Home Horace Williams House Calendar of Events House Tour Archives Photo Album PSCH History PSCH Accomplishments Event Rentals Exhibitors Membership Info Web Links Local Points of Interest A Brief Description of Tour Sites Leavitt-Davies House – 718 East Franklin Street This traditional two-story New England home was built in 1922 for UNC Spanish professor Sturgis Leavitt. The professor purchased the lot from the Wheeler family next door, who had used the property for chicken coops and vegetable gardens; the long, narrow shape of the land led to Professor Leavitt siting the house sideways on the lot. The Davies family moved into the home in 1985. Classic Greek columns add a touch of elegance in the doorways to the living room, as does the lovely French-style porcelain chandelier in the dining room. The kitchen was renovated in 1989 and is graced by an American Tiffany lamp. A family room was added in 2002. The Davies called it “The New Room” and the name stuck. Candace Davies’ eclectic art collection includes oil and watercolor paintings, mixed media works and raku pottery, plus many unusual antiques – gifts from her uncle William Hooks and from her own travels abroad. Pastel portraits of the children adorn the dining room walls. The personality and talents of the family shine in their holiday decorations, which include silver balls hanging from the chandelier – gifts from the children’s grandmother, who gives each grandchild one every year. Under the tree are the family’s special collections of teddy bears, dolls and favorite books from years past. Hooks House – 718 East Franklin Street William Hooks’ home is a hidden gem tucked away behind the Leavitt/Davies home. Built in 1987, the architect Jim Webb designed the cottage to resemble the Davies house on a smaller scale, echoing its New England simplicity. The house is only 750 square feet, but its tall ceilings create a sense of space in the small area. The pine floors are over 100 years old and came from eastern North Carolina, near Bill’s hometown. He amassed a fascinating collection of antiques and artwork while renovating seven New York brownstones over a period of 40 years, including a sea captain’s desk, French tapestries and a collection of English flow blue china. Bill, who is Candy Davies’ uncle, is an award-winning writer of children’s books, including “The Legend of the Christmas Rose,” which he dedicated to next door neighbor Maryellen Bowers. He was also a dancer and choreographer for many years in New York City. Bill’s choreography can still be seen in the outdoor drama, “Unto these Hills,” performed every summer in Cherokee, NC. Original artwork from many of Bill’s book covers hang alongside work by New York and North Carolina artists. Several of his books will be displayed upstairs on a massive, Spanish hand-carved desk that serves as Bill’s workstation, and he will be happy to autograph copies of “The Legend of the Christmas Rose” (available for purchase at the Horace Williams House) for tour goers. Wheeler-Bowers House – 714 East Franklin Street In 1905, UNC chemistry professor Alvin Sawyer Wheeler purchased this lot on the “Durham road” with plans to build a two-story frame house. The professor kept costs low by working himself to clear the lot and to help with projects like framing and roofing. Professor Wheeler managed to invest “sweat equity” in his house at the same time that he was making the chemistry department into “the first of the great research departments developed at Chapel Hill” and while he was a lively participant in the life of the growing village. He founded the faculty club, served twice as president of the Country Club, held various offices in the Presbyterian church and was treasurer of various organizations, including the Carolina Playmakers. In 1949, UNC physics professor Wayne Bowers and his wife Maryellen purchased the home and carried on the Wheeler tradition of nurturing this beautiful spot while contributing to the life of the university and the town. Wayne has trained many generations of physics graduate students, while finding time for playing the piano and reading. Maryellen has tended her garden, painted every surface in the house, set up a weaving studio, and helped to preserve our town as a founding member of the Chapel Hill Historical Society. The Bowers home is filled with family treasures, many collected by Wayne’s parents when they served as missionaries in Spain, and with Maryellen’s weaving and other fine crafts. The President’s House – 400 East Franklin Street The President’s House was built for President Francis Venable in 1906-07 on the sight of a house earlier occupied by UNC presidents Joseph Caldwell (1809-1835) and David Lowrie Swain (1849-1868) that burned on Christmas Day, 1886. The home was designed by Washington, DC architect Frank P. Milburn whose firm designed nearly all of the buildings erected on the campus between 1898 and 1914. Its $15,000 construction cost was paid from the escheats fund and not from state appropriated money. With its monumental portico, it is Chapel Hill’s only example of a residence in the Neoclassical Revival style. The house was extensively renovated in 1929 and in 1986, when a new cooper roof was added, and the kitchen was remodeled according to plans by Bill Neal (of Crooks Corner fame) and President C. D. Spangler and Meredith Spangler, to enable the preparation and service of food for large numbers of guests. The first floor is arranged for entertaining and gracious living, with its wide Entrance Hall flanked on the right by the living room and on the left by the sitting room and dining room. Furnishings on this floor were given by friends of the university or are from the Margaret Rutledge Knapp Collection, bequeathed to the university about 1960. Cobb-McVeigh-Rich and Rubenstein House – 603 East Franklin Street Brodie Thompson, one of Chapel Hill’s finest builders of the ‘20s and ‘30s, built this traditional home in the 1920s for a family named Miller, who later sold it to Collier Cobb II. Cobb was well-known in Chapel Hill as the owner of Collier Cobb Insurance Company and as a public servant. Later owners, Brian and Sheila McVeigh, made many updates to the home, leaving it in mint move-in condition for current owners Stephen and Sandra Rich and Sandra’s sister Lynda Rubinstein. Stephen and Sandra are UNC alums who decided to return to their alma mater from Atlanta a year ago. They are continuing to nurture the beautiful beds of roses that line Franklin Street and bring so much pleasure to passers-by. The house is filled with exquisite antiques, primarily English, and is embellished with a wide variety of interesting collections – from cast iron doorstops to pewter to antique and new samplers on the walls, some made by Sandra and Stephen. In the finished basement you’ll find Stephen’s incredible collection of Coca-Cola memorabilia from his career at the company, along with a sauna and steam room. Upstairs, the “Sports Room” will please sports enthusiasts. The house will be decorated with dreidels and lit menorahs in celebration of Hanukkah. The Samuel Phillips-Tri-Delta House – 407 East Franklin Street The house was built in 1856 by Samuel Field Phillips, a native of Chapel Hill. “Mr. Sam” had built the little stucco law office next door in 1843. There he taught boys "not only the rudiments of law but of Latin, Greek, arithmetic, geography, history, and English grammar.” After the Civil War Phillips became identified with the Reconstructionist arm of the Whig party and became a leader in the Republican Party. He ultimately moved to Washington, D.C. and served as United States Solicitor General under Presidents Grant, Hayes, and Garfield. He always considered Chapel Hill his home, and it was his wish that he be buried in the Old Chapel Hill Cemetery. In 1894, Adam Alexander Kluttz, the beloved owner of the village general merchandise store, purchased the house. He and his wife, the former Ora Crawford, “rented rooms and served well appreciated meals” that made them “favorites of townspeople and students alike.“ The two-story frame “L-plan” house has a side gabled main block with a projecting front-gabled wing. The one-story, two level, wrap-around porch is a later addition. The present owners, Delta Delta Delta Sorority, moved into the house in 1978 and have updated as necessary. The most recent decoration was carried out by Anita Brame of Durham. The Chapel Hill Museum and The Chapel Hill Historical Society – 523 East Franklin Street The building in which the museum is housed was built with the help of a $400,000 bequest from Cornelia Spencer Love and dedicated in 1968 as the Chapel Hill Public Library. Donald Stewart, AIA, of the firm of City Planning and Architectural Associates, designed the building to fit naturally into its sloping site and incorporated elements familiar and contextual to Chapel Hill and the building’s immediate environment. In 1998 the building became home to the Chapel Hill Museum. Permanent exhibitions include “The Paul Green Legacy” and “Ruth Faison Shaw: Creator of Finger Painting.” The museum is currently featuring an exhibition of Tama Hochbaum’s photographs of Battle Park. The Chapel Hill Historical Society was founded in 1966 with a mission to “investigate, preserve, and make available, knowledge of the history of Chapel Hill.” The Society’s headquarters on Boundary Street houses research materials and provides assistance with genealogical and historical research . During the Holiday Tour, the Historical Society will display the prototype for the “Town Heritage Site” plaques (designed by Haig Khachatoorian of the NC State School of Design) that have been developed in conjunction with the Preservation Society. Once installed on Franklin Street landmarks, the plaques will be a tangible reminder of the Historical Society’s efforts to “make the past present.” The Horace Williams House – 610 East Rosemary Street The Horace Williams House began as a small Greek Revival style farm house (the current dining room, office, and kitchen), probably built in the 1840s by local craftsmen skilled in vernacular construction. In the 1850s, the “octagon room” was added. Early in its history village residents referred to the structure as the “hexagon house” or the “beehive house.” Some speculate that the design was inspired by the brief 1850s vogue for the “octagon mode of building.” Ruth Little, who has prepared a history of Chapel Hill’s architecture soon to be published by the Preservation Society, theorizes that Romantic architect A. J. Davis may have drawn the striking design “on the back of a napkin” while he was in Chapel Hill as a campus architect. While its inspiration remains a mystery, the space serves splendidly as the home of the Horace Williams House Art committee gallery today. In the 1880s and ‘90s, the house took on its final appearance, with the addition of the parlor, the foyer and the front porch.. Professor Horace Williams made no significant changes to the home he occupied from 1891 to 1940, but at his death he left it to the University, which rented it for many years. In 1972, the Preservation Society of Chapel Hill oversaw the renovation of the house and continues to maintain it as Preservation Society headquarters. Royster-Umstead-Eyre-Moulton House – 619 East Franklin Street The home of Bob and Teresa Moulton is set on a beautifully wooded and landscaped lot, one of Franklin Street’s most private settings. The house was designed by New York architect Hobart Upjohn (who also designed the University Presbyterian Church) and was built by master builder Brodie Thompson in 1923 for James Royster, English professor and the first dean of the Graduate School. Its two-story façade features a full length, 58-foot engaged porch with six bays, that is the epitome of Southern graciousness and welcome. Under second owner John Wesley Umstead, the home became a favorite political meeting place, and many an important University funding decision was made on this front porch. UNC professor of geography Doug Eyre and realtor Olga Eyre purchased the home in 1970 and continued the home’s convivial tradition. The Moultons added a first floor master suite and restored the elevator that had originally been in the home. Upstairs, the sleeping porch is one of Teresa’s favorite places to read and relax. The heart pine floors in the foyer and dining room are original, while the bamboo ceiling of the sunroom is new. State-of-the-art electronics coexist comfortably with such diverse items as a collection of Depression glass, contemporary artwork and a lovely Art Deco chandelier. The kitchen was remodeled by pushing it back and installing blue granite countertops. Royster-Marshall-Epting House – 707 East Franklin Street This bungalow (with one of the best front porches in Chapel Hill) was built in 1917, probably from a Sears kit., as the home of Wilbur High Royster, a young instructor in Latin and Greek at the University, and his wife, Olivette James Broadway. Although he has “only the dimmest memories of it,” it was the first home of Wilbur and Olivette’s son, Vermont Royster, alumnus of the UNC class of 1935, Pulitzer Prize winning journalist, and longtime editor of The Wall Street Journal. Many people remember 707 East Franklin as the home of Orange County Commissioner and Chapel Hill Town Council member Shirley Marshall, who moved into the house in 1968. Although she did extensive renovations inside the house, she is perhaps best remembered for creating a beautiful garden right on Franklin Street, which has been known to sprout political signs in addition to lovely native plants. The current owner of the house is lawyer and pilot Bob Epting, who also made interior renovations to the home in 1999-2001, updating the kitchen and bathrooms on the first floor and closing in the rear porches to add living space. The home is filled with unique antiques and with Bob’s collection of “Flyers,” images of insects drawn by botanical and medical illustrator Allison Schroeer. MacNider-Bason-Lindquist-Mills House – 737 East Franklin Street This Shaker-style house was built in 1917 by Dr. William deBerniere MacNider, a distinguished faculty member and first dean of the UNC Medical School. Mable Bason, original founder and owner of Whitehall Shop Antiques, was the next owner, followed by Margaret and David Lindquist, who bought the house, together with Whitehall Antiques. When Jonathan and Dina Mills arrived in Chapel Hill in 2001, after ten years in Warsaw, Poland, they undertook a renovation to infuse this historic home with their unique sense of style. The Mills turned what was the men’s parlor and the women’s parlor into a great room. The kitchen/ family room was created by turning what had been five rooms into one large, state-of-the-art, family-friendly space, perfect for their four young children. In 1917 the home was heated by eight coal burning fireplaces. The Mills took the six that remained and converted them to wood burning, retaining original fireboxes and mantels and adding glass tile surrounds downstairs. Original heart pine floors complement the furnishings, many of which come from Budapest, Warsaw and Paris. Other furnishings and artwork reflect Dina’s New Orleans and Jonathan’s Boston roots. Their blended holiday decorations include menorahs and a large decorated potted tree, which will later be planted in the back yard. Holiday House Tour | Those Who Make It Possible Home Horace Williams House Calendar of Events House Tour Archives Photo Album PSCH History PSCH Accomplishments Event Rentals Exhibitors Membership Info Web Links Local Points of Interest PRESERVATION SOCIETY OF CHAPEL HILL • 610 E. ROSEMARY ST. CHAPEL HILL, NC 27514 • 919-942-7818 • chpreservation@mindspring.com