Jon Condoret


Jon Andre Condoret was a French American architect who infused North Carolina modernist architecture with European sensibility. Along with the works by Harwell Hamilton Harris, Henry L. Kamphoefner, Eduardo Catalano, George Matsumoto and others, Condoret's designs define the architectural demeanor of a U.S. state that has the forth largest concentration of modernist houses after California, New York and Florida. According to his daughter, architect Arielle Schechter, Condoret's architecture brings “the natural world into homes,” embraces “the principles of passive solar design,” and uses “textures and materials in delightfully surprising ways.”

Life, education and career

Condoret studied at L'École Spéciale d'Architecture in Paris from 1955 to 1959, where he received his diploma in 1959. In 1962, he and his wife and children fled the Algerian Revolution. After fleeing Algeria, Condoret worked for Archie Royal Davis from then until 1967. In 1967 he worked as Winn/Condoret Architects with partner Louis Sumner Winn, Jr.. Before finally going out on his own, Condoret worked for Don Eugene Stewart at City Planning and Architecture Associates. After these three first jobs, Condoret designed modern buildings in North Carolina, especially in Chapel Hill, NC and Chatham County. He was Senior Architect for Fearrington Village in Chatham County, and is responsible for a lot of the buildings there. Condoret died on August 8, 2010 in his house in Fearrington Village.

Buildings and projects