Goodnight Raleigh - a look at the art, architecture, history, and people of the city at night
1890 Bretsch House, Blount Street
Although many of its finest examples were destroyed in the 1960s and 1970s, Raleigh maintains a relatively large stock of Victorian houses. Perhaps the most frequently overlooked houses from this era are Folk Victorians.
After countless stays of execution and pleas from Preservation North Carolina to save the Fabius Briggs House located at 1301 Hillsborough Street, it seems its day has come. Built in 1906 by a son of Thomas H. Briggs, founder of Briggs Hardware, it has stood witness to the evolution of one of Raleigh’s most attractive and well traveled streets.
The year was 1966, and the gilded luster of the aged grande dame had faded long ago. With great trepidation I walked up to the front door. My buddy and I had been roving Blount St. for more than a year by then, exploring and photographing the once elegant mansions being demolished by the state in the late 1960s. And of course I always had my trusty Kodak Instamatic camera in tow.
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