The 1950 Paschal House on Alamance Drive is Raleigh's most important endangered mid-century Modernist house. TMH (Triangle Modernist Houses), a preservation nonprofit for Modernist houses, has learned the Paschal family has solicited a proposal for deconstruction, which means the house could be destroyed and recycled.

Designed by NCSU Professor James Fitzgibbon, a colleague of Buckminster Fuller, the house was occupied for almost 60 years by the original owners. Even Frank Lloyd Wright observed after visiting the house in 1950 that “it does the cause [of modern architecture] good.” Read more about Fitzgibbon at: http://www.trianglemodernisthouses.com/fitzgibbon.htm

When the last owner moved out, the Paschal heirs priced the property at a whopping $5M+. Over about the last five years, this excessive price has attracted no offers, even considering the value of the accompanying land.

Since that time, the family has refused public tours, which would bring in many interested parties; refused to subdivide the land, which would make the house much more affordable and attract buyers; refused a design competition, which would tap into the local architecture community; refused to meet with TMH and other interested parties to discuss options.

The heirs also insist the house is "too far gone" to feasibly restore, citing a lack of heat and air conditioning ductwork and systems, among other problems. TMH is assured by several sources that not only is the house restorable (and it will be stunning when finished) but advanced technologies make heating and cooling it no problem and in complete alignment with the Modernist design.

Finally, earlier this year, the heirs lowered the price to $3.3M, which is still too high. TMH estimates the value the land and the house somewhere between $2M and $2.7M.

Please encourage the heirs to lower their expectations and work with TMH and other preservation organizations to save the house. We support the family gaining from the sale of their beautiful property, but this is not the pre-mortgage-crisis era where it was a seller's market.