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Home Finance
Company. UTM: 17
513532E 3897371N Erected in 1958 as the
new location for Home Finance Company, this building was a prize-winning
design by J. N. Pease Company, a local architect and engineering firm.
The architect of the Home
Finance Company was J. Norman Pease, Jr. (1921-2009). Trained in Modernist
principles at Auburn University, the younger Pease joined his father’s
firm after World War Two and replaced Beaux Arts-trained James Stenhouse
as chief designer. Until his retirement in
1989, Norman Pease, Jr. directed or designed a long list of projects,
including the First Union Tower, the Duke Power Company Computer Center,
Marshall Park and the master plan for the Charlotte-Mecklenburg
Government Center, the master plan for Central Piedmont Community
College, the Dana Fine Arts Building at Queens College, and the Home
Finance Company Building, for which he won the first design competition
sponsored by the North Carolina Institute of Architects. He was
also the first recipient (1988) of the Kamphoefner Prize for
Architectural Excellence given by the North Carolina Architectural
Foundation. The structure
exhibits many of the best characteristics of Modernism. Devoid of
applied ornamentation and exploiting contemporary materials, the Home
Finance Building has expansive windows to allow large amounts of light
to enter the second floor offices. The stairway and hallway are on
the outside of the building, thereby allowing a more efficient use of
interior space. Originally, the lower floor was used for customer
parking. The concept was that customers could park on the lower
level rather than needing a large area paved outside the building.
Unfortunately, the bottom floor has since been enclosed for additional
office space and a parking lot has been built, thereby depriving the
Home Finance Company Building of some of its integrity. |
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