William Thomas O'Brien House | |
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| Location | 820 Wilkerson Ave. Durham, North Carolina |
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| Coordinates | 36°0′6″N78°54′55″W / 36.00167°N 78.91528°W |
| Area | less than one acre |
| Built | c. 1890 |
| Architectural style | Gothic, Vernacular Victorian |
| MPS | Durham MRA |
| NRHP reference No. | 85001777 [1] |
| Added to NRHP | August 9, 1985 |
William Thomas O'Brien House is a historic home in Durham, Durham County, North Carolina. It was built about 1890, and is a two-story, Gothic Revival style frame dwelling. It has a center hall plan and features a one-story wraparound porch, an original embossed tin shingle roof, and projecting bays. It was the home of William Thomas O'Brien, who perfected the Bonsack machine for the W. Duke Sons & Company. [2] The house originally sat on a large tract of land that extended to Rome Street. [3] The property included a servants' house, a smokehouse, and a chicken coop. [3]
The house, located down the street from Immaculate Conception Catholic Church and Immaculata Catholic School, played a significant role in Durham's Catholic community. [3] O'Brien, who was Catholic, invited a priest to perform masses in the home until Immaculate Conception was constructed in 1906 on West Chapel Hill Street, on land that O'Brien deeded to the Church. [3] After O'Brien's death in 1907, his wife moved to South Duke Street. In 1919, a carpenter and interior decorator named Edward J. Long lived in the house. [3]
Located in the Burch Avenue Historic District, it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1985. [1]
