213 Watts Street

Built in 1916, this house was designed by the architectural firm of Rose and Rose, a Durham firm that also designed Durham's Mechanics and Farmer's Bank and Trinity Avenue Presbyterian Church. According to the NC State Library, houses by Rose and Rose were characterized by ''especially robust detailing, including Craftsman elements, hefty roof brackets, and stout porch posts of brick or rough stone.'' This certainly describes the house at 213, which stands on the corner of two quiet streets in Trinity Park, an easy walk to Duke's East Campus and downtown shops and restaurants.

This house has many of its original features, including two claw-foot bathtubs, heating by steam radiators, and a coal-burning fireplace. The house has 3600 sq ft with eleven rooms, three full bathrooms, large central hallways upstairs and down, 10-foot ceilings on main floor and 9-foot ceilings upstairs, a spacious Southern front porch, a rear screened porch, original oak and heart-pine floors, and vintage brass hardware throughout.

Improvements by current owners include two gas fireplaces, separate A/C systems upstairs and down, copper raised-seam roof on front porch, custom exterior hand railings, tankless hot water heater, and gas generator for power outages. Kitchen was renovated and expanded by luxury builder in 1995, with walk-in pantry, breakfast room, kitchen office, and private kitchen garden.