What is Mid Century Modern Architecture?
The new buzz word around Fairfield County lately is Mid- Century modern architecture. Some times called “California Contemporary”, Mid -Century modern architecture is usually defined as buildings constructed between the 1940’s through the late 1960’s. Norwalk, Westport, Weston, Stamford, and especially New Canaan all have some very fine examples of this type of architecture. Typically Mid-Century modern architecture features include clean lines, open floor plans, walls of glass and the feeling of living within nature. These innovative architects with their simplistic styles were considered ahead of their time.
Some of the local pioneers of Mid-Century modern architecture are John Black Lee, Victor Christ-Janer, George Nemeny, and a group called the Harvard Five; John Johansen, Marcel Breuer, Landis Gores, Eliot Noyes and Phillip Johnson.
Phillip Johnson designed the famous Glass House in New Canaan. This house which is on the National Historic Register was his primary residence until his death in 2005. The house and all of its out buildings are currently open for tours.
There are a couple of developments in Norwalk that could be considered true Mid-Century modern style. Village Creek was the first modern development in Norwalk. This 67 home community was designed by notable architects like Klaus Grabe, Percy Ifill, and Edger Tafel. This forward thinking community is situated along Long Island sound between Outer Road and Dock Road. Village Creek was built in 1950 and it will be celebrating its sixtieth anniversary this year. This community currently has an application on file for National Historic Register status.
The second Mid- Century modern community consists of thirty homes and was built between 1952 and 1955. Located in West Norwalk along five Mile River on Prince’s Pine Rd. and Alewives Rd. these homes were featured in Homes and Garden magazine specifically because of the way they were built using innovative materials and each home was sited by the developer to sit perfectly into the landscape.
Norwalk has some examples of Mid -Century architecture outside of these developments. A very early example is the R.P. Ettinger house designed by Kahn and Jacobs in 1940 and is located on the border of Norwalk and Westport. There is also a uniquely designed home built in 1954 by R.W. Vansummern nestled along the Silvermine River. A mid-century home situated along Five Mile River in West Norwalk home originally designed in 1952 by George Nemeny and built for the President of the Burndy Corporation has been recently restored by its current architect owner. Both the Silvermine home and the West Norwalk home are currently listed for sale.
The Westport Historical Society just recently had an exhibit “When Cool was Hot”. This exhibit featured some of the examples of Westport and Weston’s Mid- Century modern homes. The exhibit was put together by Historic Preservationist Morley Boyd and Architect Michael Glynn. After a failed attempt to save the Paul Rudolph house in Westport from the wrecking ball they decided to bring more awareness to the public about these homes. These homes are usually situated on great pieces of property and are small in size. This unfortunately gives a perfect opportunity for someone to knock the house down and build a much larger home in its place.
New Canaan is nationally recognized for its many examples of modern architecture. Approximately 100 modern homes were built in town, and about 20 have been torn down.
Information about most Mid -Century modern homes is difficult to find. Despite their recent construction, many of these structures have changed hands many times and their histories have been lost in the process. Mid-Century modern architects are just beginning to be recognized.
As a Mid -Century modern enthusiast, I’m hopeful in the near future that the public starts to really appreciate all that this form of design has to offer. For further information on localMid -Century homes for sale please contact us.
Peter Bondi
Bondi Realty Group LLC
203-899-9990