Potential buyers learn about East Durham historic properties

Whenever there's an old home tour, you can normally find me volunteering as a docent (a tour guide) in one of my favorite established neighborhoods when I am not doing an Open House for one of my own real estate listings.


When Herald-Sun reporter Cliff Bellamy visited the old Gardner House at 1817 Vale St. during Preservation Durham's East Durham yesterday, I tried to help him imagine what the house could look like after the vinyl siding had been removed, the broken windows had been repaired and the old baseboard heaters were gone. And I was pleased to open today's Herald-Sun and see that he had shared some of my comments with his readers:


East Durham Open House visitors get advice, eyeful


By Cliff Bellamy
http://heraldsun.com/bookmark/3725552


DURHAM -- "Some floorboards inside the two-story home at 402 Clay Street are buckled, showing signs of age and neglect. Upstairs, a window in one of the rooms has been removed, exposing the sturdy lathe wall construction -- this was decades before drywall -- of this 1900 house.


"It needs work, but looking at the house from across Clay Street, the house, with its wraparound porch, already shows initial signs of new life. Preservation Durham, which owns the house, has scraped the old paint, exposing wood siding in good shape.


"The Clay Street house was among five Preservation Durham houses that are for sale and were open for inspection Sunday during the East Durham Open House Event. In addition to Preservation Durham houses, visitors also could tour several homes owners have restored and now occupy, and several houses for sale by area Realtors.


"The first stop-off for the tour was 201 S. Driver St., the home of Kim Sage and partner Karen Sage. The purpose of the tour was to let potential buyers know about the historic district tax credits and loans available for restoring the historic properties, and to "dispel some misconceptions about the area," said Aidil Collins, a Vale Street resident. One misconception is that this part of East Durham is not family-friendly, when it fact many families live in the area and maintain homes.


"The Sages have been in their home since 1988, and did about 95 percent of the restoration work themselves, said Kim Sage. While the area had some tough times in the 1990s, in the last few years she has seen the neighborhood reviving house by house.


"'We fell in love with the house,' Kim Sage said. 'We wanted to live in an integrated neighborhood. We were looking at starting a family. ... We bought it.'


"Other organizers of Sunday's event were Up Lift East Durham, Preservation North Carolina and residents in East Durham.


"Potential urban pioneers received plenty of advice about fixing and financing. Over at 118 S. Driver St., Todd Hershberger, who works for Trinity Design/Build, was volunteering, and gave visitors a demonstration in window restoration. Hershberger, using pry bars, pulled moulding away from a window, revealing some water damage underneath. He explained that a major challenge in restoring old windows is getting them to work as originally intended, and an enemy of that is layers and layers of old paint.


"Legacy Green, a local organization that seeks to provide 'environmentally sensitive, economically inclusive housing options in traditionally underserved communities,' is fixing up 102 S. Driver St. for sale. Tiffany Elder showed visitors the vaulted ceiling revealed after a drop-ceiling was taken out. Elder told visitors the area she was standing in would be transformed into a commons and kitchen area with a high ceiling. Legacy Green had papers available explaining financing for someone who might want to buy the house when it is restored.


"Elder pointed to recent renovations in the Burch Avenue neighborhood and examples of Legacy's success. 'I believe that socio-economically mixed neighborhoods are the best neighborhoods," Elder said.


"The Gardener House at 1817 Vale St., also a Preservation Durham House, still has vinyl siding covering the original work, old baseboard heaters and a broken window. Volunteer Lisa Janes pointed out how a room near the entrance could be converted into a nice parlor, with another entrance that could be cut away from the wall. 'There's just so much potential,' Janes said."

***************
I spoke volumes, but my one sound bite in the article was "There's just so much potential," Janes said. It's funny what a reporter will pick up on! :D

The Loss of Two Giants

The loss of two giants…

In the past two weeks, our country has lost two giants, both from the same family, Eunice Kennedy Shriver and Edward M. Kennedy. In this July 30,1983, file photo, Shriver is shown at her brother’s annual summer-time party at his home in Hyannisport, Mass. Shriver, who is also sister to President John F. Kennedy and founder of the Special Olympics, died Aug. 11 at age 88. Her brother Edward, the “liberal lion of the Senate,” has died after battling a brain tumor. His family announced his death in a brief statement released early Wednesday (Aug. 26). He was 77.

36 Hours in the Research Triangle, N.C.

Our Research Triangle area was featured in today's travel section of the New York Times! We locals are well familiar with all the great things there are to do and see in our neck of the woods. But it sure is great to be recognized by others across the country.

Below are excerpts from the article with links to many of the great places to visit:

2 p.m.
7) RIVER WALK
"One of the Triangle’s charms is that its urban trappings are so easy to escape. A 10-mile drive from downtown Durham brings you to Eno River State Park (6101 Cole Mill Road, Durham; 919-383-1686; http://www.ncparks.gov/). Its trails pass through swaying pines and follow the river past patches of delicate purple-and-yellow wildflowers and turtles sunning themselves on low branches in the water.

5 p.m.
8) GOING WHOLE HOG
"Small towns and back roads, not cities, have a monopoly on great barbecue. What makes the Pit (328 West Davie Street, Raleigh; 919-890-4500; http://www.thepit-raleigh.com/) a striking exception is Ed Mitchell, the legendary master of the eastern North Carolina art form of whole hog cooking. Now instead of trekking 100 miles to porcine meccas like Ayden and Lexington, you can dig into pilgrimage-worthy chopped or pulled pork — made from pigs purchased from family farms and cooked for 10 to 14 hours over coals and hickory or oak — just a short stroll from the Capitol Building. A chopped barbecued pork plate with two sides and greaseless hush puppies costs $12.

7 p.m.
9) ROOT FOR THE HOME TEAM
"The Triangle is college basketball country, home to two of the winningest teams and some of the most rabid fans in N.C.A.A. history. But soon after the madness of March, the more tranquil local baseball fans stream into the Durham Bulls Athletic Park (409 Blackwell Street, Durham; 919-687-6500; http://www.dbulls.com/). The Bulls, founded in 1902 as the Tobacconists, recently became the Tampa Bay Rays’ AAA affiliate. The major league-quality play comes at minor league prices ($7 to $9 a ticket).

10 p.m.
10) BIG BANDS
"Nirvana played at the Cat’s Cradle (300 East Main Street, Carrboro; 919-967-9053; http://www.catscradle.com/) for the first time in pre-“Nevermind” 1990 to about 100 people. A year later Pearl Jam played to three times as many, filling just half the standing-room-only space. This summer the Cradle, just a mile from downtown Chapel Hill, hosts acts like Akron/Family and Camera Obscura that probably won’t be playing for such small crowds for long. Ticket prices vary but $15 is about average.

Sunday
10 a.m.
11) DRIVE-THRU BISCUITS
"There are several places in Chapel Hill that serve a distinguished Southern breakfast. Diners linger over gravy-smothered pork chops and eggs at Mama Dip’s (408 West Rosemary Street; 919-942-5837; http://www.mamadips.com/) and peerless shrimp and grits at Crook’s Corner (610 West Franklin Street; 919-929-7643; http://www.crookscorner.com/). But for a morning meal on the go that’s equally unforgettable, roll up to the drive-through-only Sunrise Biscuit Kitchen (1305 East Franklin Street; 919-933-1324), where the iced tea is tooth-achingly sweet and the main course is fluffy, buttery and filled with salty country ham ($2.02) or crisp fried chicken ($3.40).

THE BASICS
"Several airlines offer flights between the New York area airports and Raleigh-Durham International Airport for as low as $150, according to a recent online search. Durham, Raleigh and Chapel Hill are 20 to 40 minutes apart from one another and public transportation is infrequent, so if you’re planning to visit at least two points on the Triangle, you should rent a car.

"The 150-room Umstead Hotel and Spa (100 Woodland Pond, Cary; 866-877-4141; http://www.theumstead.com/), about 15 minutes from downtown Raleigh, has a pool, an elegant adjoining restaurant called Herons and an on-premises spa that offers massages and facial treatments. Doubles are $249 to $399 (there’s often a two-night minimum).

"Whether you stay in one of the seven impeccable rooms, garden cottage (complete with a porch swing) or 1700s-style log cabin at Arrowhead Inn (106 Mason Road; 919-477-8430; http://www.arrowheadinn.com/), 10 miles from downtown Durham, you’ll enjoy imaginative breakfasts made by a co-owner, Phil Teber, and have access to six acres of manicured lawns, gardens and magnolia trees. Weekend rates start at $150 for a room with a fireplace and double bed and reach $325 for the Carolina Log Cabin.

"The Carolina Inn (211 Pittsboro Street, Chapel Hill; 800-962-8519; http://www.carolinainn.com/) is not your typical on-campus hotel. In-room massages, dry cleaning service and a lobby whose Southern grandeur extends to the hotel’s 184 rooms make it much more than just convenient lodging for parents visiting the University of North Carolina. Rates start at $168."

ttp://travel.nytimes.com/2009/06/14/travel/14hours.html

By J. J. GOODE

"TELL North Carolinians you’re heading to the Research Triangle, and they’ll probably ask 'Which school are you visiting?' Yet the close-knit cities of Raleigh, Durham and Chapel Hill are marked by more than college bars and hoops fans. Visitors not bound for Duke, the University of North Carolina or North Carolina State come to see buzz-worthy bands, dine on food from farm-worshiping chefs and explore outdoor art. From its biscuits to its boutiques, the Triangle occupies a happy place between slow-paced Southern charm and urban cool.

Friday, 3 p.m.
1) ART INSIDE OUT
"Anyone who has visited the Met or the Getty might scoff at the relatively succinct collection at the North Carolina Museum of Art (2110 Blue Ridge Road, Raleigh; 919-839-6262; http://www.ncartmuseum.org/). But the lack of tour bus crowds means unfettered access to the Old Masters and contemporary heavyweights like Anselm Kiefer. The real treat is the adjacent Museum Park, more than 164 acres of open fields and woodlands punctuated by environmental art like Cloud Chamber, a stone hut that acts as a camera obscura, with a small hole in the roof projecting inverted, otherworldly images of slowly swaying trees on the floor and walls.

5 p.m.
2) TOWER OF BAUBLE
"There’s no pigeonholing the eclectic wares in this four-story indie minimall collectively known as Father & Son Antiques (107 West Hargett Street, Raleigh; 919-832-3030), and including Southern Swank and 2nd Floor Vintage. The organizing principle, if there is one, might be high design meets kitschy Americana, as the intermingling of vintage disco dresses ($18), Mexican wrestling masks ($20) and Eames aluminum group chairs ($250 to $500) attests.

7 p.m.
3) UPSCALE DINER
"Memorable meals are easy to come by in the Triangle owing to its high concentration of accomplished, produce-fondling chefs like Ashley Christensen. She left one of the area’s top kitchens to open Poole’s Downtown Diner (426 South McDowell Street, Raleigh; 919-832-4477; http://www.poolesdowntowndiner.com/) in a space that began as a 1940s pie shop. Diners sitting in the bright-red booths dig into Christensen’s low-pretense, high-flavor dishes, like a starter of lovably sloppy fried green tomatoes crowned with local pork smoked over cherry wood ($11), and the Royale ($13), an almost spherical hunk of ground-in-house chuck roll seared in duck fat, topped with cheese and perched on a slice of grilled brioche.

10 p.m.
4) CHEERS TO THE CHIEF
"For most bars, a popular politician’s visit would be a game-changing boon. But the Raleigh Times Bar (14 East Hargett Street, Raleigh; 919-833-0999; http://www.raleightimesbar.com/) was packed well before Barack Obama showed up the day of the state’s Democratic primary. The owner, Greg Hatem, painstakingly restored the century-old building that once housed its namesake newspaper and decorated the walls with old newspaper clippings, paperboy bags and other artifacts from the defunct daily. Mr. Obama bought a $2 Pabst Blue Ribbon (and left an $18 tip), but anyone not campaigning might choose one of the more than 100 other beers ($1 to $68), including esoteric Belgians and local brews you won’t find elsewhere.

Saturday

10:30 a.m.
5) ECO JUNK
"The Scrap Exchange (548 Foster Street, Durham; 919-688-6960; http://www.scrapexchange.org/) is a 'nonprofit creative reuse center' specializing in industrial discards or, for those not versed in eco-jargon, a bazaar of modestly priced former junk donated by Carolinians and scavenged from local businesses that include a hosiery mill, a zipper factory and a parachute plant. Even if you’re not one of the giddy artists, teachers or theater producers who comb for utilitarian treasures, plan to spend at least an hour rummaging in a cool-struck trance through test tubes (20 cents to $1), empty fire extinguishers ($3 to $5) and swaths of double-knit polyester ($1 a yard).

Noon
6) TACO TIME
"Anyone not on a hunt for serious Mexican food might drive past Taqueria La Vaquita (2700 Chapel Hill Road, Durham; 919-402-0209; http://www.lavaquitanc.com/), an unassuming freestanding structure with a plastic cow on its roof, just five minutes from Duke’s campus. But if you did, you’d miss tacos ($2.19) made with house-made corn tortillas, uncommonly delicate discs topped with exceptional barbacoa de res (slow-cooked beef) or carnitas (braised-then-fried pork) that you eat at one of the picnic tables out front.