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Local figure

Don Stewart

Don Stewart, born in 1926 and raised in Ohio, worked in the Webb brothers' Chapel Hill office while earning a master's degree in regional planning at UNC. Licensed in 1956, he became James Webb's partner in City Planning and Architecture Associates and brought Frank Lloyd Wright's organic ideals to Chapel Hill's modern architecture.

Source: NC Digital Collections: M. Ruth Little, The Town and Gown Architecture of Chapel Hill, 1795-1975 (2004), p. 87

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Life and Orange County connections

Storylines this person is part of, in date order. Each opens its own page, with its events date by date.

StorylineA home for the Chapel Hill Public Library, 1958–19681958–1968 · 5 events · Chapel Hill's first public library opened on December 15, 1958 in the east wing of the Hill House, with about 4,500 books. In November 1964 the State Library Commission again turned down the town's request for a share of new federal library money, because its library did not belong to a county or regional system. In 1965 voters approved a library bond of up to $150,000 by 1,079 to 65. Around 1965 the library committee kept Don Stewart and his modern plan, though its head had asked him about a traditional design. His 1966 building on East Franklin Street used sloping native stone walls and stained wood to fit among the older faculty houses. When the library moved to Pritchard Park in 1994, the building became home to the town museum. StorylineBuilding Carmichael Auditorium, 1964–19651964–1965 · 4 events · Work began in 1964 on a new basketball arena beside Woollen Gymnasium, which the University named for William D. Carmichael Jr. Don Stewart's design, with a roof carried on steel beams and tie rods, was by one account the largest single-span building in North Carolina. Carmichael Auditorium was first used, still unfinished, for the University Day convocation of October 1965.

Dated events connected with this person, in date order. See these 15 dated events in the chronology →

  1. Don Stewart becomes James Webb's partner in City Planning and Architecture Associates Don Stewart, an Ohio native, worked for James Webb while studying planning at UNC. Once licensed in 1956 he became Webb's partner, and the practice was renamed City Planning and Architecture Associates; Stewart brought Frank Lloyd Wright's organic ideas to its Chapel Hill houses. People: James M. Webb, Don Stewart Place: Chapel HillSearch the index · NC Digital Collections: M. Ruth Little, The Town and Gown Architecture of Chapel Hill, 1795-1975 (2004), p. 87
  2. Don Stewart designs the Kai Jurgenson House on Whitehead Circle Stewart's 1956 house for Kai Jurgenson at 410 Whitehead Circle, one of his early works, blends Bay area regional modernism with the restrained domestic style of Walter Gropius's Harvard circle. The book notes that it won an award. People: Don Stewart Place: 410 Whitehead Circle, Chapel Hill · Also named: Kai JurgensonSearch the index · NC Digital Collections: M. Ruth Little, The Town and Gown Architecture of Chapel Hill, 1795-1975 (2004), p. 88
  3. Dr. John T. Sessions and his wife build a Webb and Stewart house on Morgan Creek Road A split-level modern house designed by James Webb and Don Stewart was built for Dr. John T. Sessions and his wife in Morgan Creek Hills. It was on the School Art Guild tour of homes in the fall of 1958. People: Don Stewart, James M. Webb Place: 700 Morgan Creek Road, Chapel Hill · Also named: John T. SessionsSearch the index · The Chapel Hill Weekly, October 16, 1958, p. 3
  4. Engineer Bob Anderson joins City Planning and Architecture Associates Engineer Bob Anderson joined the Webb and Stewart firm in 1958 and later became Stewart's partner. People: Don Stewart, James M. Webb Place: Chapel Hill · Also named: Bob AndersonSearch the index · NC Digital Collections: M. Ruth Little, The Town and Gown Architecture of Chapel Hill, 1795-1975 (2004), p. 87
  5. The Donald Stewart House is built on Severin Street A 1958 house at 408 Severin Street in Chapel Hill, known as the Donald Stewart House, is listed among Don Stewart's works. It was sold in 1970. Place: Chapel HillSearch the index · NC Modernist: Donald Eugene (Don) Stewart
  6. Don Stewart designs a Japanese-influenced house for Robert and Ruth Mace Around 1960 Stewart's work turned toward Asian models, as in the one-level house he drew for physicist Robert Mace and his wife Ruth at 222 Hillcrest Circle, off East Franklin Street. Its wide roof overhang and the screen beside the entrance have a Japanese cast, and a tall porch shades the south side. People: Don Stewart Place: 222 Hillcrest Circle, Chapel Hill · Also named: Robert Mace, Ruth Mace · Also mentions: East Franklin StreetSearch the index · NC Digital Collections: M. Ruth Little, The Town and Gown Architecture of Chapel Hill, 1795-1975 (2004), p. 88
  7. Don Stewart designs the Bowers-Nelson House in Morgan Creek Hills Built about 1960 at 903 Coker Drive, this small house on a sloping lot is Stewart's most direct borrowing from Japanese houses. Its post-and-beam frame is exposed outside and was first painted in bright colors, and paper shoji screens slide on tracks to divide the rooms. People: Don Stewart Place: 903 Coker Drive, Morgan Creek Hills, Chapel HillSearch the index · NC Digital Collections: M. Ruth Little, The Town and Gown Architecture of Chapel Hill, 1795-1975 (2004), p. 88
  8. The Grand Lodge lays the cornerstone of University Lodge No. 408's new Chapel Hill home The Grand Lodge of North Carolina laid the cornerstone of a new brick home for University Lodge No. 408 of Masons in Chapel Hill, two weeks after ground was broken. The lodge had to leave its uptown quarters in the old Chapel Hill Baptist Church, which had been sold to the Belk-Leggett-Horton store, by January 1. People: Don Stewart Place: Chapel Hill · Also mentions: Chapel Hill Baptist ChurchSearch the index · The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), August 25, 1960, p. 1
  9. Chapel Hill lets contracts for its new central fire station The aldermen authorized contracts of a little over $78,000 for a new central fire station at North Columbia Street and Airport Road, the first unit of a planned municipal center, after about $14,745 was pared from bids that had totaled $92,000. Van Thomas of Siler City got the general contract, with six months to finish the building designed by architect Don Stewart. People: Don Stewart Place: North Columbia Street at Airport Road, Chapel Hill · Also named: Van Thomas · Also mentions: Airport Road, North Columbia StreetSearch the index · The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), January 31, 1963, p. 3
  10. Don Stewart's Carmichael Auditorium is completed as the state's largest single-span building Stewart designed Carmichael Auditorium, finished in 1965, with a roof carried on steel beams held by steel tie rods anchored in the ground. The book says it was the largest single-span building in North Carolina when it was built. People: Don Stewart Place: Carmichael Auditorium, UNC, Chapel HillSearch the index · NC Digital Collections: M. Ruth Little, The Town and Gown Architecture of Chapel Hill, 1795-1975 (2004), p. 91 · Also: The Daily Tar Heel, October 13, 1965, p. 1; The Daily Tar Heel, December 5, 1965, p. 1
  11. Stewart and Anderson build a new office on Estes Drive as Webb stays in the old Methodist church In the mid-1960s Don Stewart and Bob Anderson bought a lot on Estes Drive and built a new office for the firm, while James Webb returned to the old Methodist church on Rosemary Street, the firm's former office, where he worked until he retired. People: James M. Webb, Don Stewart Place: Estes Drive, Chapel Hill · Also named: Bob Anderson · Also mentions: Rosemary StreetSearch the index · NC Digital Collections: M. Ruth Little, The Town and Gown Architecture of Chapel Hill, 1795-1975 (2004), p. 87
  12. Don Stewart designs the Chapel Hill Public Library building on East Franklin Street Around 1965 library committee head Mrs. Richmond P. Bond asked Stewart about a traditional design; he said he was not a traditional architect and suggested Durham's William Van Sprinkle, but the committee kept Stewart and his modern plan. The 1966 building uses sloping native stone walls and stained wood to fit among the older faculty houses on East Franklin Street. People: Don Stewart Place: East Franklin Street, Chapel Hill · Also named: Mrs. Richmond P. Bond, William Van SprinkleNC Digital Collections: M. Ruth Little, The Town and Gown Architecture of Chapel Hill, 1795-1975 (2004), p. 91
Show all 15 dated events
  1. Don Stewart designs a house on stilts over Booker Creek for his partner Bob Anderson Stewart's 1968 house for Bob Anderson at 601 Brookview Drive in Lake Shore Hills sets a steep-gabled living pavilion on stilts over rocky Booker Creek, linked by a raised kitchen bridge to a bedroom wing on the hillside above. People: Don Stewart Place: 601 Brookview Drive, Lake Shore Hills, Chapel Hill · Also named: Bob AndersonSearch the index · NC Digital Collections: M. Ruth Little, The Town and Gown Architecture of Chapel Hill, 1795-1975 (2004), p. 88
  2. Don Stewart designs the Chapel Hill Professional Village Stewart's 1968 office complex of one and two stories rests on heavy stone supports, with covered parking and planting built into the design and a bridge through its middle that echoes Frank Lloyd Wright. People: Don Stewart Place: Chapel Hill Professional Village, Chapel HillSearch the index · NC Digital Collections: M. Ruth Little, The Town and Gown Architecture of Chapel Hill, 1795-1975 (2004), p. 91
  3. Don Stewart designs the State Employees Credit Union office on Pittsboro Street Stewart's 1971 credit union building on Pittsboro Street uses stone walls and roof planes that seem to float above them, a mild form of modernism. People: Don Stewart Place: Pittsboro Street, Chapel HillSearch the index · NC Digital Collections: M. Ruth Little, The Town and Gown Architecture of Chapel Hill, 1795-1975 (2004), p. 91

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Map tiles © OpenStreetMap contributors. Site locations from the N.C. State Historic Preservation Office survey, Open Orange, Orange County GIS, OpenStreetMap and a few other published sources named on each site’s page; town and community pins show approximate locations.

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