Triangle Modernist Houses

Compiled by George Smart, Jr.                                                          

Jim and John Webb were born in Aguascalientes, Mexico.  Their father worked for the Guggenheim family's American Mines and according to his sister-in-law Dorothy was killed by the famous Pancho Villa. According to Jim Webb's stepson, Archie Kelly, the father died suddenly of appendicitis.  In any event, his mother moved to Covina CA where they raised turkeys and oranges.  The family later moved to Berkeley and built a homeplace at 36 Tamalpais Road.

JAMES MURRAY "JIM" WEBB (1908-2000)

Jim Webb went to Pomona College then received a BA in architecture from the University of California Berkeley in 1937.  In the Army, he got TB and spent time in an Army hospital in Colorado.  Then he got a MA in City Planning from MIT in 1946.  For a time, he worked for architect William Wurster in California. Wurster created the "Bay Area Style," an informal modem style of California Ranch that adapted to hilly sites by means of raised basements, with porches, patios, balconies and carports extending the living space out into nature. The post and beam frameworks eliminated the need for loadbearing interior retaining walls and ceilings, thus interiors had flowing spaces and cathedral ceilings.

Webb left California to join the UNC-Chapel Hill's new City and Regional Planning School in 1947.  He remained on their faculty for 30 years. Webb practiced in Chapel Hill with his brother John until John returned to Berkeley.  He started the firm City Planning and Architecture Associates (CPAA) in the late 1950's, recruiting Don Stewart as a partner.  Webb left CPAA in the mid-1970's to practice on his own where he continued until his death. 

Significant clusters of Jim and John Webb houses were built in Chapel Hill: Whitehead Circle, located near UNC Hospital, and Highland Woods, located across the 15-501 Bypass from Laurel Hill.  Webb was also involved with site planning for Research Triangle Park, Forest Hills Shopping Center, UNC-Chapel Hill, and Appalachian State University. 

Barbara Henderson Kelly, with three young sons from a previous marriage, married Jim Webb in 1957 and they divorced in the 1970’s.  Jim did not remarry.  Kelly died in 2002.

JOHN BRUCE WEBB (1910-1997)

John Webb was a brilliant designer. Like his brother, he attended the University of California Berkeley.  He met Dorothy Davies (pictured left with Webb and her daughter at their wedding) in Detroit in the early 1950's  when they both worked as architects for Albert Kahn.  After marrying around 1954, they moved to North Carolina for John to practice with Jim.  Later, they moved back to Berkeley and she went to design school at UC-Berkeley.  She taught at the California School of Fine Arts and the Rudolph Schaffer School of Design, where she recalls Frank Lloyd Wright coming to the school to play the piano.  He then worked for John Carl Warnecke.  Dorothy and John divorced, and John moved to Warnecke's office in Washington. While there, he designed President John F. Kennedy's gravesite.  By the late 1960's, John retired to Japan, where he would meet a younger man (pictured with Webb, lower left) that would become his life partner.  He put this young man through school and brought him to the US.  They were together the rest of his life. 

Webb would reunite with Dorothy, not romantically but professionally.  By the early 1970's she had remarried the internationally known architect Felix Candela.  John came out of retirement to work for them for many years and lived all over the world, including Athens, Paris, London, and Saudi Arabia, until his second retirement at the family home in Berkeley.

The JFK Gravesite.

1948 - The Thomas M. Stanback House, 533 Dogwood Drive, Chapel Hill.

1948 - The Norman Eliason House, 103 Round Hill Road, Chapel Hill.  A ranch with side-gable roof, vertical wood siding, metal vertical casement windows, a rear chimney, and a large rear patio.  An early addition was the enclosure of the original screen porch at the right as a dining room and the addition in front of a carport designed by Webb. At the left end is a 2-bedroom addition made by Webb about 1980. The house faces to the rear, with a deck overlooking the rear yard. Sold to Mary Penniall Dale.   No photo.  Do you have one?

1949 - Walter and Jean Johnson Spearman House, 418 Whitehead Circle, Chapel Hill. 
Sold to in 2005 to William Neville and Elizabeth Haskin.

1950 - The Kenneth and Frances Brinkhous Residence, 524 Dogwood Drive, Chapel Hill.
Sold in 2003 to David B. Thomas of New York.

1950 - The Wynn-MacIntyre House, 900 Stagecoach Road.  Built for Earl and Rhoda Wynn. 
Sold to Alan MacIntyre in 1957 who still lives there.

1950 - The Handler Residence, 2529 Perkins Road, Durham.
Sold in 2001 to current owners Edwin Iverson and Merlise Clyde.

1951 - The Joseph and Pearl P. Morrison House, 407 Whitehead Circle, Chapel Hill, who still live there.

1951 - The Richard and Francis Calhoun House was at 104 and 106 Pine Lane, Chapel Hill.  The original house, 104, was a split level with a side-gable roof, concrete block lower level, wood shake walls on the upper level, and an entrance set in the middle level with tall transoms and an adjacent casement window with glazing below. At the left side is a screen porch set on tall foundation posts. Ellington & Sparrow was the contractor. Jim Webb added a separate 2-story building at the left side in 1953, containing one room on each level and a screened porch elevated on metal posts.  This building became 106 Pine Lane.  These two Jim Webb houses were destroyed in December 2006 to be replaced by two newer 4000 sf houses. They will sell for approx $1.5M each.

Approximately 1952 - The J. Alex and Betty McMahon House, 419 Whitehead Circle, Chapel Hill.  Sold to Elena Watson in 1988. Sold to William Hooke in 1992.  Sold to Richard and Mildred Robinson in 1998. Now owned by Aravinda de Silver and Amy Brett Well. 

1952 - The Louis and Thelma Thurstone House, 400 Laurel Hill Road, Chapel Hill. Contemporary 1-story L-shaped house with a hipped roof with wide eaves, vertical wood siding, and an entrance with tall transoms and wide sidelights. Other windows are vertical casements with transoms. An original 2-car carport extends from the right side and is connected to the house by a screen porch.  Copious glass around the entrance and large casement windows with transoms light the interior.

1953 - The Kunkle Residence, 2525 Perkins Road, Durham. Jim Webb also designed an addition in the late 50s.  Kunkle sold to the Blums in 1961 who sold to Stephen Dooda in 2005.  The Dooda's added on a garage and walk-in closet addition designed by Ellen Cassilly in 2007. Photos by Stephen Dooda.

1953 - The Ruth Price House, 4 Briar Bridge Lane, Chapel Hill. Bought by Jim Webb in 1979.  Currently owned by Jim Webb's estate, a philanthropy set up to support the UNC Planning School.  Webb's stepson Archie lives there now.

1953 - The William and Ida Friday House, 412 Whitehead Circle, Chapel Hill.  Sold to Frank Decazenove.  Sold to Ellen Burgin in 2006. Sold to current owners Matthew Maciejewski and Donna Cook.

1954 - The Thomas Floyd Drew and Katherine Conn Drew House, 511 Transylvania Avenue, Raleigh.  Country Club Hills developer Ed Richards built it as demonstration house for Better Homes and Gardens.  Sold to Nan Russell Sanderson and Jesse O. Sanderson in 1967.  Sold to Salah and Amina Elmaghraby in 1985.  Sold to current owner, landscape architect Dennis Glazener in 1994.  He added a very elegant pool, above.

1954 - The Thomas Darden House at 124 Fern Lane, Chapel Hill appears to be a Jim Webb house and is consistent with other Webb designs in the area, but no proof exists. Sold to John Cross.  Sold to Malcolm Kendall.  Sold to current owners Burton and Kathleen Goldstein.

 1955 - The Lou Welt Residence, 614 Morgan Creek Road, Chapel Hill.  Sold two or three times and remodeled several times.  Sold in 1999 to current owner, landscape architect Laura Moore.  No photo.  Do you have one?

1957 - The Robert and Josie Stipe House, 1022 Highland Woods, Chapel Hill. Sold to current owners Nortin M. and Carol Hadler.  According to John Schwab, Stipe always regretted selling it. 

1957 - The Jud and Persis Van Wyk House, 1020 Highland Woods, Chapel Hill.  Sold in 2004 to current owners Lex and Ann Alexander.  Renovated in 2006 by designer John Lindsey. 

1957 - The Sager/Parker House, 1010 Highland Woods, Chapel Hill.  Built for Robert and Elizabeth Sager.  Sold in 1967 to current owners John and Peg Parker. 

1957 - The Fred and Josephine Weedon House, 100 Pine Lane, Chapel Hill.  Built on a slope, with an exposed basement at the rear, with wood shingle siding, sliding windows, an interior concrete block chimney, and a recessed entrance with an adjacent jalousie window. A deck and rear bedroom balcony was added in 1981. Ellington & Sparrow was the contractor. The Weedons' daughter and current owner, Josie Stipe, lives here now.

1958 - The John and Ruth Schwab House, 1030 Highland Woods, Chapel Hill.  Don Stewart was the primary architect. Stewart added on in 1965 and again in 1979.   Sold in June of 2006 to Kristen Huff and Daniel Delaney. 

1958 - 1211 Woodburn Road, Durham.  The addition was designed by Donald Stewart. 
Owned by Richard Brunel, who sold it to current owners Jeffrey Smith and Gregory Orlando in late 2007.  1806 square feet.

1960 - The EK Powe Jr. House, 81 Beverly Drive, Durham. 
Current owners are Michael Gillespie and Nancy Henley.

The George and Alice Welsh Residence, 377 Tenney Circle, Chapel Hill.  Sold to David Brunn in 1994.  Sold Richard Drake Lamberton in 1991.  Sold to current owners Susan Gravely and Bill Ross.  Designed by Jim Webb in association with California modernist architect Cliff May.  Renovated by Jon Condoret and contractor Stan Stutts. 

The Watts Hill House, Hill Street, Durham.  No address.  Do you have one?

The Donald Hayman House, 1038 Highland Woods Drive, Chapel Hill.  Still lives there.

The Bill and Lois Terrill Residence, 1027 Highland Woods Drive, Chapel Hill.  Sold to William Jackson Stewart in 1989.  Sold to current owner Joy Javits Stewart in 2001.

The John and Margaret Gulick House, 1029 Highland Woods Drive, Chapel Hill. 
Sold to current owners Fred and Lawanda Hall. 

Other houses:

Webb built a house for himself in 1957 for which he won an AIANC award. 
No photo or address.  Do you have one?

The Yaggi Residence.