CityView Magazine - Fayetteville, NC
Issue link: http://www.epageflip.net/i/9338
the ceilings to simple wooden shelving. The peaceful sound of the fountain can be heard inside the master bedroom. A wall once protected the Richard Sheetz Licensed Optician Fine Eyewear & Sunglasses Gucci Silhouette Casanova Christian Dior John Varvatos Carolina Herrera Kazuo Kawasaki & Others 910.221.0191 201 S. McPherson Church Road | Suite 105 in McPherson Square fountain from public view, but a few neighborhood teenagers and a fender bender put an end to that several years ago. The current owners plan to bring it back. It was one of Gibson’s plans, too. He had just begun to tackle the landscaping in earnest – another important component to contemporary design – when a stranger drove up. Gibson was working in the front yard when Brad Setser pulled up in the drive and inquired about the architect. This was a story too long to tell at the curb, so Gibson invited Setser inside for an impromptu tour. “You know,” Gibson said, eventually, “if you have the money, you can have this house.” A few hours later Gibson called his wife at work and told her, “I just sold the house.” To tell the truth, the couple had actually tried to sell the house before to no avail. They were spending more time at their beach home and retirement didn’t seem too far away. In fact, they were headed to the beach the very day Setser stopped by. Gibson and Devane handed over the keys with these instructions: “There’s a bottle of wine on the bar. Y’all spend the weekend. We’ll be back on Sunday.” But Setser didn’t even need the weekend to think about it. “We want this house,” he said. And that’s how, earlier this year, the house found new owners: Brad Setser and Tal McCord. They, too, are students of modern architecture. They also love music and the theater. They often do not love the notoriety of the “Beirut bunker.” “They slow down, cruise by,” McCord 34|Special Issue • 2009 said, “it’s like a tourist attraction.” But like Gibson and Devane, the house was love at first sight. Gibson says everything happens for a reason, even giving up the house that he loves.CV F