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The subject of the rash of demolitions of noteworthy (for good or bad) buildings in Raleigh in 2011 has been discussed in this forum before, and to be honest I have somewhat ambivalent thoughts and feelings about it in general. But I must say I felt a little tightness in my stomach when I was on my way home this evening and noticed that the infamous Fabius-Briggs house at the southwest corner of Hillsborough Street and Ashe Avenue in Raleigh appears to be finally being prepped to be torn down. I saw the other day that temporary chainlink fence had been erected around the building, and I was hoping that that was in order to protect it or prepare it for renovation. But today I saw that crews were beginning to gut the house and remove the siding, which I take to be the first steps towards demolition. As has been said over and over again, the house has been an eyesore for decades, and has fallen into a miserable state of disrepair, so clearly it couldn't be allowed to remain there in that condition much longer. And the expense and hassle of trying to fix it up, which would probably involve moving the house to a new location, is hard to justify, particularly under tight economic conditions. But I had been holding out hope that somehow a solution could be found and the poor, grand old house could be given a reprieve. But, apparently that's not going to happen. Perhaps it's for the best in the big picture, but not without a good deal of melancholy in the meantime.
That, along with the IHOP, PB's, and other "landmarks" on Hillsborough are all being taken down. There's apartment/mixed-use stuff going in on both ends of the street. I can't really complain. I thought it was a neat area when I looked at moving here, but was put off by all the run down and vacant old buildings. I know a lot of people complain about losing history and replacing it with run of the mill apartments. I can't speak for the architectural tastes of people in terms of the new projects, but what they are replacing are the equivalent of zombies. No longer what they were except for people's memories distorting what they see. I think it's all definitely an improvement to breathe some new life into that area. I would like to see a complete list of the projects, groundbreaking and completion dates, renderings, and the locations. It's hard to keep track of all this from WRAL stories....
I took pictures while I was there today. I am glad they were able to salvage the mantels and other details as they begin to tear it apart. I am sad that it couldn't be saved. It could have had an awesome home in the Blount Street Commons area, which is neither here nor there...just sad it's going.
Are they salvaging things? I thought they were just remediating asbestos prior to tearing it down? I guess I might stand to reason woodwork, etc might be intact since its been attached to a coommercial property most of its life. I've been in the bar out front a few times years ago and always wondered what it was like in the house part.
Are they salvaging things? I thought they were just remediating asbestos prior to tearing it down? I guess I might stand to reason woodwork, etc might be intact since its been attached to a coommercial property most of its life. I've been in the bar out front a few times years ago and always wondered what it was like in the house part.
Salvage work had been done awhile ago from my understanding.
Goodnight Raleigh has some nice articles with recent interior photos of this house. Some commenters there have also reported that as of today the house has been razed.
The house with Jackpot! attached to the front of it always intrigued me. It was so mysterious, yet I could tell it had once been beautiful and wondered what treasures it still held. I find it so sad that property owners so easily get away with letting historic gems fall into such a state of neglect and disrepair.
That, along with the IHOP, PB's, and other "landmarks" on Hillsborough are all being taken down. There's apartment/mixed-use stuff going in on both ends of the street. I can't really complain. I thought it was a neat area when I looked at moving here, but was put off by all the run down and vacant old buildings. I know a lot of people complain about losing history and replacing it with run of the mill apartments. I can't speak for the architectural tastes of people in terms of the new projects, but what they are replacing are the equivalent of zombies. No longer what they were except for people's memories distorting what they see. I think it's all definitely an improvement to breathe some new life into that area. I would like to see a complete list of the projects, groundbreaking and completion dates, renderings, and the locations. It's hard to keep track of all this from WRAL stories....
I know, and you're right. I agree with most of what you wrote. As I said initially, I'm ambivalent and bittersweet about the whole thing. I walked past that corner again this evening, and I got a little emotional thinking about that big, weird old green house that stood there until recently. I do miss it. And I think it's a shame that it couldn't have been renovated or relocated at some earlier date to preserve some of its grandeur and its status as a landmark on Hillsborough Street. But since that didn't happen, realistically it had to go. The new development planned for that area is an exciting improvement, even if it won't have the same kind of "character" as the structures it's replacing. And I'm certainly thankful to be living in a place where there's still enough energy, money, and vitality to justify tearing down old buildings, however painful it may be, to make way for the new and better. There are plenty of towns around the state and around the country where nobody ever bothers to either fix-up or tear-down the old, run-down buildings, and there's not enough demand to build anything new in their place. I'm happy that that's not the case in Raleigh, even with the still sluggish real estate market. So, I think it's appropriate for I and other Raleigh residents to be simultaneously melancholy and excited about the progress.
By the way, along these lines, does anyone know anything about the status of the Curtis House, the big old house at Poole Road and Carver Street to the east of downtown? It's one that always reminds me of Fabius Briggs, but I believe it's a slightly newer building, though still historic. It's another one that has a kind of "haunted house" quality to it that's both compelling and a little spooky, sort of silently looming over the intersection. I thought I had read a few years ago that somebody (possibly descendents of the actual Curtis family) had bought the house and planned to restore it. But it doesn't appear that that's happened. I walked past there the other day, too, and it looked worse than ever, and I'm concerned that it may be becoming unsalvageable like Fabius Briggs did. Does anyone know anything about its status? Thanks!
You know, I feel like I saw a listing for that house on trulia.com awhile back but I may be thinking of another historic house on Poole Road.
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Was there today...
