In the Central Park district of downtown Durham, overlooking the famed Durham Athletic Park – first home to the Durham Bulls – sits The Rickhouse. Formerly known as the Brame Warehouse. Built in 1938, the building housed the RJ Reynolds Prizery – a warehouse used to store tobacco bought at market for shipment to their main factory in Winston-Salem – from 1938 to 1963. The building is one of the only two remaining prizeries in Durham, and is included in Preservation Durham’s Tobacco Heritage Tour Booklet. Since tobacco was the principle industry during the founding of Durham in the 1800’s until the steady decline of the cigarette trade in the late 1900’s, The Rickhouse operates in an important piece of Durham history! And, we think that’s pretty awesome!
Would you Look at That!
The Rickhouse has so many fabulous amenities, it’s hard to know where to start! With space and stylish seating and tables for up to 200 reception guests (up to 300 if you bring in more tables and chairs, or reset the room before dancing), a seamless 34’x42’ dancefloor, 2 bars, cocktail tables, a private dressing suite with floor length mirrors and lots of room for professional hair and make-up vendors, state-of-the-art projectors, screens, microphones, and a huge display window looking into the distillery next door, your party will be set for success! And, the crowning amenity (if you love baseball, that is) is the huge covered balcony, with overhead fans, that overlooks the historic Durham Athletic Park! The balcony is the perfect place to get some fresh air, enjoy a cocktail, take in the sunset, and if you’re lucky, you might even get to watch a ball game!
A Pillar in the Community
Featured in the 2022 Heart of NC Wedding edition, and winner of Durham Magazines’ Best of Durham 2021, Readers’ Favorites, The Rickhouse is an ideal venue to host anything from wedding receptions, rehearsal dinners, wedding brunches, or private events. You could also host your companies’ next corporate event, such as holiday parties, daytime seminars or luncheons. Reaching out into the wider community The Rickhouse also hosts university functions, food shows, fundraisers, trade shows, or other community events. In fact, The Rickhouse has a track record of doing just that, by hosting The Durham Village Christmas Market, Sausage Fest, Pickle Fest, Annual Wedding Showcases, Annuals Open Houses, as well as the Rise-up Dance Fundraiser, which raised over $10,000 for Bull-city Rebuilds, benefitting the victims of the 2019 Durham Gas Explosion. Why just be good, when you can ‘do good’ instead?!
Last, but definitely not least in our reasons to love them, The Rickhouse is an inclusive venue, who believes that love is love and should be celebrated, without making a big show of it! That’s just the way it should be after all! With all we’ve said, it’s pretty clear that The Rickhouse is a fantastic place to celebrate!