Date(s): c. 1820-1840
5616 Hilltop-Needmore Road, Fuquay-Varina
Easement Acquired 3/21/1994
Built between c.1820-1840 by Paschall B. Burt, the Burt-Utley House stands as one of the largest and most fashionable houses built in southwestern Wake County in the first half of the 19th century. The mortise-and-tenon frame house has four rooms and follows a center-hall plan. An enclosed stair rises from the front corner of the hall to the second story. The house shows a variety of stylistic influences. The two-tiered porch (which replaced a similar original porch) reflects the Greek Revival style, although the nine-over-nine windows, doors with six raised panels, and flat-paneled mantels with built-up shelves are details more common to the Georgian and Federal styles of earlier vintage. The wood shake roof and Flemish-bond chimney are replacements. A small, hip-roof smokehouse, apparently contemporary with the main house, is a rare and well-preserved example of this early building type. The Burt-Utley House was originally located in the Friendship community between Apex and New Hill, on land that the Shearon Harris Nuclear Plant now occupies. In 1975, Charlie Burt, grandson of the original builder, sold the house and land to Carolina Power & Light for the construction of their nuclear plant. In 1975 or 1976, Dr. Warren Utley bought the house from CP&L and moved it to the Woodlake subdivision in Fuquay-Varina with the intention of restoring the house, but died in 1991 before he could achieve his goal. The house then changed hands twice to come into the possession of George and Kitty Batts. The Batts’ donated the house to CAP in 1992. CAP moved the house out of the subdivision to a more rural setting, similar to its original setting, on a 1.5-acre lot near Fuquay-Varina. CAP then sold the house to Roland and Jenny Dodson, who have restored the house.