by Ian F.G. Dunn, Preservation Raleigh Board Member
Introduction
May is National Preservation Month, a time to celebrate and advocate for the places that tell Raleigh’s story. As part of this effort, Preservation Raleigh is highlighting eight significant locations facing threats through our 2025 Places in Peril (PIP) initiative.
This article focuses on the P. Edgar Furr House, the second site featured in our 2025 series. Located at 803 Glenwood Avenue, this historic home was once a showpiece of the Glenwood-Brooklyn Historic District. Now, after decades of neglect, the house faces almost certain destruction.
Why It Matters: History and Significance
This modest one-story Queen Anne was constructed in 1913 for Perle Edgar Furr and Pattie Furr in the burgeoning Glenwood-Brooklyn neighborhood. Perle was a long-time conductor for Norfolk Southern Railroad. He and Pattie raised their two daughters, Eloise and Dorothy in the house before moving to Richmond in 1925.
That same year, the house passed to Archie Hamilton Geiger and Margaret Dixon Geiger. Archie was a foreman for Norfolk Southern. In 1945, Archie and Margaret’s daughter, Julia, married Rev. Joseph K. Bostick, Sr. Their son, Joseph K. Jr., later inherited the house in 1980. He retained ownership until 2022 when the property passed to a real estate developer who planned to rehabilitate the house and construct a three-story rear addition.
Since this home is in an Historic Overlay District, alterations are regulated by the Raleigh Historic Development Commission. The new owner’s plans for a three-story addition came before the Commission’s Certificate of Appropriateness Committee, but the case was deferred for revision.
Instead of revising the plans to meet the guidelines, the new owner decided to apply for a Certificate of Appropriateness to raze the parcel and subsequently placed it on the market. The Raleigh Historic Development Commission cannot deny a request to demolish an historic property, but they can impose a 365-day delay–which they did.
The present owners purchased the property in November of 2024 with the intention of constructing new housing. The 365-day delay expires in September of this year.
Call to Action
The Perle E. Furr House is an integral part of one of Raleigh’s earliest working-class neighborhoods and faces almost certain demolition. Its future hangs in the balance, and inaction could lead to the irreversible loss of this piece of Raleigh’s heritage.
We encourage you to share this story to raise awareness and perhaps persuade the current owners to either sell the property to a preservation-minded party or restore it to its former glory.
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