Won’t you be my neighbor?

Welcome to the Third Annual Cleveland-Holloway Home Tour!

11am-3pm on Saturday, November 6th

The self-guided tour begins at 501 Oakwood Ave


Around 1890 the city of Durham expanded its boundaries to include our neighborhood. Homes built here were for merchants, and factory workers-- largely Greek and Russian Jews who had immigrated to the area for work. Between the 1940s and 1960s the area gradually became a predominantly African-American community.

Unfortunately a variety of forces, including redlining (banks would not lend money in African-American neighborhoods) and urban flight resulted in a period of disinvestment in downtown Durham and its surrounding neighborhoods.

Despite this sustained period of scant resources and investment many of our residents have called the neighborhood home for 20 and some 40 years, and recently there has been much cause for celebration!

By 2009 the entire neighborhood was granted National and State historic district status, offering tax credits for the rehabilitation of homes. Cleveland and Holloway Streets have local historic district status, which offers protections-- the rest of the neighborhood is under consideration by the City for the same.

Things are happening fast in Cleveland-Holloway. Since our first home tour in May 2008, over thirty homes have experienced, or are undergoing, substantial rehabilitation. The list goes on: two new homes have been built on vacant lots; mixed-use residential development project in downtown Durham has been built by Center Studio Architecture at Mangum 506; Wendy Clark has rehabbed the John O’Daniel building as a business incubator; and Triangle Brewing Company has set-up shop in one of the large warehouses near SEEDS.

We have a vibrant neighborhood organization, an active list serve, and a neighborhood blog.

We would love for you to buy one of our available homes and to call YOU neighbor.

Home Tour to be held November 6th

The residents of Cleveland + Holloway are ready to invite you over.

Our 3rd Home Tour will be held on the afternoon of Saturday, November 6th.

Come see what all the fuss is about.

Home Tour Rocked!

It also kinda baked, but at least it wasn't raining. Instead, the sun was shining last Saturday morning as neighbors finished last minute yard work, house cleaning, plant arranging, and Matt Dukek of 502 Mallard Ave. -- the tour's starting point -- hammered the "Cleveland-Holloway" sign into the ground at the intersection of Oakwood, Mallard, and Queen.

The Second Annual Cleveland-Holloway Neighborhood Tour of Homes began auspiciously with a preview article by Jim Wise in the N&O's Durham News, which focused on the Holloway St. Historic District expansion and restoration taxes, and gave our own Ken Gasch an opportunity to use the word "pantyhose" in the printed media.

The crowds began arriving on Mallard Ave. promptly at 12:59pm, and remained pretty steady throughout the day, with a couple hundred folks having visited with us by the time the temperature was just barely starting to come down. Friends of C-H Freddie and Heather featured a nice post on Freddie's Bull City Bungalow blog, including a Flickr link to their photos of the day.

The fun then moved to the after-party, where neighbors, visitors, and friends hung out, and the sun set on a very weary, beery, and well-contented Cleveland-Holloway. Thanks for hosting, Leslie and Maria - your house is amazing!

The full contents of the Home Tour Booklet , with images and descriptions of all 17 properties included in the tour, are available online. Thank you so much to everyone who took out an ad, participated in the tour, donated time and/or resources, and came out to see the houses and meet our neighbors. A big ol' thanks to Triangle Brewing Company for their generous donation for the after party!

Here are a few images from the after-party-to-beat-all-after parties (until next year!).

405 Ottawa - Open House TOMORROW!

Helena Cragg has been working like mad to finish 405 Ottawa, and everyone is encouraged to attend the open house tomorrow (May 3) from 2-4pm. You can check out the website here.

The skinny: 3 bed, 1 bath, 1,061 square feet.

"Lovingly restored historic gem. All original wood siding, windows and detailing painstakingly revived. Beautifully restored heart pine floors. Original coal place. Sweet front porch. Spacious rear deck for entertaining. New Cook’s kitchen. Lovely new all ceramic tile bath. Root cellar. Two blocks from Downtown."

Come on by and see the work!