1968 Bannockburn Estates Contemporary - $1.295 Million; Open 6/1

I love the whole area where this late '60s contemporary is located. Just drive around (or bike as I did) Nevis Road and the surrounding streets to see a wide variety of mid-century modern and contemporary homes. The area comprises Bannockburn Estates, Bannockburn Heights and Flint Hill. If you take Nevis north across River Road onto Beech Tree and Burning Tree, there are additional modern homes as well. The 3/3.5 contemporary pictured above is open on Sunday, June 1. A perfect opportunity to check out the area.

If you go, swing by this 1959 contemporary at 7200 Broxburn Dr. This looks like it could be a Flint Hill home by Edmund Bennett and Keyes, Lethbridge & Condon. Bennett won an award from the National Association of Home Builders for the neighborhood. The home is being marketed as: "Renovate or build new." The listing has no interior images.

Washington Spaces Highlights Modernsim in D.C.

Washington Spaces, a D.C. shelter publication, did a brief post on mid-century modern architecture here in D.C. Responding to the recent news about concerns that Philip Johnson's Alice Ball house may be destroyed to make way for some monstrosity, reporter Emily Ruane contacted me about the state of modernism in our area. Check out her post and read an excerpt from our conversation below.

Emily Ruane: What is the state of modernism in the DC area?

Michael Shapiro: People have this belief that the D.C. area has virtually no modern homes or communities. That is a false perception. Obviously, other styles of homes may be more common, especially with the explosion in McMansions during the past few years, but if you dig deeper beyond the surface you can find a lot of interesting modern and contemporary homes and communities throughout the region.

Unfortunately, many of these homes have been altered in an effort to match the latest trends -- think granite counter tops and stainless steel appliances in the kitchen. This type of "updating" moves away from the original vision of the homes. Many people today are undertaking "restovations" to bring the homes back to the style and feel of the original design.

ER: Is there a lot of awareness surrounding it?

MS: I think there is a growing awareness of and interest in mid-century modern architecture here in the D.C. area. With these homes now 50-plus years old, there is a growing appreciation of not only the architecture but of the historical nature of these often modest dwellings. You can see that with the various mid-century modern communities that have launched efforts to be recognized on the National Register of Historic Places. (Examples: Holmes Run Acres in Falls Church, and communities by Charles Goodman -- Rock Creek Woods and Hammond Wood in Silver Spring have earned such recognition. Goodman's Hollin Hills in Virginia is seeking such status.)

I have seen the interest in response to my blog. I started it as a way to collect information for myself. Less than two years later, the site receives close to 5,000 visits a month. There is a niche of people who love modernism, but it is a growing niche. People regularly write me and say they have recently fallen in love with modern homes or have bought a modern home without knowing what it is and are now obsessed with the architecture and buying modern furniture to go with the house.
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Hope this helps spread the word.

1962 Barrel-Roof Goodman in River Park - $424K; Open 6/8

This new listing says this 4/2 barrel-roof Charles Goodman townhome in River Park has $70,000 in upgrades. I could do without the investment in all those paint colors, but the glass tile in the one of the bathrooms looks cool. Many people are using glass tile in their MCM remodels. The house is open June 8 from 1 to 4 p.m. Here's the address.

I see at least five other Goodman town homes on the market ranging from $379K to $410K, so there looks like there is a number of choices to compare if you are seriously considering one these aluminum-clad dwellings.

1959 Wildwood Manor Contemporary - $645K

There are eight of these contemporaries with low slope, front-gabled roofs located along Grosvenor Lane in Bethesda's Wildwood Manor neighborhood. Looks like this one has non-MCM friendly kitchen and bath updates.

Updated: 1963 McLean MCM by Harry E. Ormston - $1.15 Million

Click here for dozens of images of this 1963 MCM designed by Harry E. Ormston, a McLean architect whose work was recognized by leading publications such as Architectural Record and Progressive Architecture. The 4/3 home sits one acre in McLean. I like the all white kitchen and butterfly roof line on the carport. It also features all marble bathrooms and has a pool for that Calfornia feel. Here's the address.

Modern Snapshot: Cedar Lane Unitarian Universalist Church

The Cedar Lane Unitarian Universalist Church just celebrated the 50th anniversary of the opening of its building, a mid-century modern structure with vast expanses of glass tucked into the woods at the corner of Cedar Lane and Beach Drive in Bethesda. The building was designed by Pietro Belluschi, the dean of the MIT School of Architecture in the 1950s and one of the most prolific modern architects. I also have seen references that mention that local modern architects Francis Donald Lethbridge and Arthur Keyes of Keyes, Lethbridge and Condon worked with Belluschi on the design. (Keyes, Lethbridge & Condon did win an award in 1967 from the American Institute of Architects for their design of the River Road Unitarian Church in Bethesda. I'll highlight that building another time.)

In addition to a Gazette story on the building's anniversary, here's a brief article on the church's auditorium.

Price Drop: 1956 Chevy Chase Frank Lloyd Wright-Inspired Home Drops $150K

The price on this FLW-inspired home has dropped $150K to $1.35 million. This 4/3.5 home with pool sits on nearly a half acre in Chevy Chase, just across the D.C. line. See the virtual tour for extensive images.

Chevy Chase Modern By Mark McInturff - $1.29 Million

Looks like this modern house in the Rollingwood section of Chevy Chase has a contract, but it is an interesting story nonetheless. The home, built in 1994 and designed by architect Mark McInturff (who grew up in Hollin Hills), was constructed on a piece of property on Greenvale Road between two custom Charles Goodman homes. The home on the right was built for Paul Berman, who developed Hammond Hill and Hammond Wood. The home on the left was designed for Lewis Jacobs, Goodman's attorney. At the time they were built in 1951, the two men bought three pieces of land, but only built on two of them, leaving an open space between the two homes, according to Elizabeth Jo Lampl's monograph on Goodman-designed homes in Montgomery County.

On the Jacobs House, Lampl quotes a story by an Evening Star reporter who marvels at all the Glass Goodman used. "By using glass for three of its four ground-floor walls, and plenty of large windows on the upper floor, the architect has worked a kind of legerdemain [sleight of hand] upon the rectangular shape ... which makes the interior appear to burst out of its box-like form and gain a new dimension."

There are two other custom Goodmans in the neighborhood. The Schlosser House on Rocton Court and the Homes House on Rocton Road.

To see images of the McInturff home, click on the listing's virtual tour.

Price Drop: Two Goodmans in Rock Creek Woods

These two 1959 Charles Goodmans in Rock Creek Woods in Silver Spring have had their prices cut. The 76-home community, built by Herschel and Marvin Blumberg, entered into the National Register of Historic Places in 2004.

This 3/3 is down to $610K from $622K. Here's the address.

This 6/3 home looks like one of Charles Goodman's larger designs. It's dropped from $679K to $645K. Here’s the address.

1957 Contemporary Rambler in Raymondale - $599K

Here's a listing for a 4/3 low-pitched roof contemporary rambler located in Raymondale in Falls Church.

1963 Flat-Roof 'Phoenix' MCM in Mantua

Here's a listing for another flat-roof Phoenix model located in the Fairfax neighborhood of Mantua. The 6/3 home with clerestory windows sits on more than half an acre. This model was done by Phoenix Builders, not Ken Freeman, who designed many of the modern homes in Mantua.

1951 Goodman in Hammond Wood - $382K; Open 5/18

I'm going to check out this 3/1 Charles Goodman tomorrow (May 18). Looks like a good MCM starter home located in Hammond Wood, which has 56 Goodman-designed homes and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. One of the most distinctive features of this model, known as the "3-bedroom Unit House," is very large end-wall fireplace. Open from 1 to 4 p.m.

1968 New Mark Commons Contemporary - $619K; Open 5/18

This listing is for a late 1960s 4/3 contemporary located in New Mark Commons in Rockville. The community, a Planned Urban Development, was developed by Edmund J. Bennett and designed by the mid-century modern architectural firm Keyes, Lethbridge and Condon. Bennett and KLC also built Carderock Springs. The house is open from 1 to 4 p.m. on Sunday.

1951 Mid-Century Rambler in High Point - $729K

This listing is for a 4/2, expanded mid-century rambler located in the Bethesda neighborhood of High Point, which I highlighted back in December. This is the first home I have seen for sale in the neighborhood since then.

Saarinen: The First 'Starchitect'?

The Washington Post's architecture critic Philip Kennicott reviews (includes a short slideshow)the Eero Saarinen exhibit at the National Building Museum. He delves into Saarinen's eclectic career and suggests that the Finnish-American may have been the first "starchitect." Excerpt below:

"The National Building Museum has a decent bullet-point summary for this exhibition: Saarinen is a great and famous architect about whom we know surprisingly little. This can be explained, in part, by his sudden death, which cut short his career at its zenith and left several of his most important projects to be finished posthumously. It can also be explained, in part, by his eclecticism. Even in his own day, his fellow architects and many critics felt that Saarinen reinvented his vocabulary with every project.

"In the short run, that sort of stylistic adventurism is problematic. Critics wondered, who is the real Saarinen? The refined practitioner of corporate headquarters? The maker of eccentric forms? The contextualizer with a sense of history who tried to fuse campus Gothic with contemporary style?

"In the long run, however, this sort of eclecticism only makes Saarinen seem prophetic. The breadth of his practice, his fondness for "iconic" forms, his forays into furniture and design, his fame -- all of this feels very familiar. Another quick bullet point for this exhibition might be: Eero Saarinen, the first 'starchitect.'"

Endangered: 1958 Raised Rambler in Kenwood Park - $829K

I like the prominent car port on this this mid-century rambler in Kenwood Park in Bethesda. The listing has no interior pictures of the 4/2.5 house and says it needs "considerable work" or "could be possible teardown." I wonder if the interior has been preserved.

1956 Contemporary Split-Foyer in Somerset Heights - $995K

This listing is for a 4/3 contemporary in Somerset Heights in Chevy Chase. Looks like a nice open space with some period details remaining in at least one of the bathrooms. The kitchen is not shown in the pictures.

Modern Snapshot: Eames Chairs in National Airport's Historic Terminal A

Before striking out on his own to design modern homes, Charles Goodman was a government architect. He designed post offices and other federal buildings. In 1939, he was selected to be the government's architect to help design National Airport. While Goodman would eventually resign amid bureaucratic meddling in his vision for the airport, elements of Goodman design were retained, including the sweeping lobby of Historic Terminal A, as it is called. The terminal, which opened in 1941, has a massive, slightly curving wall of windows perfect for viewing the planes taking off and landing. The terminal is currently undergoing renovations "to restore the terminal to its 1941 design and architecture," according to the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority. I took this quick shot of the vintage Eames chairs as my family and I were rushing to catch a recent flight to Florida.

1972 Contemporary on Two Acres in Darnestown - $648K

If you're looking for a contemporary home on some acreage in Montgomery Country, take a look at this listing for an early 1970s ceder-and-brick raised rambler on two acres.

1956 Mantua Contemporary - $599K

Not sure if this 4/2 contemporary located in Mantua was designed by Ken Freeman. The photos in the listing do not show the front of the house. The back, however, is almost all glass.

1965 Split-Level Contemporary in Oak Springs - $469K; Open 5/4

This listing is for a 4/3 split-level contemporary located in Oak Springs (Manor Woods) in Rockville. The subdivision was the first of a string of contemporary communities developed by Miller & Smith in the 1960s and early '70s. They also built Wessynton, Truro and Drumaldry. Look at all the windows in this one. Open 1 to 4 p.m. this Sunday.

Saarinen Retrospective: Shaping the Future at the National Building Musuem; Begins May 3

Eero Saarinen's future was, sadly, cut short. The modernist architect and designer of some of the most recognizable mid-century modern furniture designs (think Tulip chair) passed away at the age of 51 from a brain tumor. In his short life, Saarinen, who immigrated to the United States from Finland in 1923 when he was 13, designed some of the most iconic examples of American architecture: the St. Louis Arch, the main terminal at Dulles (seen at left circa 1963) and the former TWA terminal at JFK airport.

Beginning tomorrow and running until Aug. 23, the National Building Museum will present Eero Saarinen: Shaping the Future, the first retrospective of Saarinen's career. The exhibition will feature full-scale building models, never-before seen drawings, furniture, photographs, films, and other artifacts. The exhibit marks the first public unveiling of the architect’s complete archives--the largest repository of Saarinen-related material in the world--which was donated to Yale University in 2002.

Saarinen's "untimely death—coupled with the extraordinary diversity of his work--made Saarinen a problematic figure for critics and historians, and as a result, the architect's many contributions were widely overlooked for much of the past four decades," the museum says in announcing the exhibit, which "makes a powerful case for recognizing Saarinen as an exceptionally innovative figure whose work has exerted a profound and continuous influence on architectural theory and practice for more than a half-century."

If you feel inspired to buy something by Saarinen, you're in luck. Knoll is having its annual sale from May 2 to 11. It's only 10 percent off, so I hope you have been saving up.

Photos courtesy of the National Building Museum.

Dulles photo copyright of Balthazar Korab Ltd.

Patent drawing for pedestal chairs, June 7, 1960.
Courtesy Eero Saarinen Collection. Manuscripts and Archives, Yale University.

Modern Capital: Picked to Click by Washington Post

The blog got a nice mention in the Post yesterday. Terri Sapienza highlighted Modern Capital in her Blog Watch column that appears weekly in the Home Section. Hopefully, the exposure will bring more MCM fans out of the woodwork here in D.C.