Triangle Modernist Houses

Compiled by George Smart, Jr.                                                          

VINCENT "VINNY" PETRARCA

After graduating from NCSU's School of Design and spending seven years working for Frank Harmon, Petrarca formed Tonic Design and Tonic Construction.  His first independent project was his own house, the "Honeymoon Cottage" below.  The house won a AIANC and SARC award and has been featured in several magazines.  In 2006, he built a house designed for and by internationally acclaimed architect Turan Duda.

2004 - Petrarca's own house, the romantic "Honeymoon Cottage" overlooking Crabtree Creek.   1700 square feet.  Cost:  an amazing $140,000.  The sleek, modern kitchen was constructed for about $1,700, using an IKEA cabinet system and concrete and Galvalume steel countertops.  4216 Arbutus Drive, Raleigh.  Photos by James West.

2004 - The Rod McCowan House, 222 Tennwood Court, Durham.  This incredible home took four years from start to finish and is now one of the largest examples of modern design in the Triangle.  It took so long due to numerous design changes plus squabbles between the architects.  Frank Harmon basically designed the exterior.  Vincent Petrarca and Charles Holden, both of whom by then had left Harmon's firm, did the rest of the project.  Petrarca’s Tonic Construction and Sigmon Construction built it.   Four bedrooms, 6456 sf, four full bathrooms, 2 half baths.  The nicer photos are by James West. For sale, $2,400,000, here.

2006 - John and Molly Chiles Residence, 4217 Laurel Ridge Drive, Raleigh.  Petrarca designed and built this unique home on the steel frame of a previous residence left in disrepair for 15 years.  James Franklin Taylor built the original frame and house in the 1970’s.  A product design graduate of NC State, Taylor constantly changed things, taking apart whole sections and rebuilding.  He even had a room rather like a hovercraft that would "float" around the steel frame.  Most of the time, however, the house was in tarps.  It was constantly under construction from Taylor's tinkering.  Taylor decided to move to the Bahamas and lived until his death in 2000 in a pretty great Frank Harmon house.  After Taylor's death, his wife sold the land to the Chiles.

Living space: 3,800 square feet; Site: 1.83 acres;  Construction cost: $260 a square foot.   Bathroom plumbing fixtures: Grohe and Kohler;  Cabinets: Woodpecker Enterprises; Dishwasher: Bosch; Fireplace: Heat N Glo;  Garage doors: Clopay and Lift-Master; Garbage disposer: In-Sink-Erator; Hardware: Omnia; HVAC equipment: Trane; Kitchen plumbing fixtures: Elkay and Grohe; Lighting fixtures: Halo, Lightolier and WAC; Oven: Bosch; Paints: ICI Delux, Samuel Cabot, and Sherwin-Williams.    Structural Engineer, Richard Kaydos-Daniels.  Photos by James West.

2006 - 3920 Woodbine Road, Raleigh. Designed to create a private courtyard with views to a pond.  Built for current owners Kevin and Melissa Collins.  Won an AIANC award in 2007.

2007 - The Jim Schafer Residence, South Landing Lot #6, Leasburg, NC.   Started in 2000, the house had two architects (and some very costly arbitration) before a very frustrated client found Petrarca to finish the design and begin construction. 

2008 - The Lanning Residence, 111 Rosecrans Court, Cary.