77 Main Street

The building stands on the west side of Main Street and just south of the Church of the Epiphany. Two sheds are northwest of the house on this narrow, deep lot.
The Markham House is in several respects visually similar to the Scranton House on the corner of Main Street and Talcott Lane.

  • Record ID: 94
  • Address: 77 Main Street
  • Current Owner: Hinman, Edward N.
  • Name of Building: Cardinal Antiques
  • Historic Name: Dr. Ernest A. Markham House
  • Download PDF of Original Record

Notable Features

Doorway is flanked by two pairs of tall, vertical windows with 1/1 sash. In the center of the facade is a low, gabled dormer with an oculus bordered by simple, sawn wooden ornament.

Historical or Architectural Importance

When Leonard B. Markham inherited his father’s house in 1928, a gloss was made in the probate certificate that the house had been built after 1881, the year in which
Dr. Ernest A. Markham received the lot south of the Church of the Epiphany from Mary Jewel Camp.
Ernest A. Markham was born in Vermont in 1853. His family soon moved to Hartford. After he received his B.A. from Wesleyan in 1875, Ernest studied medicine in New
York until 1878. He then moved to Durham and built this house about 1885 (DPR 1928) and he practiced medicine until his death in 1927 in an office in the northeast
corner of the house. A “country doctor” of uncommon skill, he also held many local civic offices. He was a member and president of the state medical examining board
and also was a representative to the State legislature in 1895. The house remained in the Markham family name until 1975. It is presently the Cardinal Antiques shop.
The Dr. Ernest A. Markham House, built ca. 1885, is a 2 story Victorian domestic building with a central hall plan, a central chimney, an asphalt-covered low hip
roof, clapboarding, and a coursed sandstone foundation. The 3 bay facade has a central double doorway with plain trim. The doorway is surmounted by a 5 paned
transom and a crown-moulded cornice, and is flanked by two pairs of tall, vertical windows with 1/1 sash. At roof level in the center of the facade is a low, gabled dormer with an oculus bordered by simple, sawn wooden ornament. The influence of the Greek Revival style is betrayed by the entablature around the house and the suggestion of corner pilasters. A hip-roofed porch has been added to the north side. Multiple additions have been made to the west side, and on the south side is a 5 sided, 2 story, Queen Anne style bay resting on a coursed sandstone foundation.
This house is architecturally significant as one of the finest examples of Victorian residential buildings in Durham.