A eulogy for a place of affordable housing in a pricey corner of Raleigh

I’m not here to stand in the way of progress. Things are born, and then things grow old and die. I’m here to simply mourn, mourn for a place that many call home.

There is a pocket of homes off of Oberlin Road, homes that some may consider humble, that sits inside the Raleigh Beltline in a part of town that shares a moniker with a historic area of Lower Manhattan, the neighborhood that the residents of Raleigh know as “Five Points.”

The rows of brick cottages surround a sidewalk-lined park full of mature trees that tower upon a sloping contour. On a beautiful morning, one can listen to the rhythmic cacophony of bird calls filling the air with music while you walk the wooded path. Or you could stroll down Fairview Road on a sunny Saturday afternoon and enjoy a locally brewed pint at the Crafty Beer Shop before catching a cinematic work of art at the vintage Rialto Theatre that sits just across the intersection that gives the neighborhood its Five Points name. The community I am referring to is Country Club Homes Apartments.

Although it derives its name from the nearby Carolina Country Club on Glenwood Avenue, it shares little in common with the gaudy and exclusive club for the wealthy. Built in the wake of the Second World War, this community is filled with small, affordable single family homes. Affordable as in less than $1,000 a month.

My wife and I moved to Raleigh a little over two years ago to be closer to her family. To her, Five Points was the most desirable and romantic part of the city, but the price to live in the area made it so it was merely a passing pipe dream whenever we would speak about it. That is until one day we saw an ad for a two-bedroom, one-bath apartment just down the road from the famed intersection. Not only was it in the most desirable area in town (to us), it had the kind of character, quality and charm that only something built by the Greatest Generation does. We signed the lease agreement sight unseen the same day and just like that my wife’s small, yet in no way insignificant, dream came true.

I believe that homes take on the vibrations that are produced by its residents over the years. I can imagine a GI living with a small family within these walls after he had come home from risking his life in Iwo Jima, Normandy, Ardennes or Okinawa. Perhaps the hardwoods have absorbed his voice as he sang along to a tune that his wife played on the piano. While I can’t claim to be an important figure in the history of these homes, I hope that the vibrations my family have produced have blended into the beautiful local wood suitably enough.

Soon these homes will be no more. The modest brick buildings will be cleared to make way for a senior living and skilled nursing development. Many will not care. But, I am sure if you ask the residents, many of whom have lived in this diamond in the rough for decades, the loss of the homes is indeed a tragedy.

My family was eventually going to outgrow our 700-square-foot slice of paradise, so in no way do I have delusions of self pity. My pity lies with future young families that are yet to walk in our shoes that will never experience living in such a desirable area of town, in a home built with such craftsmanship, at such a low cost. Places like Country Club Homes Apartments are an almost, if not completely, extinct way to live in Raleigh.

This is not a call to action, but a eulogy for a place that simply deserves one.

This story was originally published January 25, 2021 at 12:00 AM.