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The Gotwalts have made further updates and added a rear porch, but Jessica Gotwalt is quick to point out that the work never really ends with a 140-year-old house. While homeowners in Oakwood may have any number of projects on their wish lists, sometimes those take a back seat to more pressing concerns. “There are things you want to do, but then there are things that the house wants to do, like shoring up the foundation,” says Gotwalt of a recent project she and her husband learned was essential to preserving their home. But with its original hardwood floors and countless other touches, Jessica Gotwalt says the house is worth it. “It’s a huge commitment, in terms of money, but we just love the house.” The old neighborhood has a way of changing people’s plans in other ways, too. Coleen and Nick Speaks moved to Raleigh from New Orleans in 2003, thinking they would only be in town for a year or two. “We bought this house thinking we would renovate it, flip it and move back to New Orleans,” says Coleen Speaks of the A.M. Prince House, built in 1906. Two days after moving in, the Speaks found out they were expecting a child. That, combined with their growing love of the immediate neighborhood and Raleigh in general, convinced the Speaks to make this their permanent home. What once was an illegal liquor house in the 1980s, complete with a bullet hole in the transom over the front door, has now been restored and features the couple’s eclectic taste in art, as well as a two-story modernist addition with oxidized steel siding. “Sure, you have to think about money when you own one of these homes, but we wouldn’t trade it for anything,” Coleen says. Throughout Oakwood, tour-goers can expect any number of visual treats from a bygone era. The Thompson-AndersonAllen-Robertson House has an elevator as well as kitchen and floor tiles imported from Mexico. The Pullen-Hutchings House has exterior walls that are three bricks thick, and its original light fixtures, once powered by natural gas, have been preserved with their conversion to electricity. Today, the neighborhood enjoys designation on the National Register of Historic Places, and as a local Historic District, new construction or alterations to historic homes must first be approved by a commission. Regardless of which homes are featured from year to year on the Candlelight Tour, Oakwood’s unique heritage and style will be on display, preserved for generations to come. 54
OutreachNC.com | DECEMBER 2016