|
 The Quiet House was designed and constructed by Alex Reed, teaching
assistant to Josef Albers and a former student, in memory of Mark
Dreier. Mark, the nine year old son of Theodore “Ted” and Barbara
“Bobbie” Dreier, was killed in a vehicle accident on October 8, 1941
near the Lake Eden dam.
Using money sent to the Dreiers at the time of Mark’s death and some
of his own money, Reed constructed the small building almost
single-handedly, gathering the stone from the college property,
cutting the wood, and weaving curtains for the windows. Mary
Gregory, who taught woodworking, helped with the construction and
designed and constructed benches.
The Quiet House was used for meditation and for services such as
weddings and memorials.
| “Before he left for a CPS Camp in West Compton, New Hampshire, Alex
Reed finished the stone ‘quiet house’ he designed and built as a
memorial to Mark Dreier. The house was built almost single-handed;
Reed cut the wood, laid the stone, and wove the curtains at its
windows. He felt that there was much value in doing constructive
work during a time of destruction. He means the building to be used
as a quiet place for quiet thinking, a place to get away, if only
for an hour, from the pressure and busyness of the College.” BMC Bulletin-Newsletter, January 1943. |
2007: Camp Rockmont has constructed a second story. The original
Quiet House space is used as a
dormitory. Photographs: Courtesy
North Carolina State Archives: Quiet House, Mary Gregory Papers
(interiors) Black Mountain College Papers.
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