Eduardo Catalano, courtesy NCSU Library

After coming to Raleigh in 1950 to serve as a founding member of the new NCSU School of Design, Catalano built his highly innovative house with a hyperbolic paraboloid roof and walls of glass. Unfortunately, the house is now severely deteriorated, and Preservation North Carolina is searching for a buyer to rebuild the roof and rehabilitate the rest of the structure. Alternately, PNC is looking for a donor to provide the funds to PNC to stabilize the building and prevent its destruction.

In the early 1950s, the NCSU School of Design, under the leadership of founding Dean Henry L. Kamphoefner, brought together a brilliant group of architects including Catalano, George Matsumoto, Matthew Nowicki, and others who were pioneers in the creation of new architectural concepts. The Catalano House, which epitomizes the inventive designs emerging from the early School of Design, is probably the most important 20th century residential building in North Carolina. In fact, Catalano's design elicited a favorable response from Frank Lloyd Wright, who was known to rarely praise the work of other architects. Lloyd wrote, "It is refreshing to see the service of shelter (which is the important phase in any domestic construction) so imaginatively and ably treated as in this…house by Eduardo Catalano."

Documentary photo, view of terrace, 1970s

After leaving the NCSU School of Design, Catalano went on to M.I.T., where he continued his brilliant career and designed numerous buildings around the world. But it was his 1954 design for his own home that was highly publicized as the "House of the Decade" and later became recognized as one of the key residential buildings in the United States. Robert Burns, FAIA, Distinguished Professor of Architecture at NCSU, says of the house, "For a long period after its construction, it inspired architects, students, and laypeople as well, and brought international acclaim to the School of Design, the city, and the state. Sadly, its integrity has been greatly diminished through neglect and improper maintenance, and its future is threatened. Its loss will be a crushing blow to our architectural heritage."

Documentary photo, 1970s

The three-bedroom house features a 4,000 square foot roof, which is built of wood and is only 2¼ inches thick. The roof is warped into two structural curves (similar to the shape of a shoehorn), with two corners of the roof firmly anchored to the ground and two corners soaring high into the air. Sheltered beneath the double-twisted roof is a square interior enclosed entirely in glass. The undulation of the roof provides openness in some areas and privacy and seclusion in others.

PNC has protected over 450 historic properties of all types in North Carolina and is very concerned about the fate of modern historic buildings. A recent loss was a Raleigh residence designed by George Matsumoto, which was torn down several years ago. However, PNC hopes to secure the future of similar modern historic buildings through protective covenants, such as those PNC holds on the 1950 Kamphoefner House in Raleigh, home of the former Dean of the NCSU School of Design.

Current photographs of site.

Preservation North Carolina, North Carolina's only statewide nonprofit preservation organization, operates an Endangered Properties Program which identifies and acquires endangered historic properties throughout the state. These properties are resold to sympathetic buyers under protective covenants to insure the future of each property. As one of the oldest and largest statewide preservation organizations in the nation, Preservation North Carolina also provides educational opportunities and public recognition to individuals and groups working to preserve the tangible evidence of North Carolina's history.

For more information about the Catalano House, sited on 0.99 acres and priced at $360,000, a complimentary copy of North Carolina Preservation which includes historic properties in all price ranges available for restoration, and a brochure about historic preservation tax credits, contact PNC Headquarters, P.O. Box 27644, Raleigh, NC 27611-7644, (919) 832-3652, www.presnc.org.

Banner image of Catalano House courtesy: House + Home Magazine, August 1955

Documentary photo, view of living room, 1970s

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