Chapel Hill, Orange Co.

Sold Oct. 27, 2010

Under threat of demolition since 2007, the 1908 Edward Kidder Graham House, home to UNC presidents, will be saved and restored.

The purchaser, Molly Froehlich, is a longtime Chapel Hill resident and supporter of the University who has loved the neighborhood for years. "I saw the house so many times over the years, and it is just an amazing site. Somehow it was just meant to be," she said. 

Edward Kidder Graham, who built the house in 1908, was a Charlotte native and UNC graduate (1894). He was made full professor of English at UNC in 1907 and taught the department's first journalism course. Appointed university president in 1914, he worked, in his words, "to make the campus co-extensive with the boundaries of the State." His tenure was cut short in 1918, however, when he died in the influenza pandemic at age 42.

Graham's wife Susan was another passionate advocate for education. With two degrees from Cornell and teaching experience at Newcomb and Sweet Briar colleges, she devoted herself to expanding opportunities for women. Susan, too, died tragically young, in 1916 at age 34. Friends dedicated a memorial fountain to her, which today sits in a corner of Coker Arboretum. A cousin, and one of the most notable North Carolinians of the twentieth century, Frank Porter Graham, also lived in the house. Internationally known for his support of social justice, freedom of speech, and excellence in education, he was the first president of the state's consolidated university system (1930-49) and served briefly in the U.S. Senate.

Preservation NC worked closely with the Preservation Society of Chapel Hill to manuever this important house out of harm's way time and again until a buyer finally came along.

Read more

PreservationNC.org feature on the house from Feb. 2008