Renowned Landscape Architect To Relocate to Atlantic Beach
Posted: 10-04-2007 : ATLANTIC BEACH, N.C.

After 52 years of living and working at Water Garden Office Park in Raleigh and watching his landmark projects mature around the state, master landscape architect Richard C. Bell will pull up his roots in Raleigh and replant them in Atlantic Beach, NC, in October. His seaside office will be located in the Tar Landing Villas he master-planned and landscaped in 1972, where he and his wife, Mary Jo Bell, former owner of the Garden Gallery in Raleigh, have maintained a vacation home since then.

Now the award-winning practitioner says he's excited about bringing his expertise and experience in design and environmentalism to bear on more coastal property by relocating permanently to the beach.

"We did two beautiful projects in Atlantic Beach years ago," he said recently as he was packing up his office in one of the two exemplary modern buildings at Water Garden. "One was Tar Landing, nestled in the sand dunes of eastern Atlantic Beach, and another was 8-1/2 Marina Village, which is nestled in the last dredge-and-fill area on the sound. Both respected the natural conditions and were environmentally sensitive."

Bell, a fellow of the American Society of Landscape Architects and a fellow of the American Academy in Rome, began developing his wedge-shaped 11 acres along US 70/Glenwood Avenue in Raleigh 1955. It became an environmentally sensitive place on which to live and work, and a launch pad from which he could help establish the profession of landscape architecture in this state. He recently sold the property to Nick Francis and Matt Somner, who plan to redevelop the property into a senior active residential community.

"We've been here [in Water Garden] for 52 years and the maintenance of these 11 acres has become just too great for us," he said, explaining why he sold the property. "Besides, my wife and I planned on Tar Landing as being the place we'd go to some day back in 1972. It's time to make the move and start a new chapter in our lives."

Born and raised in Manteo, Dick Bell first came to Raleigh to attend North Carolina State University (before it was a university), where he studied landscape architecture and assisted with the actual master plan of the university. He graduated in 1950 and, at age 21, was the youngest person ever to receive the prestigious Rome Prize Fellowship, which allowed him to study at the American Academy in Rome from 1951-53. Afterwards, he apprenticed under renowned landscape architects before returning to Raleigh to start his practice and to begin building Water Garden, one of Raleigh's first mixed-use developments.

In his practice, he received numerous state and national awards for his projects, which can be seen from the coast (including Figure Eight Island) to the mountains (including the Stone Mountain and Pilot Mountain master plans). He was the very first recipient of the Award for Distinguished Professional Achievement from the North Carolina Chapter of the American Society of Landscape Architects and a recipient of the Sir Walter Raleigh Award for Community Appearance in 2000 for the many projects he has created in Raleigh.

He has also used Water Garden as a living example of his belief that buildings should tread lightly upon the land and exist in harmony with the natural terrain and natural resources. Tucked among the stately hardwoods and pines, nestled with, rather than against, the landscape's natural grade and carefully preserved wetlands, Water Garden's contemporary buildings have always been completely at ease in their environment.

In the late 1960s, Dick Bell conceived of and produced the first Garden Show at the State Fairgrounds in Raleigh, which was a boon to the nursery business and drew attendance from across the state.

In the 1970s, Bell served as president of the North Carolina Land Use Congress, as a member of the Raleigh-Wake Land Use Code Committee, as a member of the Wake County Planning Board, and as a member of the N.C. Task Force for Environmental Education. From 1989 to 1995, he served on the Raleigh Planning Commission.

Dick and Mary Jo Bell have supported the arts in Raleigh for five decades. In the early 1960s, they opened the Garden Gallery on their property, which became a sort of cultural center in the city. The Bells introduced and advocated many now-well-known North Carolina artists to the community, such as the late sculptor Horace Farlowe and late painter Joe Cox. Citizens flocked to their gallery openings and other cultural soirees to mix and mingle with artists, architects, writers, musicians, and performing artists.

Besides working with residents and developers in the coastal region as a landscape architect, Bell says he and his wife hope to become actively involved in the cultural community in Cartaret County.

For more information, Bell can be reached at 919-449-8415, or contact Kim Weiss, blueplate pr, at 919-272-8615.