Budget Breakdown: A Design Duo Celebrate Black Durham in a Craftsman Revived for $837K

"In many ways it educates and offers diversity to what is still a predominantly all-white neighborhood," says designer and builder Alicia Hylton-Daniel.

Apr 26, 2024 - 19:51

Budget Breakdown: A Design Duo Celebrate Black Durham in a Craftsman Revived for $837K

"In many ways it educates and offers diversity to what is still a predominantly all-white neighborhood," says designer and builder Alicia Hylton-Daniel.

For the primary ensuite bedroom, Hylton-Daniel designed and added a small deck that connects the space to the outdoors.

Few entrepreneurs can lay claim to revitalizing as much of downtown Durham, North Carolina’s housing stock as interior designer Alicia Hylton-Daniel.

She can tick off more than 30 projects she’s completed since founding Hylton Daniel Design + Construction with her husband and business partner, Roger Daniel, in 2017. Among them: 21 client renovations, six ground-up contemporary houses, four long-term rentals, and four short-term stays. With each, they applied her interior design training and his business skills toward a shared goal of creating more affordable housing.

Before: Alicia Hylton-Daniel’s newest project is the renovation of a Craftsman-style home in Old North Durham. It was a single-family home built in 1925, less than 10 minutes from downtown, and now is an Airbnb. — Before: Alicia Hylton-Daniel’s newest project is the renovation of a Craftsman-style home in Old North Durham, less than 10 minutes from downtown. It was built in 1925 as a single-family home, and now it’s a short-term rental.
Photo by Roger Daniel

Their newest project is a 1925 Craftsman home in Old North Durham, now listed on Airbnb. The couple live a few houses away from it on West Trinity Avenue. During the pandemic, the previous owner left for the mountains, then sold the home to an out-of-town developer.

Before: The original screened-in porch at the rear of the home was demolished. It was rebuilt and enclosed, then turned into a sunroom adjacent to the kitchen. — Before: The original screened-in porch at the rear of the home was demolished. Alicia rebuilt the space and turned into a sunroom adjacent to the kitchen.
Photo by Roger Daniel

A month later, his broker reached out to the couple to see if they wanted to buy it. "The developer knew our work, loved it, and thought we should have it," Alicia says. "We were able to purchase the house, which was good because his plan was to alter it and make it a two-story."

$15,900 Construction Materials	$4,900 Foundation	$3,500 Waterproofing
$13,600 Framing Labor	$12,600 Roof	$9,000 Siding Labor
$2,200 Gutters	$18,000 Electrical	$10,700 Lighting Fixtures
$15,500 Plumbing	$9,700 Plumbing Fixtures	$17,000 HVAC
$4,500 Insulation	$15,700 Sheetrock Walls & Ceilings	$9,900 Paint
$9,000 Doors	$6,000 Flooring	$5,000 Finish Carpentry
$16,500 Windows	$3,700 Interior Doors	$25,000 Kitchen Cabinets
$7,300 Kitchen Countertop	$1,000 Kitchen Sink & Faucet	$1,000 Fireplace Quartz
$7,000 Tile Material	$9,000 Tile Labor	$5,000 Appliances
$1,800 Wallpaper	$1,000 Wallpaper Installation	$1,100 Loft Ladder
$575,000 House Purchase Price
Grand Total: $837,100

The price was $575,000, but their construction budget was only $262,100. That’s because the pair handled the design and general contracting themselves. (Design normally would have added $20,000 to the budget, and GC work would have bumped it by $50,000.) The firm paid subcontractors, artisans, and its own crew, but not Roger and Alicia.