Modern Capital

1961 Chloethiel Smith Capitol Park Townhouse in Southwest - $418K

2009-11-10T21:41:00.008-05:00

This listing is for a 3/1 townhome by Chloethiel Woodard Smith in Capitol Park, which was the first and largest development built as part of the urban renewal efforts in Southwest. Smith mixed high-rise apartment buildings with townhomes and public spaces landscaped by Daniel U. Kiley, the dean of American landscape architects who also did the landscaping plan for Hollin Hills and worked with Eero Sarrinen. The Capitol Park II Condo Association has a great history of Capitol Park here.

MCM and Southeast Asian Mix

2009-11-08T08:07:00.007-05:00

Modern Capital's friend Kacy from DWR Bethesda and The Inspired Office had her mid-century modern and Southeast Asian decorated pad in Silver Spring featured on Apartment Therapy. I really like the Nelson Bubble lamp sconces over the bedside tables. My wife and I have been thinking about doing that ourselves. Nice work Kacy.

"Visual Acoustics" Premieres in D.C.

2009-11-06T18:26:00.007-05:00

Saw "Visual Acoustics: The Modernism of Julius Shulman" last night. Highly recommend for all D.C. modernists and those who love them. The film by Eric Bricker is at the Landmark E Street Cinema for one week. Here's a good review by the Post's Philip Kennicott.

Sponsor Spotlight: Iconic Girard Panels Available at RCKNDY

2009-11-05T20:24:00.007-05:00

Alexander Girard, who headed Herman Miller's textile division from 1952 to 1973, was one of the most innovative modern designers of the 20th century, whose designs covered the work of George Nelson and Charles and Ray Eames. Considered the greatest colorist and textile designer of modern time, Girard used traditional folk art to infuse color, whimsy and humor into vibrant modern design. For the fist time since 1972, Girard's iconic graphics are now available as wall art on 14'' x 14'' formaldehyde-free maple faced hardwood plywood. The panels reflect Girard's technique of printing directly on wood like in The Compound Restaurant in Santa Fe, New Mexico. If you want to bring some of Girard's mid-century designs into your MCM home, head to RCKNDY on U Street. It's much closer than Santa Fe.

FSBO: 1954 Updated Holmes Run Acres Mid-Century - $610K

2009-11-03T16:50:00.008-05:00

Check out this mid-century in Holmes Run Acres in Falls Church. The 3 bedroom/2 bathroom house has beautiful wood-beamed ceilings, an open and updated kitchen and sits on a professionally landscaped lot overlooking park and woods. This is a For Sale by Owner. You can find more pictures and contact info in their nice brochure.

Robert Lautman, Dean of D.C. Architectural Photographers, Dies at 85

2009-11-01T21:19:00.010-05:00

A 1954 photo by Robert Lautman of Charles

Goodman’s renovated farmhouse in Alexandria.

(Courtesy of the National Building Museum)

Robert C. Lautman, the dean of Washington's architectural photographers, died Oct. 20 of pancreatic cancer, the Washington Post reported. Lautman worked extensively with local modernist architects such as Charles Goodman and Hugh Newell Jacobsen. Earlier this year, Lautman reflected on his 60-year career at event hosted by the National Building Museum, which houses Lautman's photographic archive. In 2007, Lautman received the American Institute of Architects' (AIA) Gold Medal for Architectural Photography and is an honorary member of the AIA.

My Listing: 1966 Custom Mid-Century Modern in Mohican Hills - $1.175 Million; Open 11/8

2009-10-29T20:45:00.017-04:00

My new listing will be open this Sunday, Nov. 8 from 1 to 4 p.m. Stop by to see this custom Harold Esten-designed mid-century neo-classical pavilion, which is set back on a 1/4 acre mature-treed lot inside-the-Beltway in desirable Mohican Hills in Bethesda.

Lovingly cared for by the original owners, the home features a stone entry foyer leading to its two levels and 5 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms. The white brick and glass design with red doors and blue panels reflects the influences of Breuer and Mondrian. Esten is a former associate of Charles Goodman and still lives in Goodman's Hammond Wood.

Entranceway leads to open dining/living area on upper level.

Living room with wall of glass sliders leading
to the full-length balcony.

Clerestory windows, seven skylights and seven sliding glass doors that open onto the full-length balcony on the rear of the house (see above from the living room) and several patios, brilliantly light the upper level. With glass on three sides, the house is surprisingly private. To the left, there is an open flow of space, comprising dining room, eat-in kitchen and living room with inside-wall fireplace. Flagstone floors of the dining room and kitchen connect visually with those of the surrounding upper-level patio. To the right, there is a master bedroom suite with bath, dressing area and balcony. Two additional bedrooms share a full bath. At the center of the upper-level is a library/conservatory under a dramatic, geometric cupola (pictured below.)

Dramatic wood and glass ceiling above the area used as a library/conservatory.

The lower level is finished with two bedrooms and a full bath, plus a large recreation/exercise room with sliding doors to a finished patio. There is a large utility room and an integral two-car garage entered from the rear of the house. The home features zoned heating, with two newly replaced furnaces, as well as central air conditioning.

The back of the house features a two-car garage and
plenty of additional parking space.

The neighborhood is convenient to Washington, D.C., and public transportation, and offers a community swimming pool.

Please stop by on Sunday and say hello and let me know if you have any questions.

--Michael

The Legacy of Charles Goodman

2009-10-29T06:30:00.016-04:00

Charles Goodman

What would Charles Goodman be thinking about the resurgence in interest of his mostly modest mid-century homes? Would he see it as a reaction against the McMansionization of the past few years, with people wanting to live in a modern-style house rather than faux example from our colonial past? Or would he see it as something else?

Goodman died 17 years ago today at age 85 from emphysema. Here's an excerpt from a piece by Benjamin Forgey, the former Washington Post architecture critic, who wrote this soon after Goodman's death:

"When Virginia architect Charles Goodman died last month at 85 his legacy to the Washington area included more than the several thousand residential units he designed in the region -- he left as well an optimistic vision of the possibilities of community life in an individualistic society.

Goodman was an architect of talent and probity. His houses, even for wealthier clients, were no-nonsense -- he welcomed the opportunities money provided to use better woods or stones, perhaps, but for rich and middle-income client alike he designed houses that were sensible, economical and inventive. He would give you a hallway with a view of just that particular tree, or a porch that hovered just so in a glade, or a kitchen window perfectly sited to catch the winter sun. The Hollin Hills development (done with Robert Davenport, an adventurous builder) in the woods south of Alexandria is justly renowned for the way in which the small houses (expandable all) were placed for privacy but with plenty of room left over for public enjoyment. When the last house was done (some 450 in all), the woods remained. ...

A forceful personality, he was relatively successful even in the design and production of industrially fabricated housing, a field in which many of his generation stubbed their professional toes, or worse. More than 100,000 houses he designed for the National Homes Corp. of Indiana were constructed nationwide. Locally, his interest in contemporary materials, as well as his innovative skills as a community planner, are evident in the vaulted and aluminum-decorated town houses of River Park, perhaps the most distinctive neighborhood in the city's Southwest urban renewal area.

Goodman's monuments, then, are mostly little houses. That says a lot about the man and his vision."

The Brady Bunch and Ken Freeman

2009-10-28T17:01:00.000-04:00

The 1960s "Brady Bunch" House
http://www.flickr.com/photos/voteprime/ / CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

Whenever I see a home designed by Ken Freeman in Bradley Park in Bethesda, Mantua in Fairfax or Normandy Estates in Potomac, I can’t help think of the 1960s “California contemporary” home from the “Brady Bunch.” Unlike others, who use the comparison in a derisive manner, I make the connection in a positive way. The "Brady Bunch" house featured a sloping roof-line, that large open living room, extensive glass above the front door and how can you forget that cool staircase. Take a look at this 1965 Freeman in Lake Normandy Estates to compare. (It was listed five days ago and is already under contract.)

Freeman was a New York clothing designer who moved his family to Maryland in the 196os to become a real estate developer. He briefly worked with his brother, Carl, presumably Carl M. Freeman, who introduced the "California Cottage" to East Coast when his company built an award-winning community in 1947 in Carole Highlands, Maryland.

Like his brother, Ken sought to mix things up here in Washington. "He was nontraditional. He didn't like the brick Colonials in Washington. He said they all looked the same. He said they were boring, very closed-in, old ideas. He just liked houses being different . . . clean lines, simple and tailored. It was like a religion to him," Freeman's daughter, Judith O'Callaghan, was quoted as saying in this 2005 Post story on Bradley Park.

Glad there were a few visionaries here to give us the mid-century modern housing stock we have today.

Tickets for Julius Shulman Film Now Available

2009-10-28T08:00:00.001-04:00

You can now buy tickets for opening night of "Visual Acoustics: The Modernism of Julius Shulman." The D.C. premiere is Friday, Nov. 6, at the E Street Cinema. The film will be running for a week. I just picked up tickets to the 7:45 p.m. show.

Under Contract: 1968 Vintage Modern in Arlington - $700K

2009-10-26T16:30:00.009-04:00

Update: This just went under contract so the listing is down. Here are images.

Its definitely harder to find more strict mid-century modern homes or even later "contemporaries" in Arlington, but take a look at this late 1960s home located near Pentagon City. Tongue-and-groove ceilings, walls of glass and vintage kitchen with matching green (avocado?) countertops and appliances.

1965 Updated Modern on Picasso Lane in Potomac - $1.375 Million; Open 10/25

2009-10-24T22:28:00.009-04:00

Originally built in 1965, this cedar-clad, 5 bedroom/4.5 bath modern was rebuilt in 2001. The 4,000 square-foot home with pool is located on 1.28 acres in Potomac's Picasso Lane neighborhood, a dead-end street with around 20 mid-century modern or later contemporaries on nice, large wooded lots. The neighborhood is just off MacArthur Boulevard and near the entrance to Great Falls National Park. Still trying to get more information on this one, but wanted to post before the open house from 1 to 4 p.m. on Sunday. You can also see more images here.

Endangered: 1973 Vintage Deck House in McLean - $595K

2009-10-24T09:55:00.003-04:00

This listing is for an untouched 1973 Deck House on nearly half an acre in McLean. This is being marketed as a potential tear down for the land located here.

Saarinen's U.S. Embassy in London Protected

2009-10-22T15:17:00.007-04:00

Eero Saarinen's 1960 U.S. embassy in London

A year ago I posted here and here about the potential demise of Eero Saarinen's brutalist U.S. embassy in London. While the U.S. still plans to move its embassy to a new location, Saarinen's 1960 building cannot be destroyed. In giving the building "Grade II" status Britain Minister of Culture and Tourism Margaret Hodge said the building is a "really important piece of modernist architecture that fits comfortably in its surroundings and illustrates a great architect at the top of his game." While any future development cannot change the exterior of the building, the interior can be modified, according to this report in the The Architects' Journal in Britain.

1968 Bolton Square Townhome in Baltomore - $324K

2009-10-22T13:29:00.002-04:00

This listing is for a Hugh Newell Jacobsen-designed Bolton Square townhouse in Baltimore. Bolton Square is a complex of 35 mid-century modern townhomes designed by the D.C. modernist architect and developed by Stanley Panitz. Jacobsen's design for the townhomes is a streamlined take on the 19th century rowhouses in nearby Bolton Hill. Here's a Washington Post story from a couple years ago and one from Baltimore's STYLE magazine.

Preview of Visual Acoustics: The Modernism of Julius Shulman

2009-10-19T21:57:00.007-04:00

Can't wait for the movie to open here in D.C. for a one week run. Starts Friday, Nov. 6 at the E Street Cinema. Here's a peek. (For those reading this on e-mail, here's a link.)

Sponsor Spotlight: Cook Architecture

2009-10-18T22:40:00.012-04:00

One of the biggest frustrations of readers is finding local service providers that “get” the mid-century modern aesthetic. Questions range from those about real estate agents, which led me to get my license, to inquiries about architects and builders who can help make period-appropriate changes and or modern additions to MCM homes. With that in mind, I’m happy to introduce Modern Capital readers to a local firm that truly understands mid-century modern and modern design.

The Northern Virginia- and Los Angeles-based firm of Cook Architecture is an award-winning, architecture and interior design practice, known nationally for its expertise in conceiving a wide array of new structures and re-imagining existing spaces combined with a strong history and association with local MCM architecture. The firm is led by Lawrence D. Cook, FAIA, and Michael Cook, AIA, a father-and-son team working together since 2000.

Lawrence, who has practiced architecture for more than 40 years and studied with Louis Kahn at the University of Pennsylvania, received numerous awards and honors, including his election to the American Institute of Architects (AIA) College of Fellows, its highest honor.

Michael, a licensed architect in both California and Maryland, graduated from the Southern California Institute of Architecture in Los Angeles. He has worked for the world renowned Gehry Partners LLP, the contemporary artist Mike Kelley, and the architecture firm Frederick Fischer and Partners. His many awards and commendations include an Excellence in Architecture Award from the Virginia Society of the AIA and a Historic Preservation Award for the remodel of a home by Charles Goodman in Hammond Wood in Silver Spring.

The Cooks not only have the experience of more than 200 projects but the local MCM pedigree as well: The family lived for many years in Holmes Run Acres before moving into a contemporary home on Lake Barcroft that Larry designed and built for his family in 1976. The Cooks have worked on four Goodman-designed homes, an A. Quincy Jones-designed home for builder Joseph Eichler in California and an Alexander home by William Krisel in Palm Springs. They have worked on numerous other MCM projects, including Larry’s original designs dating back to the 1960s. They even have in their Virginia office Charles Goodman’s very own presentation table now used for similar purposes with their clients.

One of the firm’s current projects highlighted in their ad and slideshow I put together is their work in transforming a typical suburban Virginia colonial-style split-level into a truly modern space that includes green design components, such as Low E glass, a "Cool Roof", and large overhangs at sun exposed portions of house, some of the concepts that were incorporated into mid-century modern design. The project for homeowners Tom Arehart and Tricia Berman will result in a 3,000-square foot space with completely redesigned roof geometry to allow for large, dynamic living spaces and a more interesting ceiling plane in each room.

The design also incorporates an interesting use of office building curtain walls for large expanses of glass and ultra-modern Poggenpohl kitchen cabinets. The opened up living and kitchen space is 38 feet by 35 feet with 15-foot ceilings to the rear. To read more about, this project, click here and then click on Split Level Resolve House.

So if you are looking to bring your “updated” MCM closer to the original, looking to expand your mid-century in a time-period sensitive way or looking to totally transform an existing space, I urge you to give the Cooks a call.

Modern Capital Contest: Name the 12 Architects Who Have Appeared on the Cover of Time (Won by Karl in Silver Spring)

2009-10-17T09:43:00.012-04:00

Charles Goodman is pictured at bottom right.

Congrats to Karl in Silver Spring for being the first to answer the question posed below correctly. These are the names I was looking for:

Frank Lloyd Wright
Le Corbusier
R. Buckminster Fuller
Philip Johnson
William L. Pereira
Eero Saarinen
Minoru Yamasaki
William A. Delano
Edward Stone
Wallace K. Harrison
Richard J. Neutra
Ralph A. Cram

Karl made two good points: Charles Luckman could also be included in this list, although he appeared on the cover for his business career as president of Lever Brothers, not for his later work as an architect. Karl also mentioned Thomas Jefferson as a "bonus." Thanks to all who played.

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In my previous post, I mentioned the March 31, 1958, Time cover featuring Edward Durrell Stone. The first person who e-mails me with the names of the 12 architects who have appeared on the cover of Time will win a copy of the 1964 book, The People's Architects. Published by Rice University, the book features an essay, "Architecture and Society," by Charles Goodman, who, no, is not one of the architects to appear on the cover of Time.

Please include your full name and address so I can mail the book. Good luck.

1939 Edward Durrell Stone-Designed Early Modern - $8.5 Million

2009-10-17T08:37:00.003-04:00

Modernist architect Edward Durrell Stone’s best known (and derided) work in Washington is the 1971 Kennedy Center. He also designed the 1964 National Geographic Building on 17th Street. A much earlier and lesser known work is this 1939 home originally built by George Marshall, the then-owner of the Redskins, and his wife actress Corinne Griffith.

Marshall and Griffith were living in the Shoreham Hotel when Griffith saw the piece of land near Rock Creek Park and decided she wanted to build house there. Griffith called her interior designer in California and said she needed an architect to design a house for her in Washington. Enter Stone, who at the time had just finished the design for the original Museum of Modern Art building. Four years earlier, Stone's Richard H. Mandel House in Mt. Kisco, N.Y., became the first International-style home built in the United States to be designed by a U.S.-born architect.

This house, which has been updated over the years, was also owned at one time by Jack Kent Cooke, another former owner of the Redskins. Today, it is owned by Debra Lee, the president and CEO of BET, who is planning to build a modern house by architect Michael Marshall an an adjacent piece of land. See more images of the home here.

For more on Stone and his shift from a pure International style to his later more romantic modernism, read this fascinating Time cover story from March 31, 1958.

Event: Lost River Modern at DWR in Georgetown; 10/24

2009-10-16T11:34:00.009-04:00

Modern Capital Sponsor Chris Brown of Lost River Modern will be speaking from 3 to 3:30 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 24 at the DWR in Georgetown as part of the D.C. Design Week Lecture Series. Hear Chris describe how he and his family decided to build a Res4 modern prefab on 30 acres in West Virginia. There also will be an opportunity to win a free weekend at the house. (Here's my post on my family's visit.)

D.C. Design Week @ Cady's Alley is being held alongside AIGA's National Design Week.

Modern Snapshot: The Wheat Growers' Building

2009-10-14T21:07:00.004-04:00

The mid-century headquarters of the National Association of Wheat Growers at 415 Second St., NE, with its glass-and-tile facade.

1959 Award-Winning MCM in Flint Hill in Bethesda - $799K

2009-10-13T16:49:00.005-04:00

This newly listed mid-century modern home is located in Flint Hill, a community of 40 homes designed by Keyes, Lethbridge and Condon and built by Edmund Bennett. The National Association of Home Builders gave Bennett a design merit award in 1959 for the community. An unassuming front facade opens up to a dramatic rear of the 4/3 house with walls of glass, soaring roof line with extended eaves and deck.

1968 Charles Moore Modern in Bannockburn - $2.95 Million

2009-10-10T22:55:00.002-04:00

Located on Crail Road in Bethesda along side a number of mid-century modern properties, this late 1960s modern is by Charles Moore, who studied with Louis Kahn and followed Paul Rudolph as the dean of the Yale School of Architecture. The soaring lines on the house evoke one of Moore's most famous projects, the 1965 Sea Ranch Condominium in California, built just a few years before this house in Bannockburn.

Architecture critic Paul Goldberger described Moore as the "Pied Piper of post-modernism" in this New York Times piece just after his death in 1994.

Local Fall Modern Sales

2009-10-09T10:05:00.005-04:00

Home Anthology's Fall Nesting Sale kicks of this weekend. Take 20 percent off everything in the store and up to 50 percent on select items. Highlights of the sale include a Kurt Ostervig free-standing rosewood wall unit (pictured above) as well as a Svend Madsen teak desk and classics from Knoll and Herman Miller. No holds, so shop early for best selection.

Millennium Decorative Arts is running a Columbus Day sale with markdowns of 20 percent or more. The store is open special hours on Monday from 12 to 6 p.m. Also, Millennium is a finalist for the Express' Best of 2009 in the vintage store category. You can vote here.

Happy shopping.

University of Maryland Hosts Exhibit, Film Highlighting Career of Ruth Adler Schnee

2009-10-08T17:25:00.010-04:00

The University of Maryland School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation will be holding an opening lecture and reception Friday at noon for a new exhibit on mid-century modern textile designer Ruth Adler Schnee. A documentary on Schnee's career, "The Radiant Sun: A Portrait of Designer Ruth Adler Schnee," by Terry Sarris will be screened at noon and 2 p.m. in the Architecture Building Auditarium. Both Sarris and Schnee will speak." The exhibit will run through Nov. 20, 2009, in the Kibel Gallery.

After fleeing Nazi Germany in 1938, Schnee and her family settled in Detroit. After graduating from the Rhode Island School of Design and the Cranbrook Academy of Art, she worked in the New York firm of Raymond Loewy in the 1940s. Returning to Detroit, Schnee began creating original textile designs. She collaborated with Buckminster Fuller on the Ford Rotunda in Detroit (1952-53) and Minoru Yamasaki in specifying interior treatments for the World Trade Center (1970-77). In the 1950s, she operated Adler Schnee, a design store committed to bringing modern design to Michigan.

Now in her 80s, Schnee still lives and works in Michigan, designing building interiors and woven textiles for Anzea. She is active in the Detroit design community as a preservation advocate for the city's Modernist history.