No Barbarians at the Gates

The New Canaan Advertiser reports that Mark Markiewicz, a local architect, has one a Connecticut AIA award for revisions he made to a house designed by Frederick Gates. The house is on Ponus Ridge and the addition and renovation for which he was given the award is actually his own house.



The addition, a two bedroom in-law appartment, was made possible vy changes in the town's planning and zoning rules that allow for the addition of an in-law space provided that it is under 2000sqft and is physically attached to the primary structure.

This new regulation, passed in 2005, gives those of us who value mid-century modernism cause for hope as it addresses the need to expand some of the smaller moderns. Looking at the addition made by Toshiko Mori at Breuer III on West Rd and those made by David Hotson on Lee II over on Chichester one can see the value in expansion rather than destruction.

For more on Mark Markiewicz's house see the Advertiser's Article here.

The Second Battle of Gettysburg

It seems, and I know it's been going on for awhile, that The National Park Service is indeed getting ready to tear down Richard Neutra's 1961 Lincoln Memorial at Gettysburg also known alternately as The Cyclorama and The Cyclorama Center. I had heard this before but was reminded in an email from Dion Neutra who asked,

Would be great if you could also publicize the plight of our Gettysburg Cyclorama Center, which is poised for demolition at a moments notice unless we can get to the new President and get him to pardon the building!   See petitions on our website; we just passed the 2000 mark!

The building was built, I went there in the 1970's, to house the Cyclorama, a 40 foot high 377 foot long oil painting on the battle created in 1883-84 by French artist Paul Philippoteaux and a reported team of 20.

Now The National Park Service wants to tear it down. The painting has been restored and installed in a new visitor center and the Neutra building sits and rots, awaiting the wrecking ball. This is Neutra's only government building east of the Mississippi.

[caption id="attachment_230" align="aligncenter" width="500" caption="Richard Neutra's drawing of his Gettysburg Memorial Building"][/caption]

It just seems strange to me that the organization responsible for preserving the nation's heritage would seek to destroy a part of it. Two other visitor centers created during the Mission 66 program from 1956-1966 have been spared but not this one.

Want to help?

Links:
Neutra.org www.neutra.org
Mission 66 www.mission66.com
National Parks Service www.nps.gov
Sign the Petition http://www.petitiononline.com/neutra2/petition.html

Remaining Neutra

So far so good.

This year is starting off, well, very well.

First there was the email the other day from the current owners of Eliot Noyes' 1951 Hersey House in Southport Connecticut. As I stated before, I am working on a a visit.

Now this.

While at Borders the other night I picked up Taschen's book on Neutra by Barbara Lamprecht. It is part of their Basic Architecture Series. I have always admired Neutra's work but had focused most of my energy here in the East since it was well, closer.

After thumbing through it I paused at the list of works at the rear I found three houses listed in Connecticut. Time to go to Google.

Then listed on MidCentury Architecture was a comment from Tom Andersen (who maintains the excellent ModernHouseNotes with his wife Gina Federico) asking about Connecticut Neutras. They had an address. I went down today to see it.

[caption id="attachment_224" align="aligncenter" width="500" caption="Neutra's Glen House from the street."][/caption]

 

[caption id="attachment_223" align="aligncenter" width="500" caption="Richard Neutra's Glen House"][/caption]

The house looks to be in good condition, much better than these shots taken through a growing snowstorm would lead you to believe. It is, in fact, quite beautiful.

It is striking that, unlike many of the houses designed by Breuer, Noyes and the like, the house is right on the street in full view stuck in the middle of the landscape. From what reading I have been able to do this would seem to follow what I believe was a difference between he and and the people who followed Wright. Wright believed that the house had to blend with the landscape while Neutra, from my understanding, did not. He was very conscious of the blurring of the lines between inside and outside but understood that no matter how you spin it, a house is in fact a man-made machine in a field.

Hersey House Found

Imagine my surprise when I opened my email yesterday to find an email from the current owner of Eliot Noyes 1951 Hersey House in Southport Ct.

The house, the owner states, is due for a little tlc which is planned for spring. The house takes elements from his Stackpole House and also echoes elements and ideas from Walter Gropius' Lincoln Massachusetts house including the high and long windows on the second floor and bent metal railings on the stair, also found in Breuer's first house in New Canaan.

We are working on a visit and pictures.