Cherry Lane, west side

Situated on an elevated site along the west side of Cherry Lane, the Eliakim

W. Hull house is surrounded by open fields and woodland in a rural residential

nei ghborhood.

Notable Features

The only decorative detail is a moulded cornice at the roofline which terminates

in slight cornice returns on the facade. A single story ell projects from the

south elevation and a single story, hip-roofed addition has been added to the rear

portion of the northern elevation. A six-over-six window is featured in the gable

end and two-over-two sash are exhibited throughout the rest of the house. Three

sheds and two chicken coops are located to the south and west of the main house.

Historical or Architectural Importance

This simple 2t story, three-bay, side-hall plan, Greek Revival-style farmhouse was

erected ca. 1840 by Eliakim W. Hull. Resting on a sandstone foundation, the clapboarded

post-and-beam frame is oriented gable-to-street.

Eliakim Hull erected this house ca. 1840 on an eight-acre lot he purchased from

Olive Smith. Hull, a farmer and son of Eliakim and Hannah Hull, married Betsey

Fowler in 1819. A Middletown native, Hinksman Roberts (1802-1872) and his wife

Polly (Nettleton) purchased the farm in 1847. In 1873 Almer Roberts, Hinksman’s

son, sold the property to Edwin Priest (1810-1890), a machinist from Middletown

who resided there until 1885.

The Eliakim Hull House stands as a fine example of the rural vernacular Greek

Revival style built in mid-nineteenth-century Durham.