Developers seeking to rezone the 1958 Commencement House property needed six votes Tuesday night, but they only got four. The result is a brief reprieve for the innovative collaborative design project by Woman's College students. 

Patrick Lee Lucas, associate professor in the Interior Architecture Department at UNC Greensboro (formerly Woman's College), who has been researching the work and career of Edward Loewenstein, read letters from students who participated in the 1958 design-build effort with Loewenstein.

He also read a contribution from Dr. Jeffrey Crow, State Historic Preservation Officer, who described the site as possessing "great historical significance at the local and statewide levels, and perhaps at the national level."

In the realm of design education . . . there is no doubt that the 1958 Commencement House is exceptionally important as one of the earliest, if not the earliest, examples in the country of a single-family house designed, built, and furnished through a college studio course outside a school of architecture. The students —all women — collaborated with architect Loewenstein on the design; they also gained hands-on knowledge of construction and the latest technological advances in materials, appliances, and furnishings.

I believe it should be possible to develop a site plan that could retain the Commencement House as part of the new development. This approach would result in a higher density for the site without destruction of the historic resource. I urge the city to seek a creative solution that will allow the project developer achieve his or her goals while preventing what appears to be an avoidable loss of an important aspect ofthe city's architectural heritage.

Neighbors used the Zoning Protest Petition to require the City Council to obtain a supermajority vote to approve rezoning. The petition right was enacted in Greensboro only earlier this year. Before that, the city had exempted itself from the rule for over 20 years.

It is likely, however, that the issue will be back on the table soon, as one of the council members can have the request reexamined at a later meeting. 

Meanwhile, there's still a chance for a creative development solution as Jeffrey Crow suggests, as long as the parties are willing to negotiate.

Council Fails to Pass Controversial Rezoning
Greensboro News & Record (11/18/2009)

Threatened: Midcentury Modern House in Greensboro, N.C.
Preservation Magazine Online (11/17/2009)

Time Running Out for Commencement House
PreservationNC.org (11/11/2009)

Learn more about the Commencement Houses and see images at the Close to Home exhibit page at UNCG

Read more about the pending issue at Greensboro's Treasured Places (9/24/2009)