The Hidden Victorian Houses of Hillsborough Street
Although the Oakwood neighborhood has the largest collection of Victorian-era houses in Raleigh, Hillsborough Street was once a bastion of homes built in the same period. Sadly, only a few remain today. There are others on the periphery however, such as the house pictured above on Boylan Avenue, one block away.
What Qualifies as Victorian?
The simplest definition is any house built during the reign of Queen Victoria: 1837-1901. I took the liberty of extending this period to also include houses constructed until around 1910. For the purposes of this article, I included houses that displayed some or all of the following characteristics: asymmetrical layout, bay windows, steeply pitched roofs, and ornate decoration.
The Oldest Structure Associated with N.C. State
One of the most notable of all of the remaining Victorians is the N.C. Agricultural Experiment Station on Vanderbilt Avenue, dating to 1886.
While many may know that Holladay Hall is the oldest classroom on campus, the oldest structure associated with the University is the house above. It’s one of the oldest remaining Victorian-era houses in the Hillsborough Street area and is a private residence.
Maiden Lane and Enterprise Street
The Maiden Lane and Enterprise Street areas have a handful of homes dating to the very early part of the 20th century. Many serve as rental units or apartments.
4 Maiden Lane. Built in 1900 by Samuel Brewer.
I had thought this was a fraternity house, but the Greek letters are gone from the front of the house.
The Roland House, Enterprise St. Now home to the Latter-Day Saints Church.
The Weatherman House, Enterprise St.
10 Enterprise Street
Business up Front, Party Victorian in the Back
Two houses are hidden because they were converted to commercial properties by appending storefronts to the street-facing side several decades after construction.
Image credit: Ian F.G. Dunn
The house in the greatest state of disrepair is the Fabius Briggs House on the corner of Ashe Avenue and Hillsborough Street. At some point in the 1950s the storefronts were attached to the front of the house, sealing its fate as a neglected beauty. Today its future lies in limbo as it has been condemned by the city and lies within the path of a major mixed-use redevelopment plan.
I don’t know anything about this particular house across from Char-Grill. It blends in with the attached storefronts, yet you can still notice the differences: the cast iron window frames on the right are typical of 40s and 50s era construction, while the prominent cross gable and roof of the house section visible on the left suggest the early part of the 20th century.
The Cameron Park Fringe
Some of the houses on the edge of the Cameron Park area are a great study in the transition period from angled lines and asymmetry to the more popular American four square style which replaced it. The houses closest to Hillsborough Street were the first lots to be snapped up when first subdivided, so it makes sense that these had more of the flair and other characteristics of the early 1900s.
Hawthorne Road and Hillsborough Street
Corner of Hawthorne Road and Benehan Street
The Area Around Ashe Avenue
In addition to the Fabius Briggs House, there are two other early-century grand houses in the area between Park Avenue and the Morgan Street split. These both featured centered dormers, one of the first aspects of the more restrained style. 1910 seems to be the year which featured the largest shift away from decorated and asymetrical construction.
Williams-Park House, 1909
John W. Thompson House, 1910.
The Not-So-Hidden Victorian Houses
The grandeur and scale of these houses are relatively proportional to how close they are to the Capitol Building. The area in the few blocks around it were once lined with grand mansions. Today, the three most striking examples that remain are the ones closest to it.
The Joel Whitaker house hides in plain sight. It wasn’t very extravagant or bold when it was built in 1882, but its brick exterior and blend of styles are unique nonetheless.
The most dramatic and detailed of all Hillsborough Street area Victorians is the Dodd-Hinsdale House. It was built in 1879 by Thomas Briggs for then Raleigh Mayor William H. Dodd.
The house was sold shortly thereafter, and remained in the same family (Hinsdale) for around 90 years.
The house fell into disrepair and by the early 90s and was in danger of demolition. It was at that time the Reynolds family purchased it with the intent of restoring it and turning it into a fine dining establishment, which it remains today.
Not in the Victorian Style, but Worth a Mention
This Greek revival house was built in 1904 by Dr. Andrew Watson Goodwin. He was the Chair of Anatomy at Leonard Medical School, and then later became chief physician for the now-abandoned St. Agnes Hospital.
It has been home to the North Carolina Democratic party since 1979.
Further Reading on Residential Victorian Architecture in Raleigh:
- The Fabius Briggs House: A Crumbling Raleigh Relic
- Raleigh’s Merrimon-Wynne House: A Win-Wynne Situation
- Early History of the Dodd-Hinsdale House
- Enterprise Street: A Motley Crew of Unlikely Neighbors
- Col. Heck’s Oakwood ‘Spec’ Houses
- A Nail That Could Not Be Removed: Raleigh’s Richard B. Haywood House
- Reminiscences of a Raleigh Boy, Part 1: The Blount Street Saga
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03/23/2010
nice job john
03/23/2010
Thank you for this! There are some real beauties on and around Hillsborough St. It’s a shame we lost so many of them prior to the Historic Preservation movement of the ’70s.
03/24/2010
Yes, I agree Crash — very nice job, John. Nightime photos of Dodd-Hinsdale are particularly awesome.
And yes Kim, my sentiments exactly. So many Hillsboro St treasures have been lost — most notably the R.S. Tucker mansion, an Italianate masterpiece designed in 1858 by the enigmatic 19th century architect Wm. Percival. It stood on the site of the seniors apartment building seen in the background of the house in the first shot in this series of Victorians.
03/24/2010
4 Maiden Lane is still the Theta Tau Fraternity House… we just took the letters down last week to repaint them. Talk about bad timing! :)
Also FYI, Maiden is a National Historic District. Not that they’ve ever gotten around to putting the sign up…
03/25/2010
Wm. Percival did the First Baptist church on Salisbury street, which is a beauty.
03/26/2010
And another Wm. Percival masterpiece — Montfort Hall.
03/31/2010
I lived @ 14 Maiden Lane circa 1971-72. There was a strong neighborhood feel then. Once a neighbor sustained some expensive-to-fix injuries in a motorcycle accident and Maiden Lane folks held a pig-pickin fund raiser to help with his bills. That neighborliness was damaged somewhat when the small house at the end of the street was bought by a fraternity who proceeded to build what essentially was a dorm on the large property. I had tried to buy it myself in 72 but the owners were already negotiating with the frat.
03/31/2010
Awesome post John, and awesome photos. Is that a new lens/new camera?
03/31/2010
I lived at #2 Maiden Lane from 1987-1990 (at one time it was an antique store…Or so my Mother tells me). At the time, the Delta Upsilon fraternity occupied the white house directly across the street from us. Rechenbach’s and Steve’s Ice Cream were in our front yard. The Plasma Center was across the street as well and it was the site of some serious drug activity in the late 80′s. Many NCSU students sold plasma to get beer money (ill advised, if you ask me). Gator’s and Alligator Alley were where the Belltower Mart is now and Changes (a great record store) was in the current Schoolkids spot. There was a small coin laundry beside Changes. We finally moved out after we got robbed. I did enjoy living there though.
03/31/2010
Nabs — I remember the antique shop at #2 from the 1970s. It was called Lightfoot’s Antiques, and had been there for many years before then. The lady who ran it said the house had been their family home. I also remember from the ’70s a restaurant where Belltower Mart is now called the Breakfast House — also popular with students. Next door was the Arthur Murray Dance Studio.