National Register of Historic Places

Biddle, Mary Duke, Estate

Durham, Durham County, North Carolina
Listed
January 9, 2013
Type
Building
Period
Industrial
Ref No.
12001157

About this property

Mary Duke Biddle Estate, also known as the James O. Cobb House and Pinecrest, is a historic home and estate located at Durham, Durham County, North Carolina. The main house "Pinecrest" is a Tudor Revival style dwelling built in 1927, with additions and interior renovations made between 1935 and 1958. These additions and renovations included Colonial Revival, French Eclectic, Oriental, Art Moderne, and Art Deco elements. The estate property includes an additional three contributing outbuildings and nine contributing structures. They are The Cottage, a gasoline pump, iron picket fence with two ornamental gates, two large brick arches, stone-lined grottoes, bathhouse, tennis court, a swimming pool, a stone fireplace, pergola, a gardener's cottage with an attached greenhouse, and a storage garage. The estate was the home of philanthropist Mary Duke Biddle from 1935 until her death in 1960. After Mary Duke Biddle's death, the house was owned by noted philanthropist Mary Duke Biddle Trent Semans and her husband, James H. Semans, who gave the house to their son, James D.B.T. Semans in 1976. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2013. Pinecrest and some of the contributing resources are included in the Forest Hills Historic District. In July 2023, the house located at 1415 Bivins St. was burned down as part of a training exercise by the Durham Fire Department, to make room for a proposed housing development.

Location

1044 & 1050 W. Forest Hills Blvd.
Durham, Durham County, North Carolina
35.98255, -78.91948

Categories

ARCHITECTURESOCIAL HISTORY
National Register nomination ›
Sources

Property data from the National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service (public domain).

Description adapted from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

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Nearby Historic Sites

Forest Hills Historic District
Modern
0.3 mi
Lakewood Park Historic District
Listed
0.5 mi
Hill, John Sprunt, House
Industrial
0.7 mi
Morehead Hill Historic District
Listed
0.7 mi
Morehead Hill Historic District (Boundary Increase)
Civil War
0.7 mi

Questions about this property

When was Biddle, Mary Duke, Estate listed on the National Register?

Biddle, Mary Duke, Estate was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on January 9, 2013.

What type of historic resource is Biddle, Mary Duke, Estate?

Biddle, Mary Duke, Estate is classified as a building in the National Register of Historic Places.

What is the period of significance for Biddle, Mary Duke, Estate?

The period of significance for Biddle, Mary Duke, Estate is recorded as the industrial era.

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