805 Hermitage Court Drive - Arnold-Reade House

From the Preservation Durham Plaque Application (below in italics):

J. Noble Arnold and Elizabeth Haddock Arnold are the original owners of the home at 805 Hermitage Court Drive. The couple built the home in 1937 and resided there until their move to Atlanta, Georgia in 1950. According to the Herald-Sun, Noble Arnold obtained a permit authorizing the construction of the home on April 1, 1937. The construction cost was listed as $6,751; no architect was named. Five months later, it was reported that the Arnold family had successfully moved into their newly-built residence. 

Noble Arnold, known as “The Dean of American Theater Managers,” was the manager of the Carolina Theatre, a movie theatre and concert hall, for 19 years. As a manager of a cultural institution, Arnold naturally stepped into several roles over his tenure, including Rotary club president, that supported the social and economic prosperity of Durham and its residents. Most notably, Arnold led the movie theatre committee for the Red Cross War Fund campaign; he was responsible for bringing some of Hollywood’s most popular motion picture stars to Durham as a fundraising method for the war bond drive. Elizabeth Arnold was a popular organist at the Rialto Theater in Atlanta, Georgia. 

The other significant owners of the home are Frank and Mary Reade, who moved in immediately after the Arnold's departure. Frank Reade was “popularly known in the city as [an] energetic young business man. After quitting UNC for economic reasons, he entered the insurance business following the suggestion of his brother-in-law and acclaimed North Carolina Legislator, John Umstead. He started the Reade Insurance Company, which saw many iterations as his business partners changed over the years. In addition to his successful business, Reade was president of Independent Insurance Co. of Durham Inc., for three different terms, and served on the Durham Firemen’s Supplementary Fund for 21 years. 

805 Hermitage Court Drive was impacted by two fires during the Reade’s ownership. The first fire occurred in 1955 and caused only slight damage to the curtains and wallpaper in the bathroom. This fire resulted from a little boy placing a lighted candle in the window of the bathroom which caught the curtains. The second fire was thirty years later, and caused significantly more damage. Frank Reade was killed in the fire and his body was found dead in a recliner chair in a den in the east wing of the house. Investigators believed that the fire may have been intentionally set based on burn patterns in the home and the isolation of the fire to the den.