April 4, 2019/Moyaone Reserve Accokeek MD /by Mid-Century Mike

Coming Soon: Caspeer Neer-Designed MCM in Moyaone Reserve

Here is a first look at a new listing I having coming to the market in a few weeks. It is a renovated custom 1958 mid-century modern by Caspeer Neer on more than 6 acres in Moyaone Reserve. The renovated house, which features Pedini kitchen cabinets and updated glass throughout, also has a four-car garage and A-frame studio/workshop. Neer, who was a long time resident of Hollin Hills, graduated from Harvard’s School of Design during the time that Marcel Breuer and I.M. Pei were professors.

Moyaone Reserve is a special neighborhood in Accokeek, MD, just 20 miles south of Capitol Hill. The heavily wooded community of 180 homes is situated along the Potomac River contiguous to Piscataway National Park, home of the National Colonial Farm, and to The Hard Bargain Farm, an environmental education center. The homes in the community–many are mid-century modern and contemporary styles–were first built after World War II by the likes of architects of Neer, Charles Wagner and Charles Goodman. All the lots in the community are five acres or more and are protected by federal scenic easements to protect the view shed from Mt. Vernon, just across the Potomac River. The Moyaone offers a community pool and garden, as well as a friendly neighborhood. Learn more at Moyaone Modern.

Please contact me for more information.

April 29, 2017/Bannockburn Bethesda MD /by Mid-Century Mike

Today: Rare Chance to See Breuer House in Bethesda

You have a rare chance today to see the only Marcel Breuer-designed home in the Washington area as well as seven other homes in the Bannockburn neighborhood in Bethesda. “The Seymour Krieger House, built in 1958 and placed on the Historic Register in 2008, is significant for its architectural and landscape designs, the product of master architect … Breuer and master landscape designer Dan Kiley,” the guide for the tour says.

The house tour, which will benefit Glen Echo Park, will be held Sunday, April 30, from 12 p.m. to 4 p.m. You can purchase tickets here. Other modernist homes on the tour include a home by Francis Donald Lethbridge and one by Alex Morse, which has been redone by Mark McInturff.

June 9, 2016/Mid-Century Modern /by Mid-Century Mike

Help Save Breuer’s API Institute in Reston

Please sign this petition by June 13 to help try and save the American Press Institute (API) in Reston by modern master Marcel Breuer and Hamilton P. Smith. The API closed up shop and joined with the Newspaper Association of America, which is based in Arlington. The move left API’s 1972-1978 brutalist headquarters vacant, sitting on 4.6 park-like acres in the Northern Virginia suburbs. The 42,334 square foot office building is located at 11690 Sunrise Valley Dr. A developer wants to build townhouses on the spot amid the Metro expansion to Reston.

On June 16, the Fairfax County Planning Commission will make a final decision on a local developer’s application for rezoning the property from business to residential and a demolition permit. The Fairfax County Planning and Zoning staff has recommended to the Fairfax Planning Commission its approval of the rezoning application and demolition of the building.

The group, Fairfax Library Advocates, is urging that the building be repurposed as as a regional library.

Remember, please sign this petition by Monday, June 13.

May 19, 2014/Mid-Century Modern /by Mid-Century Mike

From the Archive: The Gropius House

To mark Walter Gropius’ birthday (May 18, 1883) I thought I would pull this post out from the archive. When 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.

July 22, 2013/Mid-Century Modern /by Mid-Century Mike

Modern Snapshot: Breuer’s Vacant American Press Institute

In early 2012, the 66 year-old American Press Institute in Reston closed up shop and joined with the Newspaper Association of America, which is based in Arlington. The move left API’s 1972-1978 brutalist headquarters by Marcel Breuer and Hamilton P. Smith vacant, sitting on 4.6 park-like acres in the Northern Virginia suburbs. The 42,334 square foot office building is located at 11690 Sunrise Valley Dr. Cushman & Wakefiled is representing the property and pitching that it is located close to two of the new Metro stops coming to Reston. What will be the fate of this brutalist building by one of the great modern masters?

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.”