Old Wilson Historic District
Wilson, NC

Built in 1902, this Colonial Revival home is part of the Old Wilson Historic District located in Wilson, NC, approximately 40 miles outside of the Raleigh area.  Wilson is a quaint southern town in a community with a population of about 50,000.  Wilson’s location is ideal being two hours to Atlantic Beach, six hours to the mountains, and half-way between New York and Miami on I-95.

The Darden-Douglas Home was designed by local architect John C. Stout.  Stout’s design features Queen Anne massing with Colonial Revival details. Numerous original features still remain and include ornate overmantels in living and dining rooms – one with intact Victorian tile surround, shelf-type mantels elsewhere; H-panel doors with period hardware; windows, including stained glass diamond over stairs and half-circles in gables; newels and balustrade; turned outside-corner moldings; freestanding butler’s pantry cabinet; clawfoot tubs, wall-mount bathroom sink with Victorian brackets, ceramic bathroom sconces and tall-tank toilet.

The interior floor plan has been slightly altered – primarily to accommodate an upstairs apartment.  The most noticeable evidence of this is that the staircase newel post was removed and the foot of the stair was reversed to provide a separate entry for the upper apartment.  Preservation of Wilson has photographs of the newel post and staircase for restoration purposes. In addition, at about the same time, a first-floor addition was built onto the rear of the house. 

The Darden-Douglas House was built for E.A. Darden of the Anderson & Whitehead tobacco firm.  Following Darden’s death, the house was divided into an upper apartment and a lower apartment occupied by his widow until her death in 1942.  The house then changed hands several times before being purchased by James Douglas, a conductor with the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad.  The Douglas family occupied the lower apartment until 2005.

The house will require a thorough rehabilitation, including plumbing, electric, HVAC, and roof repair.  It is being sold with covenants to protect the historic architectural elements of the house.