Welcome, Modernist architecture fans, to the USModernist newsletter, sharing Modernist news and events since 2008. USModernist is an award-winning nonprofit 501C3 educational archive for the documentation, preservation, and promotion of Modernist architecture. | | |
Editor: Ron Gallagher Newsletter Staff: Virginia Faust, George Smart
Got Modernist News? Contact Ron Gallagher at rpg.modernist@gmail.com
Newsletter Sponsorship: Connect your product, service, or organization to USModernist's 89,000 Modernist fans, architects, real estate agents, preservationists, and builders. Reach out to George Smart, 919.740.8407.
Meet the USModernist Team
Check out the NCModernist For Sale/Rent Database. Real estate agents and owners can list their North Carolina Modernist houses for sale or rent for free. Sponsored by:
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Thursday, May 21, 6-8pm. NCModernist's long running Thirst4Architecture happy hour this month is at Wolfe and Porter, 905 West Morgan Street, Raleigh NC. Craft cocktails in a stunningly sophisticated midcentury atmosphere with light nibbles provided by Raleigh's iconic Irregardless Cafe. Free, registration required. Enter WOLFE on the form.
NCModernist's social Thirst4Architecture (T4A) events are free to participants. We welcome Modernist homeowners, architects, artists, designers, realtors, engineers, contractors, property investors, building managers, materials and furniture dealers – or anyone with a huge crush on great architecture. T4A events focus on building relationships, sharing passion about good design, creating strategic alliances, and connecting people. There are no presentations - just come join the fun and make new design friends! Want to host design-oriented people to your business, client site, or studio? Contact Devra Dubroff, devra@usmodernist.org
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Tuesday, June 2, 7pm: Visual Acoustics. Narrated by Dustin Hoffman, this award-winning film celebrates the life and career of Julius Shulman, acclaimed by many as “the world’s most influential architectural photographer.” Shulman’s photographs immortalize the work of the most prominent American Modernist architects from the 1930s until Shulman’s death in 2009, including Frank Lloyd Wright, Richard Neutra, John Lautner, and Frank Gehry. Our last film until the fall! Rialto Theatre, Glenwood Avenue, Raleigh NC. Get tickets in advance or at the door. Doors open at 6:15pm.
| | NEW: The Grand Masonic Lodge Tour, 2921 Glenwood Avenue, Raleigh, Saturday, June 20, 10am to 2pm. You've driven past this Masonic Lodge building for years, perhaps decades. If you grew up in Raleigh, so did your parents, plus the millions of people headed out to Crabtree Valley Mall – everyone is curious about what's inside. Now you can visit! Details and tickets. | | |
New: The USModernist Fallingwater+ Tour!
September 10-12
The #1 bucket list destination for Modernist house fans! This trip is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity with virtually everything included.
Fallingwater was designed by world-renowned architect Frank Lloyd Wright in 1935 over a waterfall as a weekend home for the Kaufman family, merchants in Pittsburgh. TIME called it Wright's "most beautiful job," and the house was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1966. It's the most famous Modernist house in America. Only 18 seats left! Details and tickets.
| | Support USModernist's Mission and National Impact | | |
Hello Architects, Librarians, and Collectors:
Free the shelves! Empty the storage boxes! The massive drop of state and Federal funding is forcing libraries to make space for new media. And sadly, most architecture magazines in those bulky binders or storage boxes have been not been circulated or even opened for decades. Donate your old magazines to the USModernist Library, the largest open digital archive for of architecture and design magazines in the world. We scan and give them bew text-searchable, online life – with free user access. We even pay for shipping. Contact George Smart, 919 740 8407, or george@usmodernist.org.
| | Endangered Modernist Houses | | |
Know an endangered Modernist house? Through our preservation alert program, Modernism In Danger, USModernist calls attention to the Modernist buildings around the country at risk for deterioration, demolition, lowball auction, or inappropriate renovation (like turning your Modernist house into an Italianate villa). Tell us.
Endangered: 3401 Ocotea, Raleigh NC, is a gorgeous 1966 Modernist house, 2862 sf, architect unknown. Sold to Urban Buildings Solutions in March, and back on the market as a teardown.
Endangered: From a town known as Oyster Bay, Long Island, made famous in song by Billy Joel, there's a rare, long-neglected Burke House at 144 Center Island Road for sale on 17 acres for $6.75M. Benjamin Thompson of TAC was the project architect. TAC leader Walter Gropius was friends with the Burkes. No interior photos, being sold as land.
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Endangered: Scheduled for demolition is 3119 Birnamwood, Raleigh NC, an Modernist house in great condition, with renovations and additions designed by Gail Lindsay, Will Alphin, Louis Cherry, and David Arneson.
Endangered? The 1953 Wade and Margaret Lewis Residence at 2700 Manning Place in Raleigh is one of the very few houses in North Carolina built over a stream. They don't let you do that any more. Designed by Milton Small, the house was widely published when completed. Was for sale, then off the market but not under contract. What's going on? Previously listed for $675,000.
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Mark Lamster, the architecture critic for the Dallas Morning News won the 2026 Pulitzer Prize in Journalism for Criticism.
Lamster has been a vocal critic of calls to demolish I.M. Pei's 1978 Dallas City Hall, and he talks with our George Smart on this week's USModernist Radio podcast. The City Council has ordered up information on both destroying and repairing the building, against a background of interest in the site from the Dallas Mavericks NBA franchise.
| | British architect Duncan Baker Brown says designers probably shouldn't revisit their work, but he went to a decidedly Modernist house in Lewes in East Sussex a decade later and found his ideas had held up well. | | |
Meet USModernist Ambassadors Jeff Tucker and Allison Brooks
Jeff Tucker and Allison Brooks live in one of North Carolina's most storied Modernist houses: the Julian House in Chapel Hill. Designed by George Matsumoto in 1954 and built by Frank Walser, the house was commissioned by clothier Milton Julian, whose family famously fought all the way to the North Carolina Supreme Court to overcome neighborhood opposition to its Modernist design. Jeff and Allison love the architecture for its clarity, restraint, attention — and they recognize the Julian House as an extraordinary example of classic Matsumoto economy: clerestory bands, floor-to-ceiling glass, vertical wood paneling, and terrazzo and cork floors, with rooms that read clean through from one end of the plan to the other. And there’s more – they plan to build a new Modernist house adjacent, for which this one will become a guest house.
USModernist Ambassadors are respected, engaged, and responsive leaders dedicated to the nonprofit’s growth, success, and long-term continuance and sustainability. Serving as a USModernist Ambassador is an extraordinary opportunity to serve as a publicly prominent advocate within one’s personal and professional networks; enhance USModernist’s reputation and visibility on a national scale; and identify key relationships with potential donors, corporate partners, family offices, Modernist homeowners, and other key stakeholders
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Congratulations to Debbie Propst of Miller/Knoll, Modernist homeowner Andrea Feick, and architects Fred Noyes and Amanda Martocchio who made the cover of the New Canaan Darien Rowayton magazine this month.
Also featured but not in the photo: Kirsten Reoch of the Glass House, Craig Bassam and Scott Fellows of Bassam/Fellows.
| | Modernist Houses For Sale | | Outside Philadelphia, a 1962 house by architect Irwin Stein in Gladwyne PA has come up for $1.25M. | |
A 1960 Beverly Hills house designed by Marvin Berman in the Trousdale Estates neighborhood is on the market at $7.4M. | Architect William Wallace Esbach designed a 1953 Modernist house for Samuel and Beatrice Rossman in Wyncote PA, for sale for the third time in its 73 years at $800,000. | The 2007 Scott Vineberg House in Topanga CA, designed by Barbara Bestor, was for sale for little more than a month for $3M before being grabbed up. | In Vexin, France, a 1964 Bubble House, one of three designed by Jean-Benjamin Maneval and built in conjunction with the petrochemical company Elf, can be had for a little under $106,000. It's in an art park on private land, so you'll need to move it. | |
Wise Sellers: 1306 Mayfair in Raleigh NC is a delightfully small 1951 Modernist house in good condition. However, it's in a neighborhood full of teardowns. The owners, who love the house and have been there for over 50 years, have wisely required a no-teardown agreement for prospective buyers. Knowing that buyers can and do lie about destroying houses, this version of deed restriction is a legally enforceable binding promise attached to the property title. New caring owners, who have no intention of tearing a great house like this down, are undeterred. This scares away developers who would destroy it, as happened recently with the Milton-Small-designed Frank Walser house on Alamance Drive. Details.
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May 15-16: Mission Hills Mid-Century Weekend, San Diego CA. Information.
May 16: The Frank Lloyd Wright Trust's WrightPlus Architectural Housewalk, Oak Park IL. Information.
May 16: Preservation NC's Franklin Ramble Spotlight including The Wheless House designed by Milton Small. Built in 1954, the home features native stone, birchwood, modern built-in storage, and an asymmetrical layout that balanced public and private spaces for her and her husband, Thomas. Milton Small was a prolific architect in the Triangle area throughout the 1950s and 1960s – from WRAL Studios to the original Student Supply Store at NC State. The Franklin County Ramble will also feature several properties ranging from the late 1790s. Details and tickets.
May 16-17: Preservation Durham Home Tour. Tickets.
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May 29-30: Moore Modernism Talk + Tour, Southern Pines NC. Featuring USModernist's George Smart speaking Friday night on Mayberry Modernism and the houses of the Sandhills. Then on Saturday, a tour of the WR Isom House, the Elizabeth Faye Long House, the Beith House, the Mattocks House, and the Adrian House. Tickets and details. Use the USModernist discount code modernistmember to receive 10% off.
May 30, 1pm: Paul Schweikher House Peony Party, Schaumberg IL, their annual fundraiser. Details.
Tuesday, June 2, 7pm: Visual Acoustics. Narrated by Dustin Hoffman, this award-winning film celebrates the life and career of Julius Shulman, acclaimed by many as “the world’s most influential architectural photographer.” Shulman’s photographs immortalize the work of the most prominent American Modernist architects from the 1930s until Shulman’s death in 2009, including Frank Lloyd Wright, Richard Neutra, John Lautner, and Frank Gehry. Our last film until the fall! Rialto Theatre, Glenwood Avenue, Raleigh NC. Get tickets in advance or at the door. Doors open at 6:15pm. Rialto Theatre, Glenwood Avenue, Raleigh NC. Get tickets in advance, or at the door.
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June 6: Philip Johnson Glass House Summer Party, New Canaan CT. Details and tickets.
June 7: Mad for Modern, Ridgefield CT. See details at left.
Through June 12: We Built This, a traveling exhibition by Preservation North Carolina on NC landmarks designed and built by Black craftsmen, builders and architects. Free and open to the public at 700 Park Offices Drive, weekdays 9-5.
June 18-21: Bottoms Up Midcentury Show in Lancaster OH. Presentations by authors, historians, and experts, themed cocktail parties, live entertainment, retro food and drink specials, hands‑on cocktail and glassware classes, museum exhibits, a bartending competition, and plentiful shopping. Details.
July 1: The Onera Foundation, New Canaan CT. AMERICA ABROAD: Art, Architecture, and Diplomacy – Works from the FAPE Collection explores how art and architecture have shaped the US diplomatic presence abroad—from the Cold War to today. The exhibition features artworks from leading American artists including Ed Ruscha, Robert Rauschenberg, Carrie Mae Weems, Julie Mehretu, and Martin Puryear, alongside embassies designed by leading mid-century architects such as Edward Durell Stone and Walter Gropius, alongside more recent contributions by firms including Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM) and Kieran Timberlake, among others. Details.
Wednesday, July 22, 6pm: NCModernist's Thirst4Architecture Happy Hour and the 2026 George Matsumoto Prize Awards will be held at Leland Little in Hillsborough NC. Free, registration required. Enter MATSUMOTO on the form. The 2026 Prize is sponsored by:
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Thursday, August 20, 5pm: NCModernist Thirst4Architecture Happy Hour at the new Raleigh Building Product Showroom of Fitch Lumber and Hardware, 3010 Stony Brook Drive, Suite 105. Free, registration required. Enter FITCH on the form.
September 13-15: AIA regional design conference, ASPIRE. Asheville NC. Open to architects and non-architects. Save $50 with code ASPMODERNIST26.
October 3: La Jolla Modernism Home Tour. Tickets will go on sale in July. Details.
Friday-Saturday, October 9-10: Harkrader House Tour and Celebration Party, Durham NC, sponsored by Preservation Durham and NCModernist. Details TBA.
Thursday, October 15: NCModernist Thirst4Architecture Happy Hour at Raleigh Architecture at their new office in Raleigh NC. Free, registration required. Enter RACO on the form.
Through December 31: Tours of the Frank Lloyd Wright Russell W. and Ruth G. Kraus house in Ebsworth Park, St. Kirkwood MO. Details.
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Available May 19: Earth Works: Houses by Byoung Cho. A new monograph on Korea's most important architect, offering an exclusive look at his seldom-published houses. The architect’s unique take on the world and his surroundings is brought to light by his brilliant writing. Centered around fifteen private and rarely seen residences, the book begins with some of Cho’s earliest projects—Concrete Box House and Earth House —which explore the emotional impact of place through low- intervention and minimalist rural structure, and finishes with three new housing types that his practice is experimenting with. Order.
| | #456/Tom Gluck + Nick Ferrell + Mark Lamster + Musical Guest Jon Secada | | New York architect Tom Gluck of GLUCK+ takes us behind the scenes of projects from prefab high-rises in Manhattan to his Tower House in upstate New York. Nick Ferrell brings the history of postwar modern design in Modeline of California: Pioneer of Modern Lighting, with lamps that have inspired designers for decades. Dallas architecture critic and recent Pulitzer Prize winner Mark Lamster gets us updated on the preservation of IM Pei’s City Hall in Dallas. And later on, Grammy-winning Miami singer Jon Secada. | | |
USModernist Radio is underwritten by The Brent R. Harris Charitable Trust, restorer of Richard Neutra’s Kaufmann Desert House in Palm Springs and six other houses in California; by the E Fay Jones Conservancy, preserving the legacy of Modernist architecture in Northwest Arkansas. Visit efayjonesconservancy.org; and by Diane Bald and The Budman Family, restoring significant architecture in Toronto, Los Angeles, Malibu and Palm Springs.
New to podcasts? You can listen to USModernist Radio on any major podcast platform or through any computer.
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Vacancy, not development, is the enemy of mid-century Modernist houses. Preserve and protect the architecture you love by notifying us when North Carolina houses go vacant or on the market.
Check out the NCModernist For Sale/Rent Database. Real estate agents and owners can list their NC Modernist houses for sale or rent for free. Submissions are subject to approval: single-family Modernist houses only, they can be old or new, the architect or designer can be from anywhere, but the house must be in North Carolina. Exclusively sponsored by:
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The preservation easement is one of the only legally enforceable ways to assure a Modernist house does not get destroyed by future owners. National Register status? Meaningless. Famous architect? Nope. Local historic designation? At best, a delay in demolition. And as history shows, there are plenty of smiling buyers who say, "I would never tear this down." Then after closing, it's gone. Think of the preservation easement as a homeowner's association for one house. The easement requires future owners to maintain the house in current structural condition and state of repair, or better, including necessary work to preserve its integrity. Here's a video featuring Preservation North Carolina and NCModernist, along with Jane Levy, who has an easement on her Greensboro Modernist home. Here's a sample preservation easement document.
There is another way, the deed restriction. Consider it "preservation easement lite." When a once-cherished residence falls into the hands of new owners, there is always the risk that it will be destroyed, despite promises to the contrary from those owners. One powerful legal tool families can use to guard against demolition is a deed restriction. Knowing that potential buyers can and do lie about destroying houses, a deed restriction is a legally enforceable binding promise attached to the property title. Unlike some historic designations, a deed restriction travels with the property through changes in ownership. Even if a buyer threatens to demolish or radically alter a house, they are limited by the deed. The restriction is usually ten years, and it becomes part of the chain of title. Implementing a deed restriction before a sale immediately scares off developers (or developers-in-hiding) in an owner-value-friendly way to protect a property.
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