Neville House – 107 Cobb Street, Carrboro, NC 27510

Steeped in local history, The Neville House bears witness to the craftsmanship of the African-American masons who labored to create the buildings, stone walls, and brick pathways in the towns of Chapel Hill and Carrboro, primarily from the turn of the 19th Century through today. The home is one of four homes in Northside built by John Wesley Campbell, a local Black mason with a deep history in the community. For more information on the history of this home, see the details below the image gallery and oral histories. Experience the unique charm and craftsmanship of a World War II-era artisan-built home while still enjoying the modern conveniences of a 21st century full-home renovation.

If you’re interested, contact Christine at christine@jacksoncenter.info or 919-960-1670

**Due to deed restrictions, the home must be the buyer’s primary residence. No investors.

Born in 1888 to Judge Campbell, a white man, and Della Campbell, a Black woman, John Wesley Campbell learned masonry skills from his father and uncles beginning at seven years old. He went to school through the third grade before he began to work as a mason full-time. He had nine children, including five sons whom he began teaching the craft of masonry when they were young. Handy, George Preston, Nathaniel, Jake, and Leo worked alongside their father on many of his projects, including the Neville house. The family gained a reputation for their fine craftsmanship and each son was known for his particular skill set. Leo was nicknamed “Rabbit” for his speed in laying the bricks and stone. Nathaniel was generally believed to be the best mason besides his father. Jake was a “joiner” and was often brought in on projects to piece together various structures like archways and corners. Handy was known for building fireplaces and taking such pride in his work that he would start entire projects over again if they were not up to the quality craftsmanship of the family. The Neville House is perhaps the most stylistically distinctive of the buildings built in Northside by the Campbells.

Jeter Neville, a janitor at Northside Elementary School, married Ethel Fuller in the mid-1940s. Jeter and Ethel Neville had five children together, all of whom were involved in the local civil rights movement: Jerry F. Neville, James Wilbert Neville, Johnson Henry Neville, Calvin Neville, and Ethel Neville Worley. Calvin Neville learned masonry and went on to work a few jobs with Handy Campbell laying bricks. Jeter Neville died in 1960, but his wife, Ethel Fuller Neville, continued residing at 107 Cobb St. until her death in 2013 at 99 years old.

Speaking of his family home, Mr. Jerry Neville said, “Our house was the second house built on the block in 1945. When my parents (Jeter & Ethel) moved there, it was just a field. At that time blacks couldn’t borrow money from the bank, some white gentleman from the Riggsbee family in Carrboro went to the bank for them and they paid him interest on the money. They borrowed 5 thousand and paid for the house in 5 years. I was told that building materials were scarce because of the war at that time. The stone used to build the house came from my father’s farm on old 86 , (field stone). My cousin’s and oldest brother helped to deliver the stone. Mr John Campbell was the black general contractor who laid the stone. There were two births in the house, Catherine Staley Merritt (1948) dad’s granddaughter and in 1955 I was born there. A cross was installed on the front gable at the highest point of the house, below the cross was a balcony that stood on top of the porch. Over top of the bedroom window is a star created by the Masons and a crescent moon at the entrance to the house.”

The Neville House stands as a monument that honors the Black builders of Chapel Hill’s past and inspires the Black builders of its future. Recognizing the historic craftsmanship amplifies the appreciation and respect for the contributions of the Campbell, Smith, Barbee, Williams, and other families of masons and builders, and elevates the names of these Black builders, serving as a correction to generations of architectural history in North Carolina that has ignored them or assumed them to be anonymous laborers whose stories were invisible. Highlighting the work of John Wesley Campbell and his family is just one step in the direction of correcting the longstanding privilege that historians and preservation societies have bestowed on white-designed and white-built structures for decades, and finally championing the work of innovative Black artisans spanning more than 225 years of Chapel Hill history.