Triangle Modernist Houses Sponsors Hillsborough Modernist Tour

Featuring two new Modernist residential designs.

July 28, 2011 (Hillsborough, NC) – Triangle Modernist Houses (TMH), the award-winning non-profit dedicated to promoting and preserving Modernist residential

Hutchinson-Mauro House by Rusty Long, AIA

design, will host a Hillsborough Modernist Tour on Saturday, August 13, from 9 a.m. until noon, sponsored by Prime Energy Group and Hill Country Woodworks.

Hillsborough Mayor Tom Stevens will be on hand at registration to welcome tour-goers to his town.

The tour will offer the public a look inside two new Hillsborough Modernist houses:

• The 2011 Stacy and John Crabill House, aka “Crabill Modern,” at 5204 Margon Place designed by Tonic Design and built by Tonic Construction.
• The 2010 Michael Hutchinson and Gerry Mauro House, aka “Riverbirch,” at 3921 Red Hawk Road, designed by Rusty Long, AIA, of Rusty Long Architect.

Ted Arendes, Katherine Hogan, and Vinny Petrarca of Tonic Design will be at the Crabill House and Rusty Long will be at Riverbirch to answer questions about the

The Crabill House by Tonic Design + Construction

houses, their design, and their construction.  Photography is allowed and encouraged inside and outside both houses.

Tickets to the Hillsborough Modernist Tour are $8.95 in advance and $12 at the door. TMH Mod Squad members tour the houses first from 9-10am then the general public from 10am to noon.  Registration and ticket sales for both houses start at the Crabill House.

Advance tickets are available at www.trianglemodernisthouses.com/hbtour. As with all TMH events, tickets are not mailed.  Will call is at registration at the Crabill House. The deadline for advance tickets is 5 pm Sunday, August 8.

Tour revenues support TMH documentation, preservation, and promotion projects to assure the continuation of great Modernist residential architecture in North Carolina. For more information, visit www.trianglemodernisthouses.com

Charlotte’s Oldest Modern House Saved From Demolition

Triangle Modernist Houses, Modern Charlotte Realty find a buyer by deadline.

July 22, 2011 (Charlotte, NC) – The 1956 Lassiter House, the oldest mid-century modernist house in Charlotte that was threatened with demolition if it didn’t sell by

Gail Jodon with the "Sold" sign at the Lassiter house.

June of this year, has been sold to new owners and will be renovated.

Gail Jodon of Modern Charlotte Realty officially reported the sale this month after closing papers were signed. The new owners are Leslie and John Culberson, who “are very happy and proud, and I expect they will do a wonderful renovation,” Jodon said.

The Culbersons have selected Matthew Benson, AIA, of Meyer Greeson Paullin Benson in Charlotte to design the renovation.

The previous, and original, owner of the three-bedroom, three-bath house, which was designed by architect A.G. Odell with landscape design by Lewis Clark, put it on the market in February and announced that if the it didn’t sell by June, it would be razed so the property could be sold as a lot.

Aware that the Lassiter house is a classic example of mid-century modernist residential design by one of the South’s foremost architects of the time, Triangle Modernist Houses (TMH), the non-profit organization dedicated to documenting and preserving modernist houses, immediately issued regional and national alerts to help find a buyer. Recent Past Preservation Network out of Washington, DC, picked up on the TMH alert and posted it on their website and online journal.

Triangle Modernist Houses’ Director To Address CORA-Charlotte

George Smart will present “Mayberry Modernism” during the group’s July meeting.

July 14, 2011 (Charlotte, NC) – George Smart, founder and director of the award-winning non-profit organization Triangle Modernist Houses (TMH), will present his signature talk “Mayberry Modernism” to the Charlotte branch of the Congress of Residential Architecture (CORA-Charlotte) on Friday, July 22, beginning at noon.

In “Mayberry Modernism,” Smart explains why North Carolina’s Triangle region (Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill) is home to the third largest collection of modernist houses in the nation, bested only by Los Angeles and Chicago. His talk to CORA-Charlotte will focus on the Charlotte area, with houses designed by Hal Tribble, Crutcher Ross, A. G. Odell, Harold Cooler, Stan Russell, Murray Whisnant, and other Modernist architects. He will conclude with images of all of the award-winning Modernist houses from the North Carolina chapter of the American Institute of Architects from the 1950s to today.

CORA-Charlotte is a diverse group of interrelated housing professionals dedicated to improving the quality of residential architecture through the promotion of dialogue among homeowners, builders and designers. Members include architects, landscape architects, interior designers, contractor and builders, engineers, educators, consultants, realtors, and other housing-related vendors. There are no dues or membership fees.

Triangle Modernist Houses Hosts Tour of 1959 Carter Williams House

“Blue Haven” will be open to the public for one day. 

July 6, 2011 (Raleigh, NC) — The 1959 Carter Williams House Tour, designed by prolific Raleigh architect F. Carter Williams, FAIA, for his family, with landscape design by Dick Bell, FASLA, will be open for public touring on Saturday, July 23, from 10 a.m. until noon.

The tour of this classic mid-century modernist house, nicknamed “Blue Haven” for the distinctive “Carolina Blue Stone” used in its construction, is presented by the Triangle Modernist Houses and sponsored by Eidolon Design.

The two-level house is typical of mid-century modernist houses in many ways. Lower level floors are terrazzo and glass walls flood the spaces with natural light while opening the interior to the exterior. Upstairs, multi-columned stone construction visual divides the entrance hall from the great room beyond, where floor-to-ceiling glazing offers panoramic views of the landscape and forest beyond the house. Built-in casework throughout the house is walnut.

Current owner Jill Maurer has filled the Williams house with high-end mid-century modern furnishings, including a Florence Knoll lounge, chairs and tables by Bertoia and Eero Saarinen, and an Isamu Noguchi coffee table. Her art collection, including abstract paintings by such North Carolina luminaries as Claude Howell and George Bireline, also complements the house’s architecture and ambiance.

Metro Magazine’s Diane Lea called the house “one of Raleigh’s acknowledged early Modernist jewels” in her feature on “Blue Haven” in November of 2010.

Over his 40-year span, Carter Williams and his firm designed more than 600 projects throughout the state. From 1939 to 1941, he was an assistant professor at the NCSU School of Design. The highest honor AIA North Carolina presents each year to an individual for a distinguished career or extraordinary accomplishments is named the F. Carter Williams Gold Medal.

In the study Post-World War II and Modern Architecture in Raleigh, North Carolina, author Ruth Little writes, “It is safe to say that Williams’ elegant understated modernism had a bigger impact on Raleigh architecture than any other architect in Raleigh from 1945 to 1965.”

The Carter Williams house is located at 6612 Rest Haven Drive. Tickets are $5.95 in advance until July 16 and $8 at the door. To purchase advance tickets and get directions to the house, go to http://trianglemodernisthouses.com/tour.

For more information on Triangle Modernist Houses, visit www.trianglemodernisthouses.com.

Triangle Modernist Houses’ Founder Addresses NCSU Class

George Smart will present talk, house tour for College of Design Students

July 4, 2011 (Raleigh, NC) – George Smart, founder and director of the award-winning non-profit organization Triangle Modernist Houses (TMH), will be a guest lecturer for a summer class in the NC State University College of Design on July 5^th.

On July 6^th, Smart will take the same class on a tour of Modernist houses in Raleigh from 4-8 p.m.

Architect and Professor in Practice Frank Harmon, FAIA, is teaching the class, along with School of Architecture Professor Margret Kentgens-Craig, PhD.  Harmon and Kentgens-Craig invited Smart to give his signature presentation, “Mayberry Modernism,” to their class and to conduct the tour of Modernist homes in the Raleigh area.

“No one has done more to promote and celebrate modernism in North Carolina than George Smart,” said Frank Harmon. “He is a treasure.”

Launched in 2007, Triangle Modernist Houses is dedicated to documenting, preserving and promoting modernist residential design. Through Smart’s direction and research, TMH’s website is now the largest single archive of modernist residential design in the nation. TMH also conducts a host of activities around modernist houses including single- and multi-home tours throughout the year.

“NCSU’s College of Design has been a partner in building the TMH archives since day one,” Smart said, “so I’m honored to give back by speaking and helping to arrange a house tour for the students.”

Among other accolades, Smart recently received a 2011 Preservation Durham Advocacy Award Advocacy Award.

For more information on TMH, visit www.trianglemodernisthouses.com.