History torn down, phased out in the valley

Hope Valley's future unclear as progress clashes with preservation

Hope Valley, the golf-course neighborhood in southwest Durham, observes its 80th birthday this month. At the same time, some of its residents worry that their neighborhood is losing some of what makes it Hope Valley.

"Losing the fabric," said David T. "Tad" DeBerry, who grew up there.

Losing houses, to be more specific.

"Some very significant ones, in our view," DeBerry said.

DeBerry is chairman of a preservationist group called the Hope Valley Renaissance Coalition. Formed in 2005, the coalition has asked Durham's Joint City/County Planning Commission to approve a Neighborhood Protection Overlay that would provide design, density and aesthetic restrictions for building and land use in Hope Valley.

"It seems," said Carrie Mowry of the Historic Preservation Society of Durham, "it is a lot more threatened than I would have thought."

Said Debbie Rand, president of the Hope Valley Neighborhood Association: "Change is hard."

What's the matter?

Over the past 20 years, several Hope Valley residences have been demolished, among them those of:

* William Kenneth Boyd, author of the 1925 "The Story of Durham: City of the New South";

* Wilburt C. Davison, founding dean of the Duke Medical School;

* Russell Barringer Sr., owner of West Durham Lumber Co.;

* Frank Kenan, philanthropist and founder of Kenan Oil and Kenan Transport.

The sites of some demolished houses remain vacant; at others, owners have built new and sometimes much larger houses. This is worrisome to the Renaissance Coalition on several counts, DeBerry said:

* New construction may not adhere to the 1920s guidelines that governed building in Hope Valley through the 1960s;

* Large vacant lots may be subdivided, creating residential density out of character with the existing neighborhood;

* No mechanism exists for documenting houses for the historical and architectural records before they are demolished.

"There are plenty of homes ... that do not deserve immortality," DeBerry said. But, "These significant homes of significant citizens deserve a little consideration before they go."

'Poster children'

Jeff and Margaret Jones are "poster children for what we'd like to see," DeBerry said.

Relocating to Durham from San Francisco, the Joneses bought a one-acre lot with a 1953 colonial-style house in Hope Valley three months ago. They plan to tear down and build new, but agreed to DeBerry's request to take measurements and make pictures first.

"It's always awkward, because this was somebody's residence for a long time," Jeff Jones said. "But it just wasn't right for us.

"When I think about the history of Hope Valley ... it's architecturally and historically diverse, and that's why we wanted to be there," he said. "It sets a very high bar for us."

Jones said he and his wife were charmed by Hope Valley -- "It was the most interesting, attractive option of all the communities in the Triangle for us." -- and intend their new house to blend architecturally and topographically with its surroundings.

"So it feels and looks really old and like it's been here," he said.

The 'Renaissance'

The Hope Valley Renaissance Coalition was inspired, in large part, by the late Ralph Braibanti's 2005 essay "Hope Valley: Renaissance and Decline." Braibanti contended that Hope Valley was enjoying a renaissance in the form of home renovations, but at the same time a decline in the condition of its public spaces, and made recommendations for aesthetic improvements.

DeBerry, who is also chairman of the neighborhood's appearance committee, and some fellow residents were moved by the essay to form the Renaissance Coalition. One of their projects has been restoring and replacing the distinctive wrought-iron street markers; another is the protective overlay request submitted to the planning commission last spring.

With overlays, "We look to protect the existing character of the neighborhood," said Frank Duke, the city's planning director. Whether the overlay is granted is finally up to the City Council. Since Hope Valley's request was given priority behind that of the Tuscaloosa-Lakewood neighborhood, Duke said, the planning staff has yet to take it up.

What the neighbors are saying

Overall, residents' feelings about preservation, tear-downs, build-ups, renaissance, overlays and such are "very mixed," said Neighborhood Association President Debbie Rand.

"Over the past year or two, we have seen people buy some of the older homes and their dreams of making that a home of their own didn't work out," she said. "I'd say there's about half the people that don't like what they see, plenty of people who don't have an opinion and plenty who feel people have a right to do as they please."

The association has no position, she said.

As far as the overlay request is concerned, she said, "We'll see what happens." As far as new building goes, "We're relying on people to do things in good taste. ...

"We are just really wanting people to communicate. ... It's our job to build community."

In that line, the neighborhood association is sponsoring the 80th birthday party, Sept. 17 at the country club. "A really good, huge, neighborhood block party," Rand said, with swimming, golf, tennis, cooking out, historical displays and commemorative T-shirts for sale.

"We just thought it would be a good time to bring the neighborhood together."