George Smart Jr.'s website, Triangle Modernist Houses, is a guide to homes by more than fifty architects, many associated with the NC State University School of Design. Development threatens many of these one-of-a-kind buildings, and now, as Smart says, is the time to act to preserve them.

How did you start Triangle Modernist Houses?

I was just casually looking on Google one day in early 2006 for modernist homes in Raleigh. Up popped the story of the Catalano House, one of the most architecturally significant houses in the state, if not the country. Having lived all my life in the Triangle, I had never heard of this amazing structure -- and it was gone, long gone. It had been destroyed in 2001 after a slow demise. Preservation NC tried to save it, but it was too late. I looked for more modernist houses and expected to find only a few. Within two weeks, I had twenty. That led to a website. Once it debuted, people wrote in with suggestions. Architects, children of architects, residents of modernist houses, neighbors of modernist houses all had more properties to list. Now there are over 250 houses listed, with more to come.

The loss of the Catalano House was certainly a wake-up call for North Carolina preservationists. Since then, PNC has gotten involved with properties like George Matsumoto's Poland House, but there's still much work to do -- helping people understand that mid-century modern buildings are historic and worth preserving. What makes you passionate about these houses?

It's the same passion one feels about a beautiful piece of art. Ultimately, modernist homes are more works of art than construction, and I've learned that artists, academics, architects, and children of architects typically love to live inside art.

As you know, PNC is working to find a buyer for Raleigh's 1950 Paschal House, designed by James Fitzgibbon. How significant is it among the Triangle's modernist houses?

The Paschal House is definitely in the top five. It's a rare example of exquisite craftsmanship and design. If I were the listing agent, I'd be calling every architect in town. I'd be hosting an AIA-NC reception there. I'd get the Artspace and Durham Arts Council to have their next board meetings there.

We're trying some creative ways to let folks know about this fantastic house. This spring a design competition, in partnership with NCSU’s College of Design, will look at possibilities for sympathetic infill on the property.

I sincerely hope it is not too late, as it was with the Catalano House, or Dan MacMillan's Kistler-Hollstein House in Fayetteville, or Brian Shawcroft's Charles Fulton House in Raleigh. By the time a property is on the market, it is usually too late. The time to save modernist houses is NOW -- while the owners are still there and can be presented useful preservation options in advance of the time to sell.

We have seen some good examples with the donation of preservation easements on houses like the Milton Small-designed house in Louisburg. And John and Julia Fountain just recently won a Carraway Award for the terrific addition they commissioned Brian Shawcroft to create for Fitzgibbon's Fadum House. Do you see signs for optimism?

I still see signs for pessimism. We have only begun to see teardowns of modernist houses. The Catalano House only caught the news because of its uniqueness. Less unique homes are going to fall like rain in the next five years. PNC should be calling the owners of the houses on Triangle Modernist Houses and setting up appointments. As I only half-joked, when Phil Szostak's twelve modernist houses get built in 2008-09, PNC’s president should be there on opening day saying, "Hi there, Mr. and Mrs. Smith, I'm Myrick Howard of Preservation North Carolina, and by about 2040 or so we predict your incredible modernist house is going to be endangered. Can we talk?"

Certainly the more that people realize that these houses are unique, significant, and irreplaceable, the easier it will be to protect them before they're endangered. And certainly your site is a terrific source for raising awareness about this architecture.

My vision is that Triangle Modernist Houses will be an early warning system to Preservation North Carolina and other likeminded people and organizations -- because I fully expect the next modernist house in danger will come from this list.