Beverly Drive

Split-level type house with such Modernist features as a concrete block lower level containing a garage and attached carport with metal pip posts, asbestos siding, tar-and-gravel roofs, and a large interior chimney. Joseph D. Rivers, an architect at George W. Carr Associates, was the owner-occupant in 1950.

This house was built for the Dr. William and May Singletary family in 1957 and they remained here until 1996. This and a number of other houses on Beverly Drive represent a departure from the classical revival style houses that dominate the Durham suburbs.

When Mildred and Dillard Teer decided to leave their traditional home in Trinity Park and build on their Beverly Drive lot, they were not wedded to a style concept, but they knew they wanted an open floor plan with public spaces flowing into one another. They took their ideas to architect and friend, Robert Winston Carr. Carr, no stranger to the colonial and other revival styles that were the bread and butter of the firm founded by his father, George Watts Carr, determined that this project demanded something other than a traditional style house. Instead, Carr chose a modernist design that is now called the American International or Contemporary Style. Its emphasis on long horizontals and irregular massing allowed him to fully exploit the dramatic, steeply sloping site.

The Stewart and Jane Alexander house was built by Jane Alexander's brother from Tennessee. This ranch brick house has a 2-story center block, slab floor, a flat roof, a recessed entrance, and a 1-story left side wing. In 2000, the house was sold to and renovated by Douglas "Casey" Herbert and Kathleen Bennett. The original architect is unknown, but Carrboro architect Giles Blunden designed replacement casement windows and a latticework brick wall that screens the original carport at the left side.