Home Tour

JOIN US FOR THE TRINITY PARK HOME TOUR

The Trinity Park Neighborhood Association is proud to present “If These Houses Could Talk,” a glimpse into the unique stories and architectural gems that define Trinity Park. The tour features 12 stops throughout the neighborhood, including two houses of worship and the Park itself, which is celebrating its 50th birthday this year!  Expect to be surprised by historic details, inspired by renovations, and charmed by the quirky anecdotes that residents share about their homes.

Here is the low down!

• Ticket price: $20 in advance (through 10/19), $25 on the day of the tour. Children 14 and younger are free with a ticketed adult.
• Tour headquarters: The Trinity Park, 410 Watts St., Durham, NC 27701
• Tour length: Self-guided. 12 stops (docents at each stop), 1-4 blocks between stops, ~3-4 miles roundtrip. Walkable if you like to walk!
• Parking: Free street parking on most neighborhood streets. Two tour stops are on busy streets without street parking, though, so plan to walk a block or two to get to them from the nearest side street.
• All Trinity Park residents are invited to tell their home’s story. Join us for a sign-making event on Sunday, October 6. Details below.
• Volunteers needed: Contact Julia Borbely-Brown to volunteer as a docent.
• Questions? Contact Tour Co-Chairs Susan Jakes or Karalyn Colopy.

GET YOUR TICKETS NOW

• Advance tickets $20 on sale online now through Saturday, October 19. Show your receipt at the ticket table at the Park at the start of the tour to receive your tour booklet, which serves as your ticket. You’ll need the tour booklet to be admitted at each stop. The booklet includes a map, photos, background information, and stories. The tour is self-guided, with docents at each site for support.
• Ticket price increases to $25 on Sunday October 20, when you can purchase tickets in person (cash or card) at the Park starting at 12:00 noon.
• Want a FREE ticket?  Volunteer to be a docent or ticket seller!  Contact Tour Chairs Susan Jakes or Karalyn Colopy or Volunteer Coordinator Julia Borbely-Brown for more information.

TRINITY PARKERS: WHAT WOULD YOUR HOUSE SAY?  TELL US!

This year’s tour theme–If These Houses Could Talk—applies to more than the 12 stops featured on the tour.  We’re inviting the whole neighborhood to participate by sharing anecdotes about your homes. The theme is modeled after a community-based history and public art project called “If This House Could Talk” that was started in Cambridge, MA, and has now spread across the country.  

The concept is simple:

1. Before the tour, make a handwritten sign and post it in front of your home or business, sharing a story or other information from the recent or not-so-recent past. Residents of all ages are encouraged to participate.  Feel free to add photos, artwork, or other graphics to your signs. If you want to share something about your home’s history, that’s great, but no historical knowledge or research is required.  It can be any anecdote about why your home is special to you.
2. On the day of the Home Tour, tour-goers–as well as anyone just out for a stroll–can read the signs and enjoy learning more about the neighborhood.

What would your house say? Join us for a communal sign-making session at the Park on Sunday, October 6, 2-4 pm.  We’ll supply materials (and snacks!). To get your creative juices flowing, click here or on the thumbnail to see a few examples from Trinity Park neighbors.

THE HOME TOUR IS AN IMPORTANT FUNDRAISER

Since the mid-1970’s, the Trinity Park Home Tour has been a beloved tradition, opening up unique, historic, urban homes for everyone to enjoy and visit. Over the years, the funds raised by the Home Tour have funded maintenance and improvements for public areas in the neighborhood for neighbors and visitors from throughout Durham to enjoy, including:

• new plantings, benches, and safety fencing, in The Trinity Park
• art installations like the Bug Walk and a new park sign in the form of a sculptural neighborhood map,
• a new neighborhood sign/sculpture in the median at Main St. and Buchanan Blvd.,
• restored granite steps at the Park entrance on W. Trinity Ave  

Proceeds the 2024 Home Tour will also benefit Families Moving Forward, helping families in the crisis of homelessness by providing temporary housing, case management, skills education, and connection to community resources to help parents and children thrive in stable homes. 

For more about previous tours, see here (2022) and here (2018)

BLAST FROM THE PAST

The 1981 Home Tour in Trinity Park included ten homes and one commercial property: Brightleaf Square, renovated historic tobacco warehouses renovated as a retail-office complex and scheduled to be opened to the public later that year. Click on the images to enlarge: