Triangle Modernist Houses

Compiled by George Smart, Jr.                                                          

Polier was an architect in Raleigh, graduating from Hugh Morson High School in 1939 and NCSU in 1949, with a stint in the Army during WWII.  He first worked with Richard Rice and moved with the firm when it became Cooper, Haskins and Rice.  In 1955, he worked for Jesse Page and became a partner in 1974.  The firm was renamed Page, Polier, Flowers, Ballard & Branan, Inc., Architects. When Page left the firm in 1976, Polier became a senior partner until his retirement in 1988.  He was known for many buildings at NCSU and ECU, plus the Bath Building (North Carolina Labs) in downtown Raleigh.   From 1959 to 1977, with the assistance of his wife Afton, he served as the Executive Secretary of the North Carolina Board of Architecture for almost 20 years. 

He married Afton Daniels, pictured at left, his high school sweetheart, in 1942.  During his student days at the NCSU School of Design, she worked to help pay his way.  They both spent their entire marriage totally involved in the world of North Carolina architects and architecture. They raised four Raleigh-born daughters in a happy marriage until Afton’s death in 1973 from cancer. 

1955 - His own house at 111 Longview Lake Drive, Raleigh.  Sold in 2004 to the Jorgensons.  Sold in 2007 to Matthew Griffith, an architect with Frank Harmon.

Dail Dixon's detailed and transformative 2005 renovation took the fireplace from cave (left) to cathedral (right), part of a complete overhaul of the structure, as seen below.

1954 - The Charles Styron Residence, 920 Williamson Drive, Raleigh.  Designed by Polier when he worked for Haskins and Rice.  Sold in 2004 to current owner Nikki Mercer.  Substantial renovations in 2005 designed by Dail Dixon.  4000 square feet on .72 acres.  Three bedrooms, 4.5 baths.  For sale, here, for $2.75M.  According to Kathleen Haskins Thompson, daughter of Al Haskins, original construction was finished October 20, 1954. The original cost was $46,647 and the architect’s fee was 8.