When we did a feasibility study to see if alumni would support and contribute to the construction of a new house, it came through loud and clear that they wanted the new house to look like the original Bain House. I think you’ll agree that we accomplished that feat!

While the new Watkins House certainly looks like the original, the interior is vastly different. First of all, it is not considered a single family residence and had to be built to multi-family code. That means such weird things as Braille signs outside each room and handicap accessibility! And, the positioning of the house on the property, the size and shape of the parking lot, and the amount of parking were all dictated by the space required by the County to turn around its new garbage trucks! It also means that the house is extremely safe, with a sprinkler system, built-in alarms, fire-proof materials, and fire escapes. Finally, it means that the house is bomb-shelter solid; for example, all the sheetrock is backed by 5/8” OSB!

The house is designed as follows: On the ground level are a kitchen, president’s suite, chapter room, dining room, and restroom. On the second level are four bedrooms, each with a private bathroom; three are two-man rooms and one is a three man. The house sleeps eleven men. In the basement are a large study/party room, laundry, mechanical room, and two restrooms. Each of the main rooms is named for an alumnus who was a major donor to the capital campaign and is so designated by a brass plaque. We declined to name the restrooms, since there was so much competition for those naming rights!

The house was designed by John Ramsay ’70, of GMK Associates Architects and was built by Romeo Guest Construction Co. It was dedicated in November 2005, and is named after WD Watkins ’27, the “father” of DU at UNC. WD’s portrait hangs in the entrance foyer of the house.

Alumni are invited and encouraged to stop by the house whenever they are in Chapel Hill—the brothers love to meet alumni and will be delighted to give you a guided tour.

In order to build this million dollar plus structure, we received donations of $670,000 from 235 alumni, we sold the Dey House, and we took out a sizeable mortgage. If you have not yet given to the rebuilding effort, we ask you to do so now—we could sure use some help with the mortgage!

Click here for a 4 minute photo tour of the house.