When the Diocese of Raleigh sealed the deal to purchase the house at 402 N. Buchanan Blvd. this month, its goal was to help Duke's Newman Catholic Student Center accommodate its members temporarily.
"At least 20 percent of Duke students are Catholic. We needed more space, and in the long term, we will need something more than a house," said Rev. Joe Vetter, director of the Newman Center.
The Newman Center is inheriting more than just a house; it's inheriting a legacy.
A notable list of occupants colors the history of 402 N. Buchanan, including former Dean of Trinity College and Vice-Chancellor of Duke William Wannamaker, legendary football coach Wallace Wade and the notorious J.B. Rhine Center for the Study of Parapsychology.
Built by Benjamin Duke in the early 1900s during an era when Durham was undergoing extensive real estate development, the two-story colonial revival house was initially used as a boarding house for professors at Trinity College, Duke's predecessor. Later, it served as a women's dormitory before it was eventually remodeled as a residence for Wannamaker and his wife, Isabelle.
The Wannamakers relocated to a more convenient spot near the recently finished West Campus with the knowledge that they were vacating a home that could help lure Wade, who left behind three Rose Bowl championships at the University of Alabama, to become head football coach and director of athletics at Duke.
Wade's occupancy at 402 N. Buchanan endured for only a short period of time, however, as the coach moved a year later, in 1932, to Myrtle Drive, now known as Campus Drive. Interior designer Florrie Jones then occupied the house, using it for both her business and residence.
More than 30 years later, the Foundation for Research on the Nature of Man took over the home, transforming it into the Rhine Center.
To suit the purposes of a research institution, aluminum siding was applied to the exterior of the house, while the interior was adapted more extensively. However, much of the residential scale and original architectural details--such as the Doric entrance porch and foliate consoles supporting the archway in the central hall--remained intact.
The Rhine Center soon established itself as a prestigious haven for the field of parapsychology. At one time, 40 percent of the people dedicated to working in this area worldwide had undergone training in Rhine's laboratory.
The research facility quickly became exposed to the intense light of national publicity, as its controversial experiments were reported by the media. Subsequently, fascination with the subject of parapsychology quickly arose and terms such as "ESP" became part of the everyday lexicon.
In 2001, Duke bought the home when the Rhine Center moved out, and the University sold the house this summer to the Diocese of Raleigh, to be used as an extension of the Newman Catholic Student Center.
The building is to be renamed the Falcone-Arena House, after two Catholic Duke families. Coach Carmen Falcone served as a football trainer and wrestling coach.
He and his wife, Dorothy, ran Our Lady of the Hills Catholic Camp in the North Carolina mountains for 30 years. Dr. Jay Arena was a member of the School of Medicine's first class and the first chair of the pediatrics department at the Medical Center. His wife and Dorothy Falcone still reside in Durham today; both husbands passed away in 1996.
The Falcone-Arena House will primarily be used as a house of prayer and a space for gatherings. While the first floor will be open to the public--with a chapel, kitchen, social rooms and an office--the second floor will be used as a private residential space for a peer ministry coordinator and three students.
The Center is now attempting to obtain a special-use permit from the Durham City Council and is debating plans for renovation, which could cost about $100,000.
"There's a group of students working with us to figure out the best uses of the house so that when we renovate it we can support those uses," Vetter said.
Triangle Park Association, a local neighborhood organization, is content to welcome yet another new neighbor.
"We've been meeting with the neighborhood association and they've assured us they were happy with the new Catholic center there," Vetter said.
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