Ritchie House

Born in 1926, Charles (Chuck) Reed Jr was a Florida architect who worked primarily in the modernist tradition. After serving in World War II, Reed enrolled in the University of Miami School of Architecture. He graduated in the second class of the newly founded school, and went on to practicing architecture. He worked for Igor Polevitzky, a South Florida architect who he greatly admired. His time with Polevitzky became the basis for his architectural foundations, as he learned more in depth about how the design buildings that respond uniquely to the sub-tropical South Florida climate. He began his own practice in the mid-1950's in Hollywood, Florida. While he did not classify his work as belonging to any category or style, his work is classified as mid-century, although he called his work organic and a reinterpretation of residential homes. He explored creative ways to address the South Florida climate and environment with whimsy, as well as being sensitive to the particulars of the landscape. He was always cognizant of hurricane design and was one of the first South Florida architects to implement reinforced masonry construction. He retried in 1997 where he relocated to North Carolina, and he passed in his home in 2022. He left behind a variety of work in South Florida, primarily in Hollywood, Florida.