Bagley-Bliss House
1290 Royalsborough Rd., South Durham, METracy Bliss (1883-1976) and Mary Fannie Bliss (1885-1978). They had apparently vacated the house in the early 1960s as it was said to have stood empty for some twenty years prior to its rehabilitation in 1982.
There is very little visual evidence left of the house which Israel Bagley is said to have built about 1770. If in fact the building which exists today dates in large part from that period, it was subjected to a thorough remodeling in the nineteenth century, probably by the Bliss Family. This scenario is not inconceivable since the general form of the house is very traditional. It may also help to explain the massive vaulted brickwork that is centrally located in the basement, a structure that is typically associated with large central chimneys but would seem to be unnecessary in its present use. Nonetheless, the virtual obliteration of the c. 1770 interior and its replacement with the fashionable -- albeit restrained - Greek Revival detailing would have represented an extraordinary undertaking, especially in this rural setting. In this context, it is tempting to speculate about the presence in the household of carpenter Lucius Burbeck as reported in the 1850 census. Was he engaged to carry out this project? Unfortunately, the answer to this question may prove to be completely elusive, but the idea remains an intriguing one. Like the front block, the ell does not have the appearance of a pre-Revolutionary building, although its surviving hearth with two water basins may very well be from an early period. The ell was substantially remodeled during the 1982 rehabilitation.
Although the Bagley-Bliss House lacks the fully developed Greek Revival detailing of many of its urban or village counterparts, it exhibits a typical range of features found on such buildings in rural areas of the state. These include the central entrance with its recessed door framed by sidelights and a simplified entablature with a pronounced cornice; shallow pedimented hoods above the windows; wide comer pilasters that rise to a broad frieze; and pedimented gable ends. Inside, the most overt Greek Revival details are the stair with its bulbous turned newel post and thin balusters, and the mantelpiece in the room behind the central hall.
Listed in National Register of Historic Places in 1996.
The National Register of Historic Places is the official list of the Nation’s historic places worthy of preservation. Authorized by the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, the National Park Service’s National Register of Historic Places is part of a national program to coordinate and support public and private efforts to identify, evaluate, and protect America’s historic and archeological resources.