Durham Home

The H W Durham Memorial Home was a nursing home and independent living facility located where the Kroger shopping center is now. It operated from 1957 to 1988.

THE WAY- The route from Memphis to the Durham Memorial Home is out Jackson to Raleigh, and east on Old Stage Road to a point just east of Bartlett.

CO-FOUNDERS Mr. and Mrs. H. W. Durham shared the planning of the Durham Memorial Home near Bartlett, and share the happiness at its completion. They live at 319 Stonewall.

 COSMOPOLITAN ROOM-The Victorian [style] furnishings of one of the living rooms of the Durham Home are admired by (from left) Mr. Durham, Ira Denton and E. E. Simmons. 

INDIVIDUAL ROOM-The furnishings on an individual room of the Durham Memorial Home are tested and found good by Thomas H. Durham Jr. (left) and Grover H. Cole.

 “Okay, buddy, where’s the fire?” Looks like these Bartlett and Shelby County firemen got the wrong address. But they’re in the right place, all right. The scene is the Durham Memorial Home at 6005 Stage Road, the time is last Saturday, and the firemen are participating in a simulated three alarm fire exercise and fire drill that included evacuation of the Home’s residents. Members of the Bartlett and Shelby County fire departments and rescue units, Medic ambulance and Red Cross personnel and Bartlett police all took part in the drill. 

The H.W. Durham Foundation which has operated a retirement center for independent living elderly persons for 30 years at State and Bartlett Boulevard, will discontinue operations of the 80-room facility on Aug. 1 [1988].

The foundation will become a grant-making organization.

The land and building have been sold to Vantage Companies Memphis Division. Vantage will demolish the Building and build a shopping center.

Forty-five men and women still live there. That is 25 fewer than lived there when Vantage entered a contract to buy the property last fall.

Residents will have ample time to relocate and the 23 employees will be given severance pay and assistance in finding comparable employment, said Thomas Durham, president of the foundation.

“We hope to take care of 200 to 300 elderly people a year under new arrangements through 25 to 35 existing nonprofit agencies in Memphis,” said Durham.

“We are working on a plan where we can help elderly people stay in their homes longer. Studies show they live longer and are happier there, but some of them don’t eat right and don’t look after themselves. We are looking at ways to providing foster care for elderly through existing organizations” said Durham.

Although terms of the sale were not disclosed, the foundation will have more than $9 million and less than $10 million when the sale closes Durham said.

The Durham Retirement Center was one of the first independent living facilities for elderly. Each resident had a private bedroom and bath. Amenities included game rooms, dining area, chapel, beauty shop and card room. A wing was added in 1962 to provide nursing home care; it opera-ted along with the independent living section until 1972 when the nursing home care portion was converted back to independent living.

“The average age is 82. We have had some marriages including one last year” Durham said.

Thomas Durham is a nephew to the founder, the late Henry Wallace Durham who founded the retirement center in 1957 after selling Cosmopolitan Funeral Homes in Memphis, Nashville, and Chattanooga; and the Cosmopolitan Insurance Co.

“It was an industrial insurance company, which sold policies to working class people for 10 to 15 cents a week, prior to World War II,” Durham said.

When H. W. Durham founded the retirement center it was in a pastoral setting. However, steady urbanization of the Bartlett area, increased land values, and regulations and requirements for elderly housing caused the board to decide it could no longer operate the retirement center efficiently and effectively, Durham said.

-The Commercial Appeal February 21, 1988

When the Durham Memorial Home was closing the Bartlett Historical Society was furnishing the newly restored Gotten House as a Museum. The H. W. Durham Foundation agreed to donate many fine antique pieces to the Museum. Many of the items are Victorian, all are in excellent condition and add immensely to the warm and charm of this fine historic home. Here is a partial listing of the items that were received:

A burgundy velvet Victorian [style] loveseat

Two burgundy velvet Victorian [style] chairs 

Four velvet side chairs 

A Victorian [style] marble-topped coffee table

Two Victorian [style] marble-topped end tables

A burlwood marble-topped corner cabinet with inlay

A dark oak credenza

An antique pump organ and organ seat 

A crystal chandelier for the dining room and hall

A gold framed mirror

Six panels of antique satin drapes

A milk glass punch bowl with base, plus 23 milk glass cups

A library table with brass leg tips

Silver trophy cups, a silver tray and a silver cup

The Bartlett Historical Society was delighted to acquire Victorian [style] furniture for our new Museum for the period the home was built, but also because it was a part of Bartlett's history. These find antiques are showcased in beautifully wallpapered and carefully restored rooms.