Album

1. The history of the Briggs-Argo-Aycock House, c.1881, includes the Briggs hardware store family, Thomas Argo, the first president of the NC Bar Association, and former Governor Charles B. Aycock whose family lived here from 1910 to 1940.
   
2. The house details are Italianate in style, especially the arched windows with frames and hoods, the tall recessed double-front doors, and the bay windows on each side.
   
3. This ample deck replaced and enlarged an old back porch. Multiple doors open to the kitchen and family room. Steps lead to herb planting beds and a large driveway.
   
4. Many weddings, parties and quiet family evenings have been centered in the kitchen of the late Raymond Rodgers, aka Chef Rameaux, a professional chef, and in the adjacent gathering space known in Colonial times as a keeping room.
   
5. Since 1998, the late Raymond Rodgers and his wife, Peggy Beasley-Rodgers, have painstakingly retored the grandeur of this 4,879 sf with 5 bedrooms and 4.5 new or updated baths.
   
6. Note the double arched windows that are found through much of the house.
   
7. Classic elegance.
   
8. The magnificent front porch, removed in the 1950s, has been completely restored, returning to public view the front doors once hidden behind a brick structure added when the building was used as a church between 1940 and 1998.
   
9. The front parlor, home to many poker games since 1998, is a versatile space that enjoys private access to the two downstairs bedrooms and full bath.
   
10. Three of the 5 bedrooms, including the master with its large walk-in closet, have private bathrooms.
    
11. The keeping or family room opens to the kitchen and porches on both sides of the house.
    
12. The nicely sheltered side yard includes a Pergola, brick patio and grassy area that have accommodated weddings, receptions and other gatherings.
    
13. The Historic Oakwood neighborhood is an eclectic urban village seamlessly surrounded by unique urban neighbors pictured below. The value of property in Oakwood is increased by it status as a local Historic District, the first in NC.
    
14. Walking through the adjacent Oakwood Cemetery is walking back through history. The rolling field just inside the gate is the site of picnics and winter-time sledding.
    
15. The Oakwood Common a block away is a play area for toddlers and the site of the annual spring jazz brunch, 4th of July picnic and hot cider during the Candlelight Tour on December. Canines can play at the nearby Oakwood Dog Park.
    
16. The recently opened PieBird restaurant is owned by two Oakwood neighbors.
    
17. Grab lunch and a vanilla coke at the Pharmacy in a building dating back to 1910.
    
18. Nicole's Art Gallery is across Person Street from the PieBird and Pharmacy. Nearby Marsh Woodwinds frequently have jazz concerts upstairs.
    
19. Marsh Woodwinds frequently have jazz concerts upstairs.
    
20. Gallery C has recently relocated to the Blount Street Commons that includes historic and new homes, commercial spaces and parks on land formerly owned by the State.
    
21. Blount Street Commons includes the new HQ for the state architects' association (NC AIA) now under construction.
    
22. Walk across N Person St to the Burning Coal Theater located in the Blount Street Commons. It was the auditorium for the old Murphey School now adaptively renovated as senior citizen apartments.
    
23. Walk a couple blocks to William Peace University that dates back to before the Civil War. Walk one block further to the Shops at Seaboard Station that includes Logan's nursery, a hardware store, a pet shop and Seaboard 18 Restaurant.
    
24. The NC Governor's Mansion is across the street from Historic Oakwood.
    
25. Just blocks from Oakwood are the green roofed Legistative Building and museums, and the downtown office and residential towers, seen here from the new architects building.