July 31, 2009/Mid-Century Modern /by Mid-Century Mike

D.C.’s Taylor Gourmet Featured in Dwell

Taylor is an industrial modern take
on a Philly sub shop.

Nothing in my book beats good design and top notch food. I like when I can combine my two passions.

On Thursday, a friend and I headed to Taylor Gourmet for lunch and found multiple copies of Dwell on the counter of the industrial modern, upscale and green take on a Philadelphia deli. I was glad to see the latest issue because I was still waiting for mine in the mail.

The reason for the Dwells in the deli? The modern mag’s city life issue featuring cool apartments did a spread on the living spaces of Taylor owners David Mazza and Casey Patten. Like the good old days, their living spaces are right above their sandwich shop, which was designed by local firm Grupo7.

See the former bakery, crack house and hair salon transformed here.

A well designed space deserves a well
designed and tasty sandwich.

July 29, 2009/Southwest /by Mid-Century Mike

WashTimes on Pool, Burgers at Lapidus’ Capitol Skyline Hotel in Southwest

MCM architecture and burgers in Southwest

The Washington Times follows the Post’s recent piece on the hip pool scene at the Morris Lapidus-designed mid-century modern Capitol Skyline Hotel in Southwest. Admission price on Sunday’s allow you to hang at the pool, which was designed to see and be seen, and to chow down on a burger grilled poolside by Spike Mendelsohn of Good Stuff Eatery. I can go for a burger, fries and shake right about now.

July 21, 2009/Mid-Century Modern /by Mid-Century Mike

Modern Snapshot: Eugene Meyer School on 11th St., N.W.

Cool zig–zag lines on this mid-century elementary school named after Eugene Meyer, who bought the Washington Post in 1933 and was the father of legendary Post publisher Katherine Graham.

July 16, 2009/Mid-Century Modern /by Mid-Century Mike

RIP: Julius Shulman

Sad news from California. LA Times: “Julius Shulman, whose luminous photographs of homes and buildings brought fame to a number of mid-20th century Modernist architects and made him a household name in the architectural world, died Wednesday night. He was 98.”

Thanks for the images, Julius. Listien to a 2005 NPR interview here.

July 13, 2009/Mid-Century Modern /by Mid-Century Mike

The Modern Embassies of D.C.

Writer Aaron Britt, an editor at Dwell, posts on the magazine’s blog about the modern embassies he saw while in D.C. in the spring, including the Danish Embassy, which I wrote about here. Larry Van Dyne in a Washingtonian piece said embassies “were pioneers in introducing Washington to modern architecture—a trend begun by Denmark, Switzerland, and Germany in the 1950s and ’60s and carried on recently by Brazil, France, Sweden, Canada, Finland, Italy, Switzerland, and Turkey.”

Britt provides a Google map plotting the locations so you can figure out a good route to see these modern diplomatic sites.

July 12, 2009/Mid-Century Modern /by Mid-Century Mike

Post Highlight Jacobsen’s SAS Royal

Jacobsen’s Room 606 in the SAS Royal Hotel.
Photo by Richard Moross.

The Post‘s Travel section has a nice piece on Arne Jacobsen’s SAS Royal Hotel in Copenhagen, which is preparing for its 5oth anniversary. Request Room 606 if you go. It’s the only part of the hotel that is left exactly as it was when the hotel opened in 1959.

July 8, 2009/Mid-Century Modern /by Mid-Century Mike

Visiting an Icon: The Eames House

A shot of the Eames House from the meadow.

Los Angeles—The first thing that hits you as you walk up the long driveway to the Eames House (Case Study House #8, 1949) in Pacific Palisades is the pungent, sweet aroma of flowers. As you turn the corner, you first see the studio (1,000 square-feet) and then the house (1,500 square feet). The buildings, which are both 20 feet wide and 17 feet high with loft spaces, are separated by a courtyard. The structures are set back on the lot, with a large meadow reaching to the edge of the cliff, which overlooks the Pacific Ocean.

The house is left as it was when Ray Eames died in 1988. (Charles died 10 years earlier to the day.) While you are not allowed inside the house or even to take pictures of inside the house, the sliding glass doors are open by the living room and kitchen, allowing the yellowing George Nelson lamp hanging from the 17-foot ceiling to sway gently in the Pacific breeze. The linoleum tiles put over the concrete floors a few years after the house was built are cracked. Books and other household items in the original kitchen remain frozen in time. The house is filled with–big surprise–various Eames chairs.

The original design for the house, which aimed at meeting the needs of a married couple who were designers and essentially apartment dwellers, was created in 1945 by Charles and Eero Saarinen. The design was known as the Bridge House, “a single-story, steel-framed box cantilevered from the hillside on two slender columns, floating across the meadow,” according to a brochure I received at the house. With materials short because of World War II, the pre-fabricated, off-the-shelf materials for the house were not delivered until late 1948. During the delay, Ray and Charles fell in love with the land and decided to create two structures parallel to the meadow rather than one building that would slice the meadow in half.

A shot of the living-room side of the house
with the studio in background.

The studio with orange-painted panel over door.

View of the Pacific from the meadow.

Today the house is administered by the Eames Foundation. You can take an exterior tour of the house my making an appointment. The tour is free, but a $5 donation is suggested. When I arrived, there were no other visitors at the house so I had a one-on-one tour/discussion with David—one of the Eames House docents—who is an architect. One day a year, Eames Foundation patron members can actually tour inside the home.

While the Eames House is not for sale, the Case Study House #9, designed by Charles Eames and Saarinen for John Entenza, the editor and publisher of Arts and Architecture magazine and the father of the Case Study House Program, is still for sale for $14 million. The house, which is next door to the Eames House, now serves as the guest house for a massive newer modern home by Barry Berkus. I peeked over the fence to get this shot below.

Case Study House #9 in the background
can be yours for $14 million.

If you are planning to go to LA make sure to make reservations to visit one of the most iconic homes—mid-century modern or not—in the world. Entenza said that the Eames House became so iconic because the house “represented an attempt to state an idea rather than a fixed architectural pattern.” Yes, it could be that. The beautiful meadow, abundant flowers and eucalyptus trees and killer view does not hurt either.

July 4, 2009/Mid-Century Modern /by Mid-Century Mike

Happy 4th: MCM Treats From the Beach

Hope everyone had a good 4th no matter where you are. Here are some of my favorite MCM houses and buildings from the Ventnor/Margate area at the Jersey shore. I snapped these on my bike ride this morning. While many of the the homes are more traditional in nature, there are a few MCM and modern finds. There are are also a lot of nice MCM churches and synagogues. I love the use of the brick to make the crosses on the church at the bottom of the post.

July 2, 2009/Alcoa Care-Free Home, Charles Goodman, Preservation /by Mid-Century Mike

Charles Goodman Included in New Canaan’s Modern Home Study

Charles Goodman

Launched nearly two years ago, the “Modern Homes Survey: New Canaan Connecticut” is now available online. The survey catalogues 91 homes built between 1939 and 1979 and has bios on 31 architects who helped turn New Canaan into one of the meccas of modernism in the country.

D.C.’s very own Charles Goodman is included for his design of the Alcoa Care-Free Home, one of which was built in New Canaan. Unfortunately, the 1958 home looks like it has been altered beyond recognition.

July 2, 2009/Mid-Century Modern /by Mid-Century Mike

Apartment Zero Closing, RIP Good Eye

Good Eye has closed.

The Post reports this morning that Apartment Zero is closing its Penn Quarter store and will open a web store and beef up its design services. This comes a few months after Good Eye, the long-time purveyor of vintage mid-century modern design on Wisconsin Avenue, quietly shuttered its doors. I had heard the news, but had not seen it reported anywhere. I finally went to see for myself. It’s true.

In these challenging times, please support Modern Capital’s local sponsors for your mid-century modern and modern needs.

Month: July 2009