Recently had the utmost pleasure to visit this mid century modern home built by Walter Gropius in 1938. Mr. Gropius was the founder of the Bauhaus Design School in Germany and later became a professor of architecture at Harvard University.
Wealthy philanthropist, Helen Storrow, gifted him 4 acres of land in Lincoln, Ma and the 20K he needed to build. Lucky guy!
He traveled all around the area studying the vernacular, determined to incorporate traditional New England building elements, like clapboard, fieldstone and brick, but use them in new ways.
Bauhaus design is about simplicity and functionality, but also beauty in its geometric lines. He combined the traditional building elements with industrial pieces and created a stunning, streamlined living space that I could live with in a heartbeat!
When I arrived I discovered this was the first year they were allowing visitors to take photos. So I was very excited. The photos and slideshow will provide you with many decorating ideas if you love MCM style.
One of the first things that caught my eye upon entering the house was the way he used clapboard siding that usually covers the outside of houses running horizontally. Except he used it inside and vertically.
And artwork looks fantastic mounted on these walls. This is a Miro lithograph.
Glass brick wall separating his office from the dining room.
Much of the furniture are Marcel Breuer pieces.
Cork flooring and black and white plaid drapes.
There are lots of these very cool chrome covered bulbs, which help diffuse the light off to the side.
They do sell new ones there, and yes, I did buy one. But found out you can also get them here.
Gropius ordered cabinets and fixtures from hotel and medical supply houses.
These are the metal cabinets in the kitchen.
Fishnet curtains were used on windows.
I love this idea in the master bedroom.
Wood strips mounted that match the wall color, with artwork and a branch attached.
So simple, yet so striking.
Top deck.
Rear of house overlooking Japanese inspired garden.
Mrs. Gropius planted this after returning from a trip to Japan in 1957.
Since I took so many photos, I had to put the rest in a slideshow or else you’d be scrolling forever!
See lots more artwork, furniture and views of the exterior.
What do you think of this house? Would you live in it?
That’s very interesting that glass brick is commonly used as a design element in Germany. I guess that’s the influence of Mr. Gropius’s Bauhaus school. It does look extremely beautiful and is a great way to add light, while ensuring privacy. I too could easily live in that house. 🙂
Thank you for the tour of this unique house Theresa! I was born in Germany and also lived there for a year in the ’80s and have visited my family and friends over the years. I was there last summer. Glass block walls/windows are very popular and almost all the homes I was in have them somewhere in the house. My son recently renovated his home office and broke out a wall to install them, it lets more light in from another room making his office much brighter.
I could live there if it had a river in the back. 🙂
❤️carmen
https://fashionableover50.wordpress.com
I love that glass brick wall too, Jessica. It’s so sad that they did not preserve those homes in Penticon. More mid century homes need to be saved!
What an amazing home – I’m wild for the chic details and streamlined styling. The glass brick wall in particular caught my eye. There were still a decent number of deco era homes to be had in this town (Penticton) when I was younger and many of them had glass bricks on their exteriors (either as whole or partial walls). Sadly, the majority are now gone, but I can think of at least one or two here and there that still (thankfully) exist. None quite as stunning as this though, of course.
xoxo ♥ Jessica
Carrie, you really should do a tour. I wanted to redecorate my whole house after I visited! And the serene Japanese inspired garden is lovely as well.
I think my heart has stopped! I’ve passed this beautiful house so many times without suspecting how incredible it was inside (and behind). A work of art, that also showcased pieces of modern art! So many elements of the house are familiar elsewhere at this point (spiral staircases, glass brick walls, “industrial” decor, etc), but seeing it all put together at the source is positively transformative. Thanks for sharing this with us, and… must go visit soon!
I want to redecorate my whole house now after going to this place. Though very modern, it has a very warm, cozy feel to it. I love the colors, black, white, grays, with those pops of coral red and the warm tones of wood and cork. Even Mrs. Gropius’s clothes matched the house, which included that orange jumpsuit! I was sorely tempted to whip it off that hanger when I was there!
What a unique place! I’d live in it in a heartbeat! And I’ll take that orange jumpsuit that was hanging up too : )
bisous
Suzanne