Peakland Place Houses

Peakland Place, originally called Catalpa Drive, was platted as a streetcar suburb branching off the northwestern end of Rivermont Avenue. Though several houses were built prior to World War I, major growth occurred from the 1920s. In 1938 the streetcar tracks that centered the gently winding street were removed and replaced with a landscaped parkway. As with many such neighborhoods, the cumulative ambiance of conservative well-being that characterized American domestic design between the two world wars counts for more than the merit of particular houses. No matter their individual stylistic idiosyncracies, most of the expansive period houses disclose more similarities than differences in terms of scale, materials, broad facades, side porches, and landscaping. The Bishop John Early House at 3890 Peakland was built prior to 1816 and was moved from Court Street in 1931–1932. A frame version of the city's typical Federal brick houses, it fits well in its present location, a testament both to its own merit and to the traditional, conservative architecture of its newer neighbors.