September 18, 2012/Preservation /by Mid-Century Mike

Preserving DC’s MCM Architecture

Interested in what is happening in efforts to preserve Washignton’s mid-century modern architecture? If you are, pick up tickets for an Oct. 4 event at the National Building Museum (NBM) that will explore the issue. Six years ago, the D.C. Preservation League, working with Robinson & Associates, a research and consulting firm specializing in architectural history and preservation, took a comprehensive look at Washington’s mid-20th-century architecture, such as the Pan American Health Organization building by Uruguayan architect Roman Fresnedo Siri (above). D.C.’s Historic Preservation office published a 20-page brochure based on the larger study “DC Modern: A Context for Modernism in the District of Columbia. The publication examines the rise of modernism in a more classic architectural town, the urban development of Southwest and the reaction against modernism in the city.

The NBM panel of architects, developers, and preservationists will look back at Washington’s history of mid-century design and discuss the progress made on preserving this building stock, while upgrading it for current use. Panelists include Graham Davidson, FAIA, Hartman-Cox Architects, former Washington Post architecture critic Benjamin Forgey (moderator) and David Maloney, State Histroic Preservation Officer, D.C. Office of Planning.

September 12, 2012/Carderock Springs /by Mid-Century Mike

Carderock Springs Celebrates 50 Years

Congratulations to the residents of Carderock Springs. The mid-century modern neighborhood of celebrated its 50th anniversary this past Saturday night. The event was dubbed, “50 Years of Modern Living. A community celebrates!” Edmund J. Bennett, 92, the builder/developer of the Bethesda community, made a surprise visit from Arizona via video link on the community’s big screen TV. He was introduced by his son Bruce and welcomed by Phil Rider, the president of the Carderock Springs Citizens Association, which sponsored the event attended by 225 current and former residents. Bennett built the 275-home National Register of Historic Places-designated neighborhood and between 1962 and 1966. It was designed by local modernist architectural firm Keys, Lethbridge, and Condon. The evening included a slide show of the community’s early years, displays of memorabilia, a trivia contest and dancing until midnight. Here’s to another 50 years.

September 9, 2012/Frank Lloyd Wright /by Mid-Century Mike

Event: When a Wright House is No Longer a Home

The Darwin Martin House in Buffalo. Photo Courtesy of Biff Henrich, IMG_INK.

What happens to a Frank Lloyd Wright-designed house when it is no longer a home? A panel of experts will explore this question at an event Thursday, Sept. 20 at The Lyceum in Alexandria. Case studies of two houses will be explored in “From Private to Public: New Uses for Wright Houses.” The event, which starts at 7 p.m., was made possible by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Interpretation and Education Fund of The National Trust for Historic Preservation. See ticket info and more details here.

Mary Roberts, executive director of the Martin House Complex (1903-05) in Buffalo, New York, will address the restoration of the Martin House as well as the 2009 Toshiko Mori-designed Greatbatch Pavilion visitor center, a sensitive addition to the National Historic Landmark property.

Architect Patrick Mahoney, president of the Graycliff Conservancy, Inc., is the author of Frank Lloyd Wright’s Walter V. Davidson House: An Examination of a Buffalo Home and Its Cousins from Coast to Coast. He has been involved with initiatives to find an alternative use for the once residential property.

Architectural historian Jane King Hession, former president of the Frank Lloyd Wright Building Conservancy and author of Frank Lloyd Wright in New York: The Plaza Years, 1954-59, will moderate the session.

September 6, 2012/Mid-Century Modern /by Mid-Century Mike

Modern Snapshot: The Gropius House

When Walter Gropius first came to the United States in 1937 to teach at Harvard, he and his wife rented a Colonial in Lincoln, Mass. Thankfully, philanthropist Helen Storrow provided Gropius with four acres of land and provided financing so the founder of the Bauhaus could construct a proper modern house for his family, albeit with touches of New England. “In designing the house, Gropius combined traditional elements of New England architecture such as clapboard, brick, and fieldstone, with new, innovative materials, some of them industrial, such as glass block, acoustical plaster, and chromed banisters, along with the latest technology in fixtures,” according to a history of the house by Historic New England, which owns and operates the property. “The design of the Gropius House is consistent with Bauhaus philosophies of simplicity, functionality, economy, geometry, and aesthetic beauty determined by materials rather than applied ornamentation.”

A shot below of the entrance, protected by a wall of glass block. The curved stairway leads to the room Gropius’ daughter, Ati, who wanted her own entrance. The window near the stairs is Gropius’ office so he could keep an eye on her comings and goings.

Unfortunately, pictures are not permitted inside the house. The interior and the furnishings are kept closely to how Gropius and his wife, Ise, maintained the house. (Ise lived there until she died in 1983; Walter died in 1969.) Gropius’ eyeglasses sit on his desk in his office while the collection of early furniture by Bauhaus alum and neighbor Marcel Breuer is on full display. The Womb chair in the picture of the living below was given to Gropius on his 70th birthday by Eero Saarinen.

Ati wanted a room with no ceiling. Her father designed a deck off her second-story bedroom.

The Japanese-inspired garden in the back of the house was planted by Ise in 1957 after a trip to Asia.

A view of the front of the house from the apple orchard.

Below is a shot of Marcel Breuer’s house just down the block. It is privately owned.

September 3, 2012/Charles Goodman /by Mid-Century Mike

Goodman Townhomes in DC, Reston

Hope everyone had a good summer. Not many new listings have hit the market during the “dog days” but we should see an increase in listings in the coming weeks. I will be listing a spectacular expanded Charles Goodman-designed home in Hollin Hills later this month. If you are looking for a Goodman townhome, here are couple listings. This barrel-roof unit in River Park in Southwest was just listed for $419K, while this foreclosure in Hickory Cluster in Reston is back on the market at $310K after being under contract.

Month: September 2012