On a winter morning in January 2007, I stood and watched as front-end loaders smashed their way into the walls of one of Paul Rudolph’s more legendary homes, the Micheels House in Westport, Connecticut.

Although I was reporting for The New York Times, my visit was short-lived. The new owners, who have since erected a shingled home of massive proportions, had the local police keep architectural fans and others away. They didn’t want anyone witnessing this defiantly experimental design icon being crushed into pieces.

I was surprised by how upset I was. But then I think it’s hard for anyone to see a design that’s taken months and months of imagination, even brilliance, to conceive and then construct, being turned into rubble in mere hours.

Micheels House, Paul Rudolph, Image via

Two design aficionados prominent in the ill-fated battle to preserve this house were architect Michael Glynn and Morley Boyd, former chairman of the Westport Historic District Commission.  Luckily in the months since, they channeled their anger into a new project: an exhibition, ‘Westport Modern: When Cool Was Hot!’ Though small in scope, it’s an eye-opener – and runs through May 1.

Now photographed and documented, many of the houses have never been seen before. Uncovering this ‘secret history’ was not easy. Glynn spent much of last fall, often acting on tips from residents and knocking on doors.  (Now aware of the exhibition, some owners have stepped forward and embraced their inclusion).

It was well worth it.

On display are some great designs: a pavilion from Mies Van Der Rohe, the Morris Greenwald house. A sensationally sited home from Richard Neutra, the Corwin House, is among the best of his East Coast works. And there’s a small house from another Southern Californian architect, Gregory Ain. It was designed for display at the Museum of Modern Art in1950.

Morris Greenwald Residence, Mies van der Rohe, 1955-1956, image courtesy of Michael Glynn, copyright

Morris Greenwald Residence, Mies van der Rohe, 1955-1956, image courtesy of Michael Glynn, copyright

Morris Greenwald Residence, Mies van der Rohe, 1955-1956, image courtesy of Michael Glynn, copyright

Corwin House, Richard Neutra, 1954, image courtesy of Michael Glynn, copyright

Corwin House, Richard Neutra, 1954, image courtesy of Michael Glynn, copyright

Corwin House, Richard Neutra, 1954, image courtesy of Michael Glynn, copyright

MoMA-inspired house, Gregory Ain, circa 1951, image courtesy of Michael Glynn, copyright

MoMA-inspired house, Gregory Ain, circa 1951, image courtesy of Michael Glynn, copyright

But there are other much less obvious discoveries. More aware of the town’s wooded, Long Island Sound-adjecent ecology, local Modernists came up with some particularly handsome designs.

Joseph Salerno’s small – 900 square foot – cypress-sided house in Weston, for example, sits in the woods, a perfect example of the Modern joining nature in harmony. Although tiny, it was large enough to house a grand piano.

Joseph Salerno House, Joseph Salerno, 1949, image courtesy of Michael Glynn, copyright

Much grander is the home once occupied by Oscar Levant. Designed by Francis Barry Byrne, who worked for both Frank Lloyd Wright and Walter Burley Griffin, it’s one of a purest examples of the International Style built on the East Coast. For sale, and with possible demolition hanging over it, it is truly spectacular.

Williams-Levant house, Barry Byrne, 1934. image courtesy Michael Glynn, copyright

Williams-Levant house, Barry Byrne, 1934. image courtesy Michael Glynn, copyright

New York architect Jack Frieden’s floating cypress-clad box – perched atop a stone wall – seems to go one better than Breuer. And comforting to know that in 1966, this gem cost only $30,000.

Jack Friedan House, Jack Friedan, 1966, image courtesy of Michael Glynn, copyright

Jack Friedan House, Jack Friedan, 1966, image courtesy of Michael Glynn, copyright

Highly unusual is the house by the Chicago firm, Keck and Keck, near Compo Beach. (It’s quite visible from the road.) Apparently, a copy of a house in North Muskegon, Michigan designed by the same firm – this one was published in ‘Record’ in November 1961 – its combination of poured concrete, concrete block, steel lally columns and cedar is particularly elegant and simple.

Stein Residence, Keck and Keck, 1961, image courtesy of Michael Glynn, copyright

Stein Residence, Keck and Keck, 1961, image courtesy of Michael Glynn, copyright

While photographs and the stories of these houses, and many more, adorn the gallery walls, playing on a monitor nearby are a series of images from the now demolished Rudolph house. It looks pristine and quite beautiful. (Ironically the series was assembled by the realtor whose job it was to sell the house.) The montage is a stark reminder that Westport, alongside New Canaan, not only fostered a vibrant Modernist tradition but also how fragile the future is for these architectural experiments. This show might be the last chance you’ll get to see them.

Westport Modern: When Cool Was Hot!
On display through May 1
Westport Historical Society
25 Avery Place
Westport, Connecticut

by David Hay

posted in General

tagged barry byrne, connecticut, exhitibition, gregory ain, jack friedan, joseph salerno, keck and keck, mies van der rohe, modernism, moma, paul rudolph, richard neutra, westport

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