Watkins-Stansbury House

1999 (DC tax photo)

(Below in italics is from the National Register listing; not verified for accuracy by this author.)

Classic Type A bungalow sheathed in split shakes, constructed early 1910s. Engaged porch carried by stocky box posts on shingled piers. Six-over-one windows light the first floor and the house retains original fourteen-light entrance.

(The information below in italics is from the Preservation Durham Plaque Application for the Watkins-Stansbury House)

1008 W. Trinity was likely constructed in 1921 and was first listed in the 1922 City  Directory. Pearl B. Watkins was listed as the first resident. The house was purchased by  Pearl’s daughter, Mary Louise Watkins Powe and her husband, Edward Knox Powe Jr. in  1921. Edward Knox Powe Jr. was the son of Edward Knox Powe, the general manager of  Erwin Cotton Mills, who was a philanthropist with an interest in public education. E.K.  Powe Jr. worked as a bondsman and Mary Louise was a homemaker.  

In 1922, E.K. Powe Jr. and Mary Louise transferred the deed to Pearl (Mary’s mother).  The Watkins family hailed from Opelika, Alabama. Pearl’s husband, Warren Byers Sr.,  had died in 1914 in Oaklahoma. Pearl and Warren Byers Sr. had six children, two of  whom died as infants. Pearl lived at 1008 off and on, and in 1930, she transferred the  deed to her son, Warren Byers Watkins, Jr. Warren Jr. married Claudia Erwin Powe (E.K.  Powe’s sister) in 1931 and they resided on Vickers Street. 

 
In 1940, at the age of 71, Pearl died. She was buried in Opelika, Alabama. In 1938, E.K.  Powe Jr. died from complications from Diabetes. In 1941 Claudia and Warren Jr. transfer  the deed back to Mary Louise Watkins Powe, and several years later, in 1944, she sold the  house. From 1921 to 1944, when the house was owned by the Watkins-Powe family, it  mostly served as a rental property.  

From 1947 to 1967, 1008 W. Trinity was owned by Dale and Anne Stansbury. Dale twice  served as the Deputy Attorney General of Indiana. From 1935 to 1944 he was the Dean  and professor of law at Wake Forest College. Dale originally joined the Duke law faculty  in 1946 as a professor and librarian. He was the acting Dean of Duke Law School from  1956/1957. Dale died October 18, 1967 and is buried at Maplewood Cemetery.  

In 1967 Thomas McFarland purchased 1008 and 1012 W. Trinity. The McFarland family  lived in 1012 and 1008 served as a rental property. When Thomas died his daughter  Eleanor Ruth inherited 1008. In 1978, Ruth and her husband Gerhart Richter, moved into  1008 and began renovating the house. Ruth’s daughter Shannon recalls, “Mom and Pop  went to concerts at Duke. They made friends both in the neighborhood and at Duke. Pop  went to a weekly German Table at one of the cafeterias on West Campus. They loved  Duke Chapel probably for the atmosphere and the music more than a religious  experience. Pop put his cello back together and played with the Duke Symphony. He  taught woodworking at the craft shop to not just students, but other community people  who heard of his history and were anxious to receive his knowledge. Mom cooked for  guests at their home where many spirited and intelligent conversations happened in that  dining room. There was as so much happiness in that house. So many friends.” Gerhart  died in 2003 and Eleanor died on December 10, 2021.  

In 2020 Dexter Blackwell and Michael Little purchased the home and undertook  extensive renovations.