Tag Archives: Dixie Trail

2016 Homes of the Month

June 2016 Home of the Month

May 31, 2016 prcarter4wp Leave a comment

UPHA June Home of the Month
317 Dixie Trail, Home of Chandler and Meredith Rose

Chandler and Meredith Rose purchased 317 Dixie Trail in August of 2013. At the time, they had an offer in for another property in Raleigh, but when they walked this home they knew right away it was the perfect home for them and they retracted the other offer and purchased this property. Standing in front of the guest house and looking back towards Dixie Trail, it was such a little oasis under the large oaks and next to the pond. Meredith, being an interior designer, saw the potential in bringing this property back to the grandeur the home once had when it was originally built for Col. Arthur L. Fletcher (brother of A.J. Fletcher) back in 1928. The original property included the lot directly North and the two lots South of the current property lines. The guest house was built to overlook the fish pond and grape vineyard that once existed on the Southern lots. The Roses reconstructed the pond and created a path and sitting area around it.

Col Arthur L. Fletcher (brother of A.J. Fletcher), 1933–1938 served as Commissioner of Labor of North Carolina. He also served as editor of the Raleigh Evening Times, editor of The Dispatch, served in WWI And WWII as well as the NC National Guard. The second owners of the home were the Croom family. In the 1990’s, the Crooms divided up the property into the lots as they are now.

The Roses first began remodeling of the guest house when they purchased the property. Once completed, they moved into the guest house and in spring of 2015, they hired Greg Paul Builders to remodel the main house according to Meredith’s plans. He was wonderful to work with, built according to Meredith’s plans and designs.

The remodel of the main house was a full gut down to the studs. The Roses put in new electrical, plumbing, HVAC, insulation, drywall, roof, windows, finished the attic space to add a bedroom, bath and playroom, added a back porch and reconstructed the back corner of the home where the foundation was failing under a porch that had been added at some point in the home’s history. The original blue prints for the home were found and the Roses reconstructed the widow’s walk over the sunroom (which is now a library) per the blue prints.

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Their current projects are on the exterior where they are focusing on hardscaping and landscaping. Since moving to Dixie Trail, their first daughter has turned 3 and they now have another little girl who was born in January of this year. The Rose family loves their community and living in University Park!

2015 Homes of the Month, Home of the Month

September 2015 Home of the Month

September 1, 2015 prcarter4wp Leave a comment

407 Dixie Trail
Home of Brian and Shauna Alexander

We began our time in University Park, as young college students, renting a house on Mayview Road. We grew to love this area and couldn’t imagine living anywhere else in Raleigh. We bought our first home in 2004 and lived there for almost 10 years. After our first child was born, we tackled a huge kitchen renovation in that home, but as our family grew, it was time to look for another house. We knew we wanted to stay in University Park and we had always loved the inviting front porch at 407 Dixie Trail. As we entered the house, we knew this would be the perfect spot to raise our two boys. What we later discovered, is not only is this a great house, but we have wonderful neighbors. At any given moment, there are boys (and a few girls) running in and out of the house and playing back and forth between yards. We love the community and friendships we have made in University Park and look forward to many years to come.

407 Dixie Trail was built in 1922. There have been approximately 3 families that lived in this house since the 1920’s. When we closed on the home, we were given several photographs from a descendent who had previously occupied the house. Looking at the long-ago pictures and the recent ones, you can compare the features of the living room and the front door then and now.

(The boy by the front door in the old photo is identified as Percy L. “Skip” Bostick, III. In the photo of the elegant couple in front of the fireplace, the gent in black tie is identified as “Warren Barfield, soloist.” No identification, alas, for the gowned young woman.)

2015 Homes of the Month

July 2015 Home of the Month

July 1, 2015 prcarter4wp Leave a comment

405 Dixie Trail
Home of Heather and Tony Spencer

405 Dixie Trail was built in 1999. The lot that it sits on was originally the side yard of its neighboring house, 401 Dixie Trail. The owners of 401 divided the lot, built 405, and moved into this new home. The two houses still share a brick-and-iron fence that dates to 1930.

We purchased the house in May of 2014. Although new to Dixie Trail, we had lived in the neighborhood for seven years on Mayview Rd., where we renovated our first house. When our family grew, and it was time to look for another house, we knew we wanted to stay in University Park. Since 405 Dixie Trail is not as old as many of the homes in University Park, we have not had to tackle any major renovations the way we did in our previous house. We are slowly changing a few things like hardware, and paint colors, to make it our own. One of the first changes was painting the front door a bright acqua!

The previous owners at one time had a beautiful yard, with lots of flowers and roses. When we purchased the house it had been empty for some time, and the lack of care had taken its toll on the landscaping. This past year we have started replanting shrubs and seeding grass in the back yard. It is certainly a work in progress.

One of the things we like most about our home is the great neighbors we have. We love the eclectic nature of the neighborhood, and its prime location to shopping and restaurants, as well as the neighborhood schools. We can usually step outside and find kids playing, neighbors chatting on front porches, and passers-by stopping to say hello.