Mar 25, 2010
National Register of Historic Places - Cecil and Hermione Alexander House (Shenandoah)
Statement of Significant: The Cecil and Hermione Alexander House is significant in the area of architecture as the work of a master architect and because it is an outstanding example of modern architecture in Atlanta and Georgia. In 1957, Cecil Alexander, a leading modern architect in Atlanta, his wife Hermione, and their children moved into their new home in northwest Atlanta. Designed by Alexander, the modern house is striking for its circular plan and its sensitivity to the wooded hilltop site. The Alexander house is a significant work of modern architecture because of its circular plan, innovative use of space, and its use of modern materials and technology, such as sheet-glass walls and the folded- plate roof. The Alexander house is among the state's best examples of modernism constructed in the decades after World War II. The Alexander house was featured in Progressive Architecture in 1959 and LIFE magazine in 1957 and 1959. The Alexander house is among a small group of houses in Georgia designed by modern architects in the middle of the 20th century. These unusual houses served as laboratories for architects to experiment with new ideas in materials, form, and methods of construction. These houses include elements of modernism, but can seldom be described as International Style. Paul M. Heffernan, director of the School of Architecture at the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta (Georgia Tech) from 1956 to 1975, redesigned a Craftsman-style bungalow to serve as his campus residence and as a showplace for his philosophy of modern architecture. Macon-architect Ellamae Ellis League was among the few women architects in Georgia before World War II. League trained through correspondence courses and operated her own small architecture office. The split-level house she designed for her family in 1940 is clad in California redwood siding and reflects her knowledge of residential building traditions that were popular on the West Coast, though not so well known in Georgia. Mark Garrison Hampton, an internationally renowned Florida architect, designed a house at 5614 Sweetbriar Circle in the Fairway Oaks subdivision of Savannah in 1959. Designed for Albert Weis, who owned and managed a local movie theater chain, the house reflects the philosophy of the Sarasota School of Architecture, which was practiced along the Gulf Coast of Florida in the 1950s. The boxy, steel-framed house features glass-curtain walls, sliding doors, wood sunshades, verandahs, and patios, and is representative of a regional style of modernism sometimes called "Florida Modern." Cecil Alexander was born in Atlanta in 1918. He studied architecture at Georgia Tech, Yale University, and the Graduate School of Design at Harvard University, where he studied under modern masters Walter Gropius and Marcel Breuer. In 1948, Alexander returned to Atlanta where he worked for the firm Toombs and Creighton on the Rich's Store for Homes, one of the city's first International Style buildings. That same year, he formed a partnership with Bernard Rothschild. In 1958, Alexander and Rothschild merged with Finch, Barnes and Paschal to form FABRAP, one of the most progressive architectural firms in Atlanta. FABRAP specialized in corporate headquarters and large- scale venues, such as sports stadiums. In 1985, FABRAP merged with the Rosser engineering firm to form Rosser FABRAP International. In 1985, Cecil Alexander retired as a full-time architect. He periodically collaborated with Atlanta architect John Portman, including projects associated with the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta. Alexander's lifelong interest in racial equality is reflected in his proposed design for the Georgia state flag in 2000. Alexander's design, which removed Confederate imagery, was controversial and served as the state flag for only two years from 2001 to 2003. In 2000, the American Institute of Architects presented Alexander with the Whitney M. Young, Jr. award for his achievements in race relations. Cecil Alexander lives in Atlanta, Georgia.
National Register of Historic Places - Cecil and Hermione Alexander House (Shenandoah)
Statement of Significant: The Cecil and Hermione Alexander House is significant in the area of architecture as the work of a master architect and because it is an outstanding example of modern architecture in Atlanta and Georgia. In 1957, Cecil Alexander, a leading modern architect in Atlanta, his wife Hermione, and their children moved into their new home in northwest Atlanta. Designed by Alexander, the modern house is striking for its circular plan and its sensitivity to the wooded hilltop site. The Alexander house is a significant work of modern architecture because of its circular plan, innovative use of space, and its use of modern materials and technology, such as sheet-glass walls and the folded- plate roof. The Alexander house is among the state's best examples of modernism constructed in the decades after World War II. The Alexander house was featured in Progressive Architecture in 1959 and LIFE magazine in 1957 and 1959. The Alexander house is among a small group of houses in Georgia designed by modern architects in the middle of the 20th century. These unusual houses served as laboratories for architects to experiment with new ideas in materials, form, and methods of construction. These houses include elements of modernism, but can seldom be described as International Style. Paul M. Heffernan, director of the School of Architecture at the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta (Georgia Tech) from 1956 to 1975, redesigned a Craftsman-style bungalow to serve as his campus residence and as a showplace for his philosophy of modern architecture. Macon-architect Ellamae Ellis League was among the few women architects in Georgia before World War II. League trained through correspondence courses and operated her own small architecture office. The split-level house she designed for her family in 1940 is clad in California redwood siding and reflects her knowledge of residential building traditions that were popular on the West Coast, though not so well known in Georgia. Mark Garrison Hampton, an internationally renowned Florida architect, designed a house at 5614 Sweetbriar Circle in the Fairway Oaks subdivision of Savannah in 1959. Designed for Albert Weis, who owned and managed a local movie theater chain, the house reflects the philosophy of the Sarasota School of Architecture, which was practiced along the Gulf Coast of Florida in the 1950s. The boxy, steel-framed house features glass-curtain walls, sliding doors, wood sunshades, verandahs, and patios, and is representative of a regional style of modernism sometimes called "Florida Modern." Cecil Alexander was born in Atlanta in 1918. He studied architecture at Georgia Tech, Yale University, and the Graduate School of Design at Harvard University, where he studied under modern masters Walter Gropius and Marcel Breuer. In 1948, Alexander returned to Atlanta where he worked for the firm Toombs and Creighton on the Rich's Store for Homes, one of the city's first International Style buildings. That same year, he formed a partnership with Bernard Rothschild. In 1958, Alexander and Rothschild merged with Finch, Barnes and Paschal to form FABRAP, one of the most progressive architectural firms in Atlanta. FABRAP specialized in corporate headquarters and large- scale venues, such as sports stadiums. In 1985, FABRAP merged with the Rosser engineering firm to form Rosser FABRAP International. In 1985, Cecil Alexander retired as a full-time architect. He periodically collaborated with Atlanta architect John Portman, including projects associated with the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta. Alexander's lifelong interest in racial equality is reflected in his proposed design for the Georgia state flag in 2000. Alexander's design, which removed Confederate imagery, was controversial and served as the state flag for only two years from 2001 to 2003. In 2000, the American Institute of Architects presented Alexander with the Whitney M. Young, Jr. award for his achievements in race relations. Cecil Alexander lives in Atlanta, Georgia.
Mar 25, 2010
Posted Date
Aug 08, 2023
Historical Record Date
Mar 25, 2010
Source Name
National Register of Historic Places
