The Real Estate Open House in a New Guise

Here's an interesting if eyebrow-raising way to spin the traditional real estate open house: call it a free modern house tour. That's what William Pitt Sotheby's International Realty in New Canaan is doing this weekend with four modern houses now on the market.

I saw the notice in our local paper, the Record Review, which is hanging on in a paper-only edition (perhaps that's why it's hanging on -- because it hasn't succumbed to the temptation to give away for free what its customers will pay for). Here's what it says:

A rare opportunity for the public to tour four of New Canaan's distinctive modern homes is offered on Sunday, Nov. 1, during an open house from 1 to 4 p.m.

Included are the "Hemicycle House" designed by John Howe, a top apprentice of Frank Lloyd Wright at Taliesin, Wisc., for more than 30 years; a house designed by a disciple of Mr. Wright, Eduardo Faxas; the Alice Ball House, designed by Philip Johnson and the brand-new townhouse designed by New Canaan's David Prutting with architect Joeb Moore of Greenwich.

The free event is open to the public ... For further information call Rita Kirby at William Pitt Sotheby's International Realty in New Canaan...

By the way, if you're interested in a gallery of hideous McMansions, click here.

Arsitektur rumah dengan latar belakang gunung dan laut

Bila anda berencana membangun rumah Anda di dataran tinggi dengan pemandangan indah di atas gunung, berikut ini sebuah contoh arsitektur rumah moderen dengan pemandangan indah berupa gunung dan laut yang dapat anda terapkan pada rumah anda. Membangun tempat di mana Anda bisa terbangun dan melihat gunung-gunung sehari-hari dan tertidur setelah menikmati matahari terbenam yang indah di tepi laut. Rumah ini terletak di Otake, Jepang. Desain bangunan termasuk dilengkapi dengan jendela besar sehingga setiap kamar adalah terbuka dan terhubung dengan lingkungan dan dari kamar ini kita bisa melihat pemandangan indah dari sini. Tepi yang tidak biasa atap teras rumah yang 6sqm dari mana orang bisa menikmati keindahan alam sekitar...selanjutnya

Menata interior apartemen mewah dengan paduan warna merah dan putih

Gambar di bawah ini diambil di sebuah apartemen yang terletak di Manhattan. Kesan mewah tercermin dalam ruanagan apartemen ini. Dengan di dominasi jendela kaca yang lebar sehingga kelihatan terang dan bersih. apalagi interior apatemen ini menggunakan perpaduan warna merah dan putih. kita dapat melihat penataan sofa moderen dengan warna putih dan merah. semua warna dalam ruangan apartemen ini di domonasi warna putih seperti sofa, lantai dan dinding sehingga tempat ini terlihat sangat nyaman dan mewah serta kelihatan hidup. Apartemen ini di desain oleh Christopher Colman..selengkapnya

Merancang perapian dapur moderen: Modern fireplace arrangement

Membuat dapur Anda lebih modern dan fungsional dengan melengkapi perlengkapan dapur moderen panggangan oven. Agar dapur lebih hangat dab nyaman dapat dilengkapi dengan sistem perapian yang moderen (modern firepalce)yaitu pemanas dengan pusat memasak Anda. Dapur perapian memasak belum pernah begitu panas! dalam gambar dapat kita lihat Desain kontemporer mengkilap stainless steel ini sangat ideal untuk ruang modern, mengundang Anda dan pengunjung Anda untuk berlama-lama di dapur setelah makan selesai. dapur moderen dilengkapi dengan oven ramping , grill, dan sistem pemanas. Perapian moderen dapat ditempatkan di manapun yang sesuai dengan gaya dan fungsi. Desain Perapian dapur moderen ini atau modern fire place didesain oleh Ruegg...selanjutnya

Library kitchen: beautiful and functional kitchen designs

Its brilliants ideas...multi functional kitchen design combination with library. Clean and healthy kitchen concept designed by Warendorf. The Library kitchen brings the rich, earthy and woody atmosphere of a library into your kitchen, centered on a monoblock framed by a wall-high set of shelves and a sliding ladder. Library kitchen design looks luxury and comfortable, you can renovating your kitchen with this modern library kitchen...more

Artistic floor tiles and ceramic wall design

Make your home looks stylish and decorative with artistic floor tiles and ceramic wall design. Decorate your wall and floor in La Diva, a collection of decor tiles with a hint of Asian and European tiles. the dramatic Twilight wall tiles deliver that same micro-relief motif, but in new impressions to see and feel, and love. This artistic floor tiles designed by Villeroy & Boch . This 30-by-60cm non vitreous tile comes in authentic tones of ecru, beige and bright grey...more

Modern artistic Victorian Interior design living room

Victorian interior design can we applied in our living room. Victorian living room style can we see at the living room photos. Typical of Victorian interior design is there unique mirror and modular sofa. Large window complete with beautiful curtain can we see decorate this living room. Artistic furniture such as sofa, table, and rugs make beautiful this living room....more

Ultramodern office design with colorful furniture

Amazing office room with colorful furniture. This office room domination with white color looks elegance and comfortable. Pink and white color sofa decorate this large office interior. Interior decorating office room with white, purple, and pink color looks stylish, clean and health...detail click here

Romantic living room design with romantic candle lighting

If you boring with your living room atmosphere you can remodeling with romantic style. Romantic living room can create not only with pink color, brown color can create romantic atmosphere. According the living room picture we can see romantic living room with romantic candle. Beautiful romantic candle lighting make elegance this living room...more

Red white meeting room interior design

Many ways to decorate meeting room, one way is we can create artistic meeting room with red color. We can see artistic red wallpaper applied in small meeting room. Colorful meeting room dominating with red color this meeting room looks elegance and comfortable..more

Rumah jawa dan bali: Hunian dengan konsep Desain Modern-Etnik

Gaya Rumah modern bisa dicombinasikan dengan gaya lain, semisal etnik. Sofa, standing lamb, dan lemari cabinet yang merupakan furnitur modern berpadu apik dengan lukisan etnik. Menurut konsep modernisme,desain yang baik adalah yang memperhatikan kesederhanaan bentuk, fungsional, dan estetis. Atas dasar ini,maka smart design sebenarnya tidak harus bergaya kontemporer, mewah, atau berteknologi canggih.
Arsitek Smart design dihasilkan dari proses pemikiran yang luas dan berkualitas, dengan hasil yang simpel,fungsional,serta indah. Mewujudkan hunian berkonsep modern etnik. Gaya etnik itu sendiri sangat beragam. Biasanya gaya etnik yang sering dipakai untuk konsep rumah adalah Jawa dan Bali. Yang lebih digemari adalah Bali ketimbang Jawa. Analisa itu datang dari citra Bali yang dekat dengan nuansa liburan, sehingga memberikan efek rekreasi pada psikologis penghuninya. Desain bernuansa Jawa biasanya memang karena penghuninya suka dengan gaya Jawa.Kesan yang timbul juga dekat dengan kemewahan.Kesan mewah itu didapat lantaran beberapa jenis furnitur dengan etnik Jawa dikenal mahal, misalnya bahan kayu jati, ukiran Jepara,dan sebagainya. Mendesain rumah modern-etnik tidak sulit. Anda hanya perlu merancang rumah seperti biasanya dan desain denah rumah tetap mengikuti kebutuhan kita sehari- hari. Ruang-ruangnya ditata sedemikian rupa agar fungsional, simpel, dan mengikuti kebutuhan penghuni.Karena saat ini pola pikir manusia selalu ingin yang instan, efisien, serta multifungsi sehingga tecermin dalam desain rumahnya. Dengan memberi hiasan- hiasan, ornamen atau pernak-pernik etnik. Gaya modern cenderung simpel, sedangkan etnik sangat complicated. Kalau digabung dengan porsi sama, gaya etniknya akan lebih cantik. Dengan komposisi etnik lebih sedikit, maka unsur modern lebih kuat, sehingga tepatlah dikatakan sebuah hunian berkonsep modern-etnik. Sumber:javabali.info

Penataan ruang keluarga sebagai entertainment home

Ruang keluarga adalah ruang yang cukup penting dalam rumah. Membuat ruang keluarga tampak rapi dan praktis tidak mudah. Mengingat bila kita sudah lama hidup di sebuah rumah dengan kondisi yang sama selama bertahun-tahun, ada sedikit rasa enggan bahkan sayang untuk merombak kembali nuansa ruang keluarga. Mengubah ruang dalam rumah yang kita tinggali membutuhkan. Ruang keluarga juga bisa berfungsi sebagai ruang entertainment home. Meskipun saat ini, banyak anggota keluarga memiliki televisi mereka sendiri dalam kamar-kamar. Keberadaan televisi dalam ruang keluarga juga menjadikan anak-anak lebih mudah dipantau ketika mereka menonton televisi, acara apa yang mereka saksikan. Banyak orang memilih untuk membuat salah satu dinding sebagai sisi untuk meletakkan unit lemari atau kabinet build in yang dilengkapi dengan tempat meletakkan televisi atau set stereo. Dalam situasi rumah mungil di lahan terbatas, ruang keluarga juga seringkali merangkap sebagai 'ruang entertainment', karena keterbatasan lahan dan ruang. Penataan ruang keluarga sebaiknya fleksibel, dengan memperhatikan aktivitas apa yang sering terjadi dalam ruang keluarga. Biasanya yang dibutuhkan dalam area keluarga seperti ini adalah tempat untuk melalukan aktivitas bebas, seperti duduk-duduk di lantai sambil membaca majalah, bersandar di tepi sofa, tiduran di sofa atau berbagi dengan anggota keluarga lainnya.
Sumber: architechome.com

The Glass House takes backseat to fashion

October's Vogue Magazine has a feature on Phoebe Philo's first collection for Céline, which Annie Liebovitz photographed at Philip Johnson's Glass House. Wonder if that's a first for the Glass House, being bumped from subject to mere background of a shoot? – GF

America's Next Top Buildings

How would you pick American's favorite works of architecture? The American Institute of Architects and a polling firm interviewed architects and a random sampling of the general public, to come up with a list of 150 all-time faves, including the White House, the Gateway Arch in St. Louis, the Brooklyn Bridge, and Fenway Park.

So what was America's favorite work of architecture? Hint: King Kong and Fay Wray spent some time together there.

Most of the 150 buildings are big, public structures, which makes sense, and modern architecture is well represented, although modern houses are not. Fallingwater and Taliesin are 29 and 30 on the list (Frank Lloyd Wright was the architect with the most buildings, eight), and Pierre Koenig's Stahl House (Case Study House #22, above) is there as well, but the Farnsworth House, the Gropius House and the Glass House are nowhere to be found (that must have really bugged the Glass House folks in New Canaan.

The America's Favorite Architecture website is easy to use and has great pictures and useful information. Because I like to keep score, I counted up which architects are named most often. After Wright, there's Henry Hobson Richardson, with six massive granite structures, mainly near Boston, from the late 1800s; Richard Meier, with five; Philip Johnson, with four; and Eero Saarinan and Cass Gilbert, with three each.

The only women on the list, as far as I could tell, were Maya Lin (for her Vietnam Veterans Memorial) and Julia Morgan, who had two, including Hearst's San Simeon.

The website's here. They've asking for people to vote on the five favorites from the list. And thanks to the folks at the Jay Heritage Center in Rye, for pointing this out via Twitter. – TA

Modern villa architecture

Its beautiful villa with modern architecture concept. Complete with amazing pool with surrounding garden its looks beautiful. In the night we can see romantic lighting in this villa areas.

Modern bathroom furniture

If you want to make beautiful your bathroom you can redesign with modern bathroom furniture, available in various style and color.

Futuristic architecture design photos

Futuristic architecture become new trend architecture. Many interior designer predicted it. Combination green property and futuristic architecture concept can we see in this picture. Its looks modern and amazing, brilliant ideas.

Like useful jewelry for a modern – or any – house

I loathe and despise gutters and downspouts, at least the ones hanging off of our house, marring the otherwise clean lines of the exterior. But, if I had one or two of these ingenious rainwater collectors, I might just stop complaining. Designed by Bas van der Veer, a 24-year-old Dutch designer, the "Drop of Water" transforms those nasty leaders into something both whimsical and practical. The pod-shaped "barrel" is attached to the bottom of a downspout. The bright green insert is a watering can which fills up first, while the overflow is collected in the barrel. The spigot at the bottom can fill another vessel and (probably) attach to a hose.  Not yet in production but somebody's bound to pick it up. Bravo, Bas! Seen on blue ant studio. – GF

Tips membangun carport atau garasi modern

Bagai mana membuat garasi mobil atau carport untuk mempercantik rumah. Berikut contoh desain carport atau garasi modern. Sebuah garasi biasanya terletak bersebelahan dengan rumah utama. Untuk beberapa desain rumah, kadang garasi terletak agak menjorok ke dalam dan ada satu bagian dengan dataran bersemen yang terbuka sebagai sambungan dari garasi. Itulah yang disebut carport. Bahkan beberapa rumah modern hanya memiliki carport dan bukan garasi yang tertutup. Gaya ini sebenarnya mengikuti gaya Western karena di luar negeri ada banyak rumah yang memang tidak memiliki garasi melainkan hanya carport. Sebenarnya ini sah-sah saja. Tapi masalahnya, Anda harus mempertimbangkan segi keamanan juga. Apakah menurut Anda sudah cukup aman membiarkan kendaraan Anda diparkir di carport yang terbuka ketimbang di garasi yang tertutup? Garasi memang dirasa lebih aman karena memiliki pintu sebagai pelindung. Sementara carport kan hanya landasan parkir. Rumah dengan lahan yang luas memiliki banyak kelebihan. Sebab, di sana bisa dibangun garasi sekaligus carport. Pemandangan ini akan membuat rumah jadi kelihatan lebih mewah.

Tips merancang, menghias dan mendesain interior kamar anak

Mendesain kamar anak harus memperhatikan faktor kenyamanan dan karakter anak. Satu lagi yang kiranya harus diperhatikan juga. Gimana caranya supaya kamar anak bisa berumur panjang. Jadi Tidak sering berganti warna ruangan maupun furnitur.
Tips mendekorasi kamar anak, melalui bukunya yang berjudul Living Inspirations. Ia lebih memilih menggunakan warna-warna lembut untuk mendekorasi kamar anak. Warna lembut, seperti biru muda atau krem, bisa memberikan rasa nyaman. Selain itu, warna-warna seperti ini bisa bertahan selama si kecil beranjak besar. Tapi bukan berarti kita mengesampingkan karakter ceria anak-anak,Warna lembut memang diaplikasikan sebagai warna dominan, sebagai penghidup suasana kita bisa menambahkan sentuhan-sentuhan warna cerah. Misalnya, menempatkan bantal-bantal berwarna merah pada ruangan berwarna biru muda, dan sebagainya. Paduan warna lembut dan cerah dapat menciptakan efek seimbang. Jadi, kamar anak tidak berkesan terlalu datar, tidak juga terlalu playful. Jangan lupa, kita juga bisa bermain dengan motif dan pola.

Notes from the Underground

This sustainable house in New Canaan is not exactly mid-century modern but it's fascinating nonetheless. It seems though that sustainability isn't selling any better than regular old energy-wasting McMansions: A Raveis broker sent me a listing and two pages of details last April, when it was on the market for $2,395,000, and yesterday another Raveis broker sent me the listing again, priced to sell at $1,795,000.

The house was built 20 years ago and was designed by Donald Watson (here's his CV, which shows some interesting projects in urban planning and open space preservation), but I have no idea if it works as advertised. Here's what a Raveis broker sent me:

This residence was designed to provide a high level of thermal comfort, natural
lighting, and a sense of quiet and integration with the surrounding natural landscape. The home is nestled into a south-sloping site amidst gardened terraces and is built above-ground. Yet it is considered an under-ground house because its east, west and north sides fit into the hillside, and its roof is covered with a two feet of earth and grass. …

Many advanced building features are demonstrated in the house including earth-sheltered and passive solar design, light reflectors, photovoltaic electric auxiliary, batch solar water heater, thermal storage fireplace and an air-to-air
exchanger.

The house was built in 1986-87 to the owners specifications. The residence was
designed to be “self-heating” during the cold winter months. After the first year of living in the house, it was determined that the prior February the house maintained an average temperature of 69F inside during a winter period when the outside average temperature was below freezing. …

Also significant is the natural lighting. The ambient level in the major habitable
areas in the house is above 80F in sunny to partly sunny conditions throughout the year.

Special features that save energy and contribute to environmental quality: The entry serves as a combined air-lock and a greenhouse. In the greenhouse is a pebble bed in direct contact with the ground where a drip watering system is installed for easy moisture management. A fountain in the “garden” provides splashing water noise throughout the house.

Skylights at the north side of the house admit daylight two stories down, and the exterior light-shelves at the south windows shade the windows from summer sun and bounce sunlight deep into the interior which provides usable balanced daylight throughout the year. …

The house is a concrete shell covered with earth. The underground walls are waterproofed with Bentonite, a clay based product that swells in moisture and becomes impenetrable to water. The roofs are waterproofed with heat sealed EPDM rubber. Up to 6” of insulation overlays the exterior waterproofing systems which in turn are covered with Enkadrain fabric.

The windows, skylights and doors are low-e glass which has the insulating value of triple glazing. Low-e glass reflects back into the building interior long wave length thermal radiation thereby reducing heat loss. Although there are some windows located for east and west light, most windows face south. The design of the south wall with geometric angles and light-shelves maximize winter sun gain and shade the windows in summer. The concrete construction acts as thermal storage for the winter heat gain. -- ta

Black and white bathroom interiors collection

Black and white bathroom designs Collection from Novello to score sky-high in our design pick for the day. Luxurious bathroom interiors complete with oval mirrors to fluffy carpets, each item in this beautiful collection is perfectly integrated with the overall environment. Combination black marble bathroom and white bathtubs make beautiful this bathroom.

Modern Residence with modern minimalist architecture concept

New trend residence 2010 with modern minimalist architecture concept. This building looks elegant and luxurious. This modern architecture design by Arkitek Axis. The modern minimalist building is shaped like the letter “U” and most of the rooms have a view towards the pool, which is located in the middle. It has three levels, spacious, opulent bedrooms and bathrooms and a dining room which is connected to the pool through sliding doors. You can applied this concept to renovating your house

How to design living room integrated kitchen

This is new concept living room integrated kitchen. We can cooking and living in one areas. These amazing ideas about how to integrate a living room in a kitchen. The special apartment, with spacious rooms, large access to the kitchen and the possibility to keep an eye on the children while having coffee.

Mendesain dinding rumah dengan wallpaper

Mendesain dan menghias rumah bisa dilakukan dengan banyak cara. Elemen-elemennya pun banyak yang bisa dikreasikan mulai dari pintu, jendela, sampai dinding. Dinding adalah pembatas ruangan sekaligus sekat pembentuk suatu rumah. Dinding juga bisa dikreasikan menjadi lebih dekoratif agar dapat mempercantik tampilan ruangan. Ada banyak cara agar bisa membuat dinding menjadi lebih dekoratif. Anda bisa membuatnya dekoratif dengan menggunakan wallpaper, cat dinding, atau mengganti salah satu dinding di bagian ruangan dengan bahan lain yang berbeda dari dinding di bagian lainnya. Dinding ruangan kan biasanya terbuat dari beton solid. Mungkin di bagian ruangan lain Anda bisa menggantinya dengan dinding kayu.
Pilihan lain adalah dengan mengaplikasikan wallpaper pada dinding Anda. Wallpaper memiliki banyak pilihan sehingga memudahkan Anda untuk memilih baik dari segi warna, corak, motif, sampai bahan dasar wallpaper itu sendiri. Untuk membuat dinding jadi lebih menawan, Anda tidak boleh melupakan elemen lain di ruangan tersebut, misalnya furnitur, pajangan dinding seperti lukisan dan lain-lain. Jika Anda penyuka lukisan dinding, mungkin ada baiknya Anda mengaplikasikan teknik pengecatan dinding atau material dinding kayu. Jika Anda mengaplikasikan wallpaper, nanti malah akan membuat motif wallpaper yang biasanya memiliki corak jadi bertabrakan dengan gambar lukisan Anda. Bukannya membuat ruangan jadi lebih cantik, justru ruangan akan terlihat seperti dipaksakan dihias.

Desain ventilasi kamar mandi: bathroom skylight

Untuk membuat kamr mandi menjadi bersih, sehat, dan nyaman dapat di buat jendela atau skylight. Ventilasi untuk kamar mandi wajib di buat, Ventilasi punya banyak kegunaan buat kamar mandi. Lewat ventilasi, udara akan dialirkan keluar-masuk, sehingga kamar mandi selalu memperoleh udara segar. Jadi, kamar mandi tak akan terasa panas dan pengap lagi. Skylight juga berguna untuk memasukkan banyak cahaya matahari. Dengan demikian, kamar mandi selalu terang di siang hari. Cahaya matahari juga menjaga kamar mandi supaya hangat dan tidak lembap. Kebedaraan Skylight dapat menjadikan ruangan terasa lebih lega. Begitu juga halnya dengan kamar mandi. Skylight menjadikan ruang terasa lebih tinggi karena bagian atasnya terbuka. Jendela pada dinding membuat ruang terasa lebar secara horisontal. Buatlah jendela pada dinding yang langsung menghadap ke ruang luar. Jika tak mungkin, buatlah skylight. Jika tak mungkin juga, pasang exhaust fan untuk menyedot udara pengap kamar mandi. kamar mandi tak sehat bisa berpengaruh terhadap kesehatan seluruh rumah.

Merancang dan menghias warna kamar anak

Warna dan anak adalah dua elemen yang tak terpisahkan. Dari bayi, anak sudah mengenal warna. Terbukti, mereka lebih menyukai mainan berwarna primer seperti merah, biru, dan kuning ketimbang yang berwarna pastel. warna adalah senyawa dari interior. Kaitannya cukup erat dengan emosi anak. Oleh karena itu, berhati-hatilah dalam memilih warna untuk anak, terutama pada ruang-ruang yang sering ditempati anak seperti ruang tidur, kamar mandi, ruang bermain, dan ruang belajar. Ruang-ruang lain seperti ruang tamu, ruang makan, dan ruang keluarga tak memberi pengaruh cukup besar pada anak. Warna-warna yang lebih disarankan adalah warna-warna cerah yang dapat dioptimalkan untuk merangsang kreativitas, memberi semangat, memengaruhi rasa estetika, memperkuat daya imajinasi, dan memperkuat rangsangan motorik. Selain itu, anak pun memiliki reaksi positif terhadap warna cerah, seperti pink, biru, maupun merah. Reaksi negatif pun akan diberikan pada warna-warna gelap seperti coklat, hitam, serta abu-abu. warna Kuning tidak cocok digunakan di kamar tidur anak, terutama untuk kuning yang terlalu terang, karena bisa menyebabkan silau dan sulit untuk beristirahat. warna biru dapat menyebabkan rasa dingin dan membuat anak jadi pasif. Jika ingin menggunakan warna biru, pilih yang warnanya tidak terlalu pucat sehingga tak terkesan dingin. warna Hijau dapat dikombinasikan dengan merah atau oranye.

Videos of Ignite Philly talks published

And here is our talk courtesy of Ignite Philly and video hosting at Viddler.

Wow, that was fun, but I'm so glad I don't have to be in front of a camera speaking publicly all the time. Scratching modern house tv show off my to-do list now...

The rest of the evening's talks are here, and there were some great ones, everything from canning to public art, so check them out!

Hardly camping out, but close to nature

There's something tent-like about this tiny house by a river. The chimney is the center pole while the roof sweeps out from it on all sides with a deep overhang past the wonderfully wide glass doors around the entire perimeter, like a very cozy and permanent party tent. It's only 6oo square feet of living space, but the area under those deep overhangs add on to enjoyable space. Architects: Schuchart/Dow, seen on DigsDigs. – GF

Photos by Ben Benschneider, Seattle Times

More Ignite Philly photos via Flickr

Hand waving ensued

via flickr users relaxing and Rob Bender.

And a time lapse of the first half of the night - I am the third presenter:

by YouTube user claan1.

You really gotta love New York for this kind of renovation

Big doors, walls and whole sides of houses that open up have always appealed to me, but the ones I've seen in the past have, for the most part, been in rather private settings. The current issue of New York Magazine's Home Design Fall '09 Was/Is story features an East Village brownstone whose street-level façade is perforated and the second story opens up wide – on overhead garage door tracks – to the street. The architects did interesting stuff to the back of the building as well. – GF

Top photo: original sealed-up façade
All photos by David Sandberg

A Modern Giant

Because we live in the wealthy suburbs, not far from the big retro buildings where sports guys play, lots of sports guys live near us, or roughly near us. Mariano Rivera, for example, and Joe Torre. Dave Checketts, who used to run the Knicks and Madison Square Garden, and who I now hold in low esteem because of his attempt to buy a football team with Limbaugh, lives up the road, in New Canaan. Tom Seaver used to live in Greenwich. But of course they all lived in fake colonial mansions, or McMansions, I'm sure (I'm guessing here, of course, but it makes sense.

That's why I loved it when I was clicking through the blogs on our blogroll, which I hadn't done in months, and found this post from the MidCentury Architecture blog about the modern house in San Francisco that Willie Mays lived in. Check out the furniture though! There's no word of course about where Willie lived when the Giants were in New York in the 1950s or after he got traded to the Mets in the early '70s.

We went, We spoke, 300 listened

It actually happened, Greg spoke at Ignite Philly 4 on Tuesday night, 13 October. With 300 people in attendance it was probably the most eyes and minds ever thinking about modern house plans at the same moment!

The short format of the talks is a great challenge to force you to get to the essence of the idea you are presenting. We got a great reception from what was obviously a thoughtful crowd. What would you expect from a room full of people who came out on a Tuesday night to listen to people talk about ideas! The other speakers were just great and inspirational and the entire experience very uplifting. If you ever have an opportunity to present what you do at a venue like this by all means take advantage of it.

Videos of the event are to be forthcoming and we will post them when they surface. In the meantime there is a great review of the night on the Technically Philly Blog (photos above via Technically Philly). Thanks to the organizers for such a great venue and thank you to all that came to listen.

Solar village pops up in Washington

I'd meant to post about this yesterday, but things got away from me as they often do. Inhabitat did a nice job, so why not go there to read about the Department of Energy's Solar Decathlon, a competition in which 20 teams of college and university students from around the world compete to design, build, and operate the most attractive, effective, and energy-efficient solar-powered house.

I love the use of the Mall in Washington D.C. as the venue for this. Here's the sort of dorky video:


– GF

Historic Buildings of Connecticut, Including a Few From the Modern Era

On Twitter, I follow the Jay Heritage Society, which runs a terrific historic site with a great Greek Revival house (built by John Jay's son), in Rye. This morning they pointed me to this blog, Historic Buildings of Connecticut, which is organized in a number of ways, including by architectural style.

The blogger, a fellow named Daniel, seems to interpret "modern" simply by date, but it's worth looking through his dozen or so photos of buildings from the modern era anyway, including this terrific lighthouse.

If you live in or near Connecticut, the entire site should be fun.





The buildings shown here, which I photographed last week, are near an abandoned factory in Stamford and were, probably, housing for factory workers. They are not from the Historic Buildings of Connecticut site, although I hope someone who knows what he's doing has documented them. -- ta

Pound Ridge is More Modern than New Canaan

Pound Ridge, which is next door to New Canaan, has dozens of modern houses. I started a list a few years ago and came up with 39 without trying all that hard, and we've since come across others. Most are modest and from what I can tell very little attention has been paid to them as artifacts of the modern era or to who designed them.

New Canaan is obviously far more well-known as a modern town. But per capita, Pound Ridge has more modern houses -- at least 39 in a town of 4,800 people, compared to New Canaan, which has 91 and a population of 20,000. - ta

Modern in Pound Ridge

Our friends and neighbors, Sue Haft and Eric Moss, invited us a few months ago to see a house for which they had done interior renovations on a cul-de-sac in Pound Ridge. Eric said it was probably going to go on the market soon, and he said he though the architect was John Johansen, although we're pretty sure it's not a Johansen house.


Nevertheless it was worth seeing and, indeed, it's now on the market, for $2.1 million. The pictures on the real estate listing are better than these two, which I took.

Sue and Eric, by the way, live in a modern house designed by Moore & Hutchins, the same firm that designed our house. Moore did our house for a friend of his named Bertram Willcox, and then did Sue and Eric's for himself. - ta

More 'outstanding' architecture. . .

I guess I never realized before that the Dutch seem to like their architecture protruding . . .

This is housing for the elderly, by MVRDV. It is in a neighborhood of Amsterdam, and it's called WoZoCo. How did it come to look like this? The client's original plan limited the number of apartments per block to 87 units, and each tenant was promised good natural lighting. The number of apartments then grew to 100 units per block. MVRDV's challenge was how to add 13 more units without encroaching on any apartment's natural light or limiting the tenants' common space. The solution was to literally suspend the 13 apartments from the side of the main structure. Saw this a while ago, but it appears to be making the rounds again, via Best House Design. – GF

Oh! this is so . . . schattig!

The first words that popped into my head when I saw Divinatio Restaurant, by Sluijmer & van Leeuwen Architectst, were "it's so adorable!". My online translator converts those words from English to Dutch to as "is schattig".  On the harbor in Utrecht, The Netherlands, it looks like a tall houseboat, but I could see it as well in a field or on a mountainside as a wonderful little house. Seen on Contemporist. – GF