{"nrhp_refnum":"79003330","name":"Bassett House","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"1017 W. Trinity Ave.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Durham","county":"Durham County","state":"NC","lat":36.005667741000025,"lon":-78.91018608799999,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1979-11-29","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Education","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A two-and-one-half-story Victorian cottage at 1017 W. Trinity Avenue in Durham, North Carolina, erected in 1891 by builder T. S. Christian and moved to its present site around 1918. It is one of the Faculty Row Houses.","why_significant":"The house was the original home of Professor John Spencer Bassett and later housed several generations of Trinity College faculty, making it a typical Faculty Avenue dwelling. Bassett's 1903 article and the controversy that followed became a landmark case for academic freedom in the United States. The house also has distinctive architectural features, including a gambrel roof and a U-shaped wrap-around porch.","narrative":"Built in 1891 by T. S. Christian, this two-and-one-half-story cottage at 1017 West Trinity Avenue in Durham was one of the Faculty Row houses serving Trinity College. It has a gambrel roof with projecting cross gables, German siding below and overlapping square shingles above, and a U-shaped hip-roofed porch with turned spindles and brackets. A sunburst fanlight with a keystone adds a classical touch to the asymmetrical Victorian design. The house was moved from the area of today's Duke East Campus to Trinity Avenue in about 1918. Its first occupant was historian John Spencer Bassett, whose 1903 magazine article on race relations set off a storm of criticism from the state's Democratic press. The college trustees voted 18 to 7 to support him, issuing a statement that became a classic document of academic freedom. Later faculty families, including the Webbs, lived in the house, and it was in excellent condition when nominated.","period_of_significance":"1800-1899","architect_builder":"T. S. Christian, Builder","architectural_style":"Victorian","criteria":[],"status_note":"Listed in excellent condition and occupied; it has a rear two-story addition, and the form records it as moved c. 1918.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:58:58.373779-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/31/7177/47717731/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NC/79003330.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/79003330/6ef13aa74b-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/79003330/6ef13aa74b-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Jerrye &amp; Roy Klotz, MD","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:BASSETT_HOUSE,_DURHAM_COUNTY,_NC.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Jerrye &amp;amp; Roy Klotz, MD</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 3.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:BASSETT_HOUSE,_DURHAM_COUNTY,_NC.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/47717731","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bassett_House_(Durham,_North_Carolina)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q4868115"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/north-carolina/durham-county/bassett-house-79003330/"}