Renovating in Trinity Park, Durham

Trinity Park sits between downtown Durham and Duke University's East Campus, and it's one of the city's best-known older neighborhoods, with houses largely from the early twentieth century on tree-lined streets, many of them now more than a century old. The neighborhood association, founded in 1974, lists among its purposes encouraging the renovation of existing buildings rather than demolition and replacement.

What surprises many buyers is that Trinity Park has no local historic district rules.

National Register vs. local district

A large part of Trinity Park is on the National Register of Historic Places. That listing can make contributing buildings eligible for certain historic tax credits, but as the neighborhood association itself explains, it offers little in the way of protective regulation and nothing against demolition.

Durham's design review only applies in its eight local historic districts: Cleveland Street, Downtown Durham, Fayetteville Street, Golden Belt, Holloway Street, Morehead Hill, Trinity Heights and Watts-Hillandale. Trinity Park isn't one of them (Trinity Heights, a separate local district nearby, is). The neighborhood has discussed seeking local designation more than once, most recently in public meetings around 2020, but hasn't adopted it. Local designation would have brought some protective regulation, including up to a one-year delay on demolition.

For homeowners, that means:

• No Certificate of Appropriateness is needed for exterior changes, including windows, siding, porches and additions.
• Ordinary zoning and building rules apply: setbacks, height limits, lot coverage, and Durham's building permits.
• Historic tax credits may be available for qualifying rehabilitation of contributing buildings, which come with their own federal or state standards if you choose to use them.

If you're near the edges of the neighborhood, confirm on the city's Durham Maps GIS that your parcel isn't in Trinity Heights or another local district.

Other Durham tools that aren't in place here

Durham has a second kind of neighborhood rule besides local historic districts: a Neighborhood Protection Overlay (NPO), a customized set of zoning standards meant to preserve an established neighborhood's character. The Trinity Park association noted in 2021 that Trinity Park does not have one, while two Durham neighborhoods, Old West Durham and Tuscaloosa-Lakewood, do. If you're buying elsewhere in central Durham, ask the planning department whether an NPO applies to the parcel, because it can affect additions and new construction.

Permits in Trinity Park

Permits come from Durham's City-County Building & Safety department. Plans for residential projects go through Dplans, and contractors apply for trade permits, check status, pay fees and schedule inspections in the LDO system. Building & Safety says a building permit is needed for any project with load-bearing work or over $40,000 in market value, and electrical, mechanical and plumbing work have their own permits.

Freedom, with responsibility

Without a COA, Trinity Park owners have more latitude than owners in Morehead Hill or Watts-Hillandale. That's an opportunity, and a reason to design carefully. The houses here hold their value partly because the streetscape still reads as a historic neighborhood. Some practical guidance:

• Windows. Original wood windows can usually be restored for comfort with storms and weatherstripping. If you replace them, match the light pattern and proportions on the street side. See windows.
• Additions. Rear additions that step in from the side walls and stay below the main roofline keep the house's presence on the street. See home additions.
• Porches. Rebuild with the original column and railing profiles; screened rear porches are an easy win. See porches and decks.
• Siding and trim. Repairing wood siding usually looks better and lasts longer than covering it. Pre-1978 paint means lead-safe practices are required for paid work. See exterior painting.

Old houses, old systems

Century-old Trinity Park houses often have plaster walls, a mix of old and new wiring, galvanized or cast-iron plumbing, and crawl spaces or basements that take on water. Durham's smectite-rich Triassic Basin clay, which the county's Extension Master Gardeners describe as poorly draining with a high shrink-swell potential, makes gutters, grading and foundation drainage especially important. Typical projects:

• Kitchens and baths that include rewiring, re-plumbing and subfloor repair. See kitchen remodeling and bathroom remodeling.
• HVAC upgrades in houses with old boilers, oversized furnaces or no upstairs ductwork, including ductless and small-duct heat pumps. See HVAC.
• Roofs with multiple layers or slate and metal sections. See roofing.

Rebates and licensing

Duke Energy customers can use Smart $aver rebates on qualifying heat pumps, insulation and air sealing; check current terms. For projects of $40,000 or more, North Carolina requires a licensed general contractor. Look one up on the NCLBGC license search.