The Brimley-Upchurch House: Journey and Fight for Survival

by Ian Dunn

Learn more about the Brimley-Upchurch house, the fourth in Preservation Raleigh’s Places in Peril series for Preservation Month.

402 East Hargett Street (present-day 313 East Cabarrus Street) is seen above c. 1908. This Queen Anne style house was built c. 1899 on an East Hargett Street parcel owned by the Upchurch family. Alfred P. Upchurch, a carriage builder, purchased the entire block bounded by Hargett, East, Martin and Bloodworth in 1867. It is unclear, but possible, that his son Allen Upchurch built the residence seen here. For unknown reasons, the Upchurch family did not initially occupy the house.

The Brimley Family Takes Up Residence

The first resident of the home was H. H. Brimley, the pioneering naturalist and first director of the North Carolina State Museum (https://www.ncpedia.org/biography/brimley-herbert). He and his wife Edith, along with their two boys Arthur and Robert, spent nearly ten years in the home before Brimley built his own residence on Ashe Avenue, which was demolished in the 1980s. 

Upchurch Family Returns and Eventual Relocation

After Brimley, the Upchurch family occupied the house until the death of Allen in 1937. The house had several different owners over the next seventy years, and was used as a boarding house in the 1970s and early 1980s. In 2007, this entire block was cleared of all structures in preparation for development. Owner, Gordon Smith, made considerable effort to move many of the houses to vacant lots in the area—including this house, which ended up at 313 East Cabarrus Street, which is now in the Prince Hall Historic Overlay District. 

It now sits vacant and in deteriorated condition. Given its significance in relation to H. H. Brimley and its unique design, hopefully this once resplendent home can be saved from further deterioration. As it stands today, the fear is that the house will be lost because of neglect.

What can be done?

This house needs new energetic owners committed to restoration. Perhaps it’s time for the Raleigh Historic Development Commission to commence proceedings to stop Demolition by Neglect. That is an official process by which the RHDC can require repairs to take place.

How can Preservation Raleigh help?

We are advocating for the house by informing you and raising awareness of this Place in Peril. Can you help? Preservation Raleigh is willing to reach out to the current owner if we can help open a dialogue about selling the house or beginning the repairs that are desperately needed. Reach out to us by emailing info@preservationraleigh.org.

Resources:

https://www.ncpedia.org/biography/brimley-herbert

https://www.facebook.com/olderaleigh

Demolition by Neglect Procedures: https://rhdc.org/preservation-services/demolition-neglect/procedures