Spotlighting the area’s midcentury modern treasures

Looking sharp

Preservation group catalogs the area’s midcentury modern architecture

By Ben Hitchcock editor@c-ville.com

Have you ever spotted the peacocks on the Downtown Mall? Once you know where to look, you can’t miss them. They’re staring down from tiles near the second-floor windows above Snooky’s Pawn Shop, their teal tail feathers splayed in semicircles.

The storefront once belonged to Levy’s department store, which is why the façade is clad in showy pink marble and boasts the flashy peacock tiles. It’s a departure from many of its neighbors downtown, and also an example of Charlottesville’s distinctive collection of midcentury modern design.

Many other midcentury modern gems are similarly hidden in plain sight. Richard Guy Wilson, a longtime UVA architecture professor and board member of Preservation Piedmont, is leading the preservation group’s new effort to identify and protect some of these structures.

“I’m not saying we have to save every damn one, I’m just trying to get people to look a bit at what the environment is out there,” Wilson says.

The midcentury modern period lasted from the end of World War II to the late ’60s.

Zion Union Baptist Church Many buildings constructed during that time have recently celebrated their 50th birthdays, meaning they’ve hit the age threshold required for listing on state and national registers of historic places. Hallmarks of midcentury modern style include sleek lines and contrast between geometric and organic shapes. Illinois’ crisp Farnsworth House is one famous example, as is the original Dulles Airport terminal, with its bowed roof and angled glass.

Wilson and Preservation Piedmont are in the process of compiling a list of notable midcentury modern buildings the Charlottesville area. Some of the structures on their list are immediately notable for their distinctive architectural style, such as the Zion Union Baptist Church on Preston Avenue. The building is a head-turner, with its acute A-frame roof, three-sided glass front, and built-in metal cross differentiating it from any other church in town. It looks like a spaceship touched down across from Washington Park.

Architecture aside, many of the town’s midcentury buildings are worthy of preservation for social and cultural reasons. Jackson Burley School, which features on Preservation Piedmont’s list, was added to the National Register of Historic Places earlier this month. Burley was the city’s Black high school from its construction in 1951 to desegregation in 1967. The school served Black students at a time when some of Charlottesville’s white public schools shut their doors rather than integrate.

But Wilson says Burley’s design is notable too, especially the front. “The facade of that is what people like me call stripped classicism, or abstract classicism,” he says.

A close look at the building reveals that the vertical concrete pillars protruding on

COURTESY PRESERVATION PIEDMONT

The former Levy’s department store on the Downtown Mall is just one example of the city’s midcentury modern design.

each side of the front entrance quote the columned fronts of more traditional buildings. “You can see that there’s a classic element there in the design, they just cleaned it up,” Wilson says. “You don’t have all the fuss that you get with buildings that were built a century earlier.”

Other buildings that might not stand out to the layman are, upon further inspection, significant for their midcentury modern characteristics, claims Wilson. The current home of Fifth Season Gardening on Preston Avenue was originally a Buick dealership. “One of the things that makes it interesting is that front of the building there, the way it’s out into the street, and has that sort of a curve on it. And then underneath it’s totally open, so you have this way you see into the building,” says the retired professor. “From an architectural point of view, [it’s] a little more interesting than the way car dealerships are today, out on 29 North.”

Does an unusual front make a building worthy of preservation? That’s a more complicated question.

Wilson has lived in Charlottesville since the ’70s, and has seen a town transform into a city during that time. He says preservationists must walk a “fine line” between maintaining the town’s history and allowing for the new development required to accommodate a growing population. He also says he’s “a little appalled” at the “tall, anonymous structures” going up on West Main Street.

“It just sort of really began to hit me that all this rebuilding that’s going on—shouldn’t we pay attention to some of the other stuff that’s around, and not tear it down?”

“I’m not saying we have to save every damn one, I’m just trying to get people to look a bit at what the environment is out there.” RICHARD GUY WILSON, PRESERVATION PIEDMONT

UNDER CONTRACT

EXAMPLE OF BUILDER’S WORK

CUSTOMIZE YOUR TO-BE-BUILT HOME IN IVY

Work with a custom builder to create your dream on this 3 acre site. Any style is fine. Ivy Creek frontage and year round view of the Blue Ridge. Neighborhood of $1m+ homes less than 15 minutes to UVA. A 4000 sq ft home plus land will cost approximately $1,200,000.

UNDER CONTRACT

5.5 ACRES WITH A VIEW IN EARLYSVILLE

Surround yourself with mature hardwoods and wildlife on this quiet site. Tucked into the very back of a nice neighborhood for leisurely strolls and bike riding. Well with super flow already in place. Level and slightly sloped building sites. $200,000.

UNDER CONTRACT

114 ACRES ON THE PEAK OF AMMONETT MOUNTAIN

Close to town, yet feels a million miles away. Nearly every room and the multiple decks have awesome views. Superior quality and character. Elevator and guest cottage provide great living flexibility/opportunities. 4 car garage. $2,875,000.

UNDER CONTRACT

NEW HOME WITH BROAD BLUE RIDGE VIEWS

Barn house style designed to take advantage of the views. Almost every room has them. Master suites on both floors. Apartment over the three care garage. Level and open 5.6 acres for play, gardening and animals. 20 minutes west of town. $1,600,000.

UNDER CONTRACT

FORMER MODEL HOME HAS EVERY UPGRADE

Pristine condition and open, light spaces are so appealing. Spacious kitchen is wide open to both the sun and family rooms. Walkout terrace level. Over 6000 finished sq ft. Common area on three sides for extra beauty and nature. 10 Minutes to downtown and UVA. $975,000.

ON 2 ACRES CLOSE TO TOWN

Remodeled eat-in kitchen opens to family room and large deck. Walkout terrace level provides the fourth bedroom, third full bath, office and rec room. Tucked away on a quiet cul de sac street. Fenced yard with cool tree fort for play. $545,000.

Jim McVay

For 40 years I’ve supported local arts, early childhood education, environmental groups, my alma maters Dartmouth College and The Darden School at UVA and am a 290 unit blood donor. Associate Broker • Charlottesville Realtor since 1978 434-962-3420 • jim@jimmcvay.com Roy Wheeler Realty Co. 1100 Dryden Ln. Charlottesville, VA 22903