house are two side-by-side parlors – perhaps at one time a gentleman’s and a ladies’ parlor – separable by large, wood pocket doors. A restyled fireplace remains in one of these rooms, whereas a former coal-burning fireplace in the first-floor bedroom retains original tile. Over time, exterior porches on the first and second floor were incorporated into the house, on the first floor to expand the kitchen and on the second floor to create a bedroom. Although other renovations had taken place in earlier decades, the current owners undertook a major renovation in 2016 that modernized the kitchen and opened it to the living room, removing the butler’s pantry and an unused furnace chimney. A former bedroom under the sloping roof of the second floor was turned into a bathroom and its pine floor restored; original two-panel fir doors throughout the house were also restored.

The home was likely built between 1913 and 1918, probably by the owners who appear in the 1920 census, Walter M. and Pearl V. Brown, who lived there until sometime in the 1930s with their daughter Lila. Mr. Brown worked as the Vice President of the Burlington Textile Company and Secretary and Treasurer of Brown's Hosiery Mills, owned by his father, William W. Brown. Later residents included Lloyd Pritchett, a distributor for Gulf Oil, and his wife Lois, who are listed as the homeowners in the 1940 census, and Dr. Raymond P. Flagg of Carolina Biological, a community leader who resided here from the 1960s to the 1980s.

This home is being sponsored by Front Street Bottle Shop & Tasting Room and professionally staged for the holidays by Holly Treadwell of Treadwell Designs.

Photo Credit: Debbie McCabe, Deb's FlashMe Photography

The Cates-Cobb House, ca. 1918

Back on the Tour by popular demand!

Sitting prominently on Front and Fisher Streets, the Cates-Cobb House is an excellent example of classic craftsman architecture that was common in Burlington in the early 1900s. This house was saved from the wrecking ball when it was acquired by Rebuilding Together of the Triangle, a nonprofit that focuses on preserving affordable homeownership and revitalizing neighborhoods by donating home repair and renovation services. Rebuilding Together, along with their partners and volunteers, have worked tirelessly to restore the historic details of the house, including numerous original fireplaces, shiplap walls, high ceilings and gorgeous original double hung windows.

The two story wooden clapboard house sits on the street formerly known as Hoke Street, and is capped by a side gable roof, stuccoed gable ends, a hip dormer, deep full-facade front porch with gabled entrance and large square porch posts on masonry piers. The beautiful latticed leaded glass bungalow windows with decorative muntin patterns have been restored and are fully operational. A rear addition was added decades ago in what now serves at the kitchen.

Luther Cates, one of the earliest owners, born in Alamance County in 1874, was a man of “many interests” according to the Burlington newspaper. He served as local Justice of the Peace, as well as sawmill operator, contractor, machinist, woodworker and merchant. Luther married Celia Petty in 1899 and raised three children. The marriage must have been a success as the paper stated the couple had the distinction of sailing the “turbulent waters of the ‘Matrimonial Sea’ without as much as a ripple to disturb domestic concord.” After marriage, Cates and a partner bought the Stafford & Stroud Drug Co., and then opened Stroud & Cates pharmacy which was known by Burlington children for the pet monkey who lived in the back of the store. After leaving the pharmacy business, Cates pursued other career interests, including an automotive store on the corner of Davis and Worth Streets. Thereafter, he built his Justice of the Peace office on the corner of Andrews and Worth Streets where he tried people for minor law infractions, and became known as “Judge Cates”. He was also a civic and religious leader, Alderman of Burlington and Mason.

The property passed to Hilda Cates, daughter of Luther Cates born in 1903, and ultimately to Hilda’s daughter, Helen Henderson Cobb (born in 1927). The Cobb family owned it until 1969.

This house offers 4 bedrooms, 2 ½ bathrooms, 12-foot ceilings, an open floor plan, all updated electrical, plumbing, kitchen, roof and landscaping., Enjoy the charm and quality of early 20th Century living with 21st Century amenities.

Thank you to Lisa Korbin at May Memorial Library for helping us research the information used in this article. –Sources: Daily-Times News Archive, National Register of Historic Places Inventory. Photo Credit: Darrell Coble.