WITHIN REACH (REALLY)

True Starter Homes Amid

The Arizona Sprawl

COMING HOME
Design Eases the Transition
For Former Inmates
At Home in the Modern World

History

Lessons
Renovations that rethink the past

dwell.com
November / December 2023
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“You’re not in a bed that feels temporary.

You’re in something that feels like it’s really substantial.”
Doug Harmon, founder and director of the Revival Workshop

CONTENTS
DWE L LI NGS 70 78 86
Within Reach The Next Chapter Coming Home
COVER
A community land trust Two friends take on Transitional housing in
Jiminie Ha and Jeremy brings affordable housing Philip Johnson’s legacy New Orleans offers
Parker stand in their Philip to Tempe, Arizona. in upstate New York. formerly incarcerated
Johnson–designed home. TEXT TEXT
people a fresh start.
PHOTO BY Kelly Vencill Sanchez Joanna Rothkopf TEXT
Dean Kaufman PHOTOS PHOTOS Kenya Foy and Alex Lubben
Kyle RM Johnson Dean Kaufman PHOTOS
ABOVE
Justin Kaneps
The nonprofit First 72+
provides men just leaving
prison a place to stay.
PHOTO BY
Justin Kaneps

9
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 100

60

27

CONTENTS
96

D EPAR T M E NT S

13 Editor’s Letter 27 Modern World 47 Backstory 96 My House

Whether they know it or not, Three renovations reenvision Creative director Ashley Sargent
contemporary designers are midcentury modernism through Price brings her vision to her
carrying forward the heritage of a contemporary lens. Ohio home.
classic American traditions. TEXT BYLauren Gallow, Brian Libby, TEXT BY Jaelani Turner-Williams
TEXT BY Jesse Dorris and Mari Uyehara PHOTOS BY João Canziani
110 Sourcing PHOTOS BY Kyle Johnson, Joyce Kim,

See it? Want it? Need it? Buy it! 40 Essay and Zach Pontz 100 Construction Diary
The legend of perhaps the A couple build their family home
112 One Last Thing most famous American architect 60 Backyard House in Maine themselves with extra
Architect Melissa Shin’s toys has been written by a compli- A canary yellow ADU brings attention to healthy materials.
PHOTO: COURTESY FRIEND OF ALL (27)

and tchotchkes make surprise cated web of organizations cheer to a family in Saint Paul, TEXT BY Debra Spark
appearances in her designs. with disparate visions of how Minnesota. PHOTOS BY Isaac Lane Koval
TEXT BY Lauren Gallow he should be remembered. TEXT BY Shawn Gilliam
PHOTO BY Yasara Gunawardena TEXT BY Stassa Edwards PHOTOS BY Alyssa Lee

64 Before & After

Books take center stage in this
Brooklyn co-op renovation.
Get a full year of Dwell at
TEXT BY Jenny Xie
dwell.com/subscribe
PHOTOS BY Nicholas Calcott

11
 The Corcoran Group is a licensed real estate broker located at 590 Madison Ave, NY, NY 10022

be hats

be home.
be smitten
be mittens

F I N D YO U R H O M E AT C O R C O R A N .C O M
 editor’s letter

What to do with a Philip Johnson house? A titan

of the 20th century, he designed era-defining struc-
tures all over the country and shaped how Americans
understand modernism and postmodernism from
his decades-long tenure in the Museum of Modern
Art’s architecture department. But for a period, he
was also an avowed supporter of fascism, the deep
extent of which has recently emerged—thanks in
no small part to an excellent biography by critic
Mark Lamster. Johnson later renounced his right-
wing political leanings, but the most troubling part
of his legacy may not be the fact of those beliefs
but the narrow, dictatorial canon they seem to have
informed. He often celebrated individual design stars,
the majority white men, while leaving women, people
of color, and others out of 20th-century design’s offi-
cial history—a history that is now being reconsidered.
His skill as a designer, meanwhile, is on full dis-
play at the Wolf House, a home in Newburgh, New
York, recently restored by two friends (p. 78). The
complexity of Johnson’s legacy is not lost on the duo,
and they speak candidly about what it means to
faithfully restore one of his houses and how they
envision the home’s next chapter. We can’t separate
the designer from the work, but the Wolf House
shows one way to preserve history honestly while
thinking about the future. Similarly, the renovations
in our special section about midcentury homes (p. 47)
consider how the significance of these structures has
transformed over decades.
Though many homes were designed for a postwar
middle class, a cute midcentury with “good bones”
now qualifies as a luxury good in a housing market
that in many places has effectively shut out anyone
without at least $1 million to spend. An exception is
a development in Tempe, Arizona (p. 70), that has uti-
lized a community land trust to create attainable
starter homes—many priced less than $200,000.
Modest cottages clustered around common areas and
built with energy conservation and ecology in mind,

America they could provide a model for other cities. Just add
a grocery store and you would have a walkable neigh-
borhood within the sprawl of greater Phoenix.

Today And in New Orleans, OJT has designed a home for

another group typically underserved by architecture,
formerly incarcerated people just leaving prison
(p. 86). Everything from the floor plan to the roofline
was designed to meet the needs of people rejoining
their communities. It too could be a model for future
development—and, in our era of mass incarceration,
an unfortunately necessary one. And like the rest of
the stories in our annual American design issue, it
reflects the complexities of home design today: asking
PHOTO: BRIAN W. FERRY

questions about the past, solving contemporary

problems, and offering inspiration for the future.

William Hanley, Editor-in-Chief

[email protected]

DWELL N OV EM B ER/D ECEM B ER 2023 13

 Dwell Editorial

Editor-in-Chief
William Hanley
Executive Editor
Kate Dries Dwell Dwell®, the Dwell logo,
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14 N OV EM B ER/D ECEM B ER 2023 DWELL MEDIA

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 contributors

Jenny Xie
Writer
“Bookcase Study,” p. 64
When Jenny Xie stepped inside the
Brooklyn apartment reimagined by Spot
Lab for this issue, she was struck by the
curvaceous lines of the new shelving
designed and built to house the owners’
1,000-plus books. “It’s just very homey
to be surrounded by someone’s book
collection because it feels very personal
and very idiosyncratic,” says Xie, who
has her own debut novel, Holding
Pattern, out now. But it wasn’t just the
literary vibes that Xie appreciated. As
the former executive editor of Dwell,
“I’m very much a sucker for texture and
color too,” she says. “The designers
have a really amazing sense of that.”

PHOTOS: JENNELLE FONG (YASARA GUNAWARDENA); CHERYL CHAN (JENNY XIE); NIK WILLIAMS (JOYCE KIM); JULIE JACKSON (JAELANI TURNER-WILLIAMS)
Joyce Kim
Photographer
“One of a Kind,” p. 52
Joyce Kim first became
interested in photography
as a means of recordkeep-
ing. “I have a bad memory,
and so I think it was just
a practical way for me to
remember moments from
my life,” says Kim. Fitting,
then, that for this issue she
documented the renovation
of the only known complete
Yasara Gunawardena house ever designed by
Photographer Los Angeles architect and
One Last Thing, p. 112 activist Kazuo Umemoto.
Yasara Gunawardena’s early expo- Kim spent the shoot getting
sure to photography came about to know the home’s details,
when her father would let her play light, and composition, act-
with his camera. “He would be so ing as a “witness.” “I’d much
willing to put it in my hands and let rather spend more time to
me run around and take pictures,” just wait and capture, to
says Gunawardena. These days, the find the moment, than cre- Jaelani Turner-Williams
L.A.-based photographer shoots ate it,” she says. Writer
a variety of subjects, including “Picking Up the Thread,” p. 96
food, people, travel, and more,
“Journalism is something that I always wanted
but hasn’t forgotten how important
to do since I was a kid,” says Jaelani Turner-
that sense of play is for a profes-
Williams, who grew up in Ohio studying
sional. “Otherwise, things tend to
her future profession by collecting stacks
feel a little bit too serious,” says
of entertainment and culture magazines.
Gunawardena, who captured archi-
For the past five years, Turner-Williams has
tect Melissa Shin’s personal toy
been covering a variety of topics for national
collection for One Last Thing. “My
publications, including music, literature, film
job that day was literally to play
and television, design, fashion, and beauty.
with toys. What a gift.”
Design stories, like the one about creative
director Ashley Sargent Price’s house, are
particularly inspiring. “What I learned from
Ashley’s place was to just go with your
creativity,” says Turner-Williams. “She makes
me want to explore more vintage pieces.”

18 N OV EM B ER/D ECEM B ER 2023 DWELL

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“The use of color

throughout the home
feels fun and fresh,
yet approachable and
sophisticated all at once.
Bye-bye, beige!”
k_apostrophe via Instagram

With the help of architect

Keefer Dunn, Meg Gustafson
and Jonathan Solomon
turned their historic Chicago
home into a Technicolor
wonderland, documented
in “Quiet Riot” in Dwell’s
September/October issue.

What a fun house! OK, Meg: You

need to spill the details on making

PHOTOS: LYNDON FRENCH (“QUIET RIOT”); YOSHIHIRO MAKINO (FEATURED COLLECTION)

that zigzag light. Or sell it.
That thing is genius!
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Refreshing to see bold colors in

the sea of sad beige interiors
taking over this decade.
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Colors make us happy for sure! Readers are loving

Let’s use more in living spaces. this collection of
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accessory dwelling
units from across the
country and beyond,
More of this and fewer beige,
which includes Joanna
characterless, minimalist boxes. and Steve Vernetti’s
GALLERYNORTHSTAR VIA freestanding blue
INSTAGRAM addition designed
by architecture firm
Assembledge+.

20 N OV EM B ER/D ECEM B ER 2023 DWELL

 THE
PALE ROSE
COLLECTION
 love it or hate it

Modern Farmhouse
White board-and-batten siding with black window frames. Apron sinks.
Sliding barn doors. These are all hallmarks of the modern farmhouse style,
and over the past few years, the look has cropped up everywhere.
Here, readers and Dwell editors tell us whether the style is in season or
ready to be put out to pasture.

Farmhouse belongs Just get modern or

on a farm. go old school.
@hjbarnhart @grapelane

Great for Waco. Not Vernacular has no

for every suburb meaning without
in America. It’s the context.
new tract home. In the area I live Joanna Gaines–style It’s shifted from @xiao_chouette
@mengelen1 ALL new builds are folksy shtick got style to overdone
white with black annoying. Too much trend overnight. It’s trendy right
I love modern, and window trim. No gray. Ban barn Every other infill now, yeah, but the
I love a farmhouse, creativity! doors. going up in my classics will always
but why must they @christiwaldron @mjarzemsky hood is farmhouse. look great to me!
exist together? @revystoked @_lauraturner_
Julia Stevens, style It’s the white siding I suppose it can be
editor with black trim fun if it winks at its Unbelievably bland, If it’s good enough
that’s bad. Poor own falseness, but and every one I’ve for Kris Jenner…
Classics are classic farmhouse looks “modern farmhouse” seen is so poorly Jack Balderrama
for a reason. like it’s wearing usually means a few designed. Morley, managing
@lesorum thick eyeliner. cloyingly quaint @amber __ young editor
@evardoodle details dressing up
monstrously big I’m all for the mod- Best be left on
ILLUSTRATION: PETER OUMANSKI

suburban homes. ern barn house a farm, you city

READER POLL No thanks. EXCEPT for the dwellers.
William Hanley, use of sliding barn @qtjpno
editor-in-chief doors. The worst.

%
@m1nervvvva

37
Love
%
63
Hate
Monochromatic,
overdone, will date
itself like a Tuscan-
style kitchen.
@ex_libris_sarah

22 N OV EM B ER/D ECEM B ER 2023 DWELL

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blurring the line between where the living space ends and the view begins. SKY-FRAME.COM
 origin story

During its short life span, carpet has really been through the wringer. Once a status
symbol—wall-to-wall carpet was considered a luxury for most American families before
Curious about
the mid-1900s—by the end of the 20th century it was out of date, cast aside by many the story behind
American consumers in favor of easier-to-clean surfaces. While hardwood has been the a classic design?
gold standard of home flooring for much of the 21st century, we haven’t seen the last Ask us to look into it.
of fabric-covered floors. It’s something old, which means it’s bound to become new again. No idea is too big
Here are some of the myriad ways carpet has captivated us throughout the decades. or detail too small.

TEXT BY

Angela Serratore

A Timeline of America’s Carpet Crazes

1950s
Wall-to-Wall

USA/ALAMY STOCK PHOTO (1980S); SUSIE KEARLEY/ALAMY STOCK PHOTO (1990S AND 2000S); VICTOR VIRGILE/GAMMA-RAPHO VIA GETTY IMAGES (2020S)
As millions of families moved into new-
construction houses during the post-

PHOTOS: FOUND IMAGE HOLDINGS/CORBIS VIA GETTY IMAGES (1950S); H. ARMSTRONG ROBERTS/CLASSICSTOCK/GETTY IMAGES (1960S AND ’70S);
WWII building boom, they were ready to
splurge on decor. Recent advances in
production technology made it possible
for tufted nylon to replace woven wool
as the dominant carpet type, and it
quickly became the fashion to stretch
carpet from one wall to another. The
Saxony style consisted of tightly twisted
cut-pile fibers that stood straight up,
creating a dense, soft feel and a uniform
look. Bright blues, rich burgundies, and
emerald greens were all common color
options for the average suburbanite.

1960s and ’70s

Shagadelic, Baby
Not unlike the era’s shifting ethos,
machine-made carpet began to get
higher and looser in the ’60s: We’re
talking, of course, about shag. Made
possible by advancements in technology
that allowed for brighter colors and
looser weaves, shag also came to
symbolize newness—a big deal in a
decade defined by its emphasis on
looking forward. Its appeal might have
been that the textured fibers are fun
to roll around in, plush enough to
encourage partygoers to move from
the couch to the floor. (A home-design
stand-in for the Swinging Sixties if ever
there was one.) By the ’70s, shag was
still the ultimate in carpet style, and the
palettes were multicolor, appearing in
burnt orange, avocado green, and more.

N OV EM B ER/D ECEM B ER 2023 DWELL

1980s
More Carpet Everywhere
By the 1980s, homeowners became
savvier about maintenance. Enter Berber
carpeting, a relatively inexpensive,
looped style beloved for its durability
and resistance to footprints. This
emphasis on wear resistance translated
to an uptick in carpet in new places.
“Why not?” the approach from interior
designers seemed to say. Don’t like
stepping on cold tile as you climb out
of the tub? Let’s cover the bathroom
floor in plush, peach-colored carpet.
What could go wrong? As decor color
palettes shifted from the earthy shades
of the ’70s to a mix of preppy pinks
and ’80s-do-’30s pastels, those colors
found their way onto carpeted floors
in homes across the country.

1990s and 2000s

The Hardwood Revolution
TV has long influenced how Americans
decorate their homes, and by the end
of the 20th century, some of the era’s
most popular programs fell solidly into
late-night rerun territory, making the
shag-covered world of The Brady Bunch
seem decidedly old-fashioned. HGTV,
a network practically built on the idea
of ripping out old carpet and replacing
it with new hardwood, launched in
1994, inspiring millions of Americans
to project-ify their homes. If the ’50s
were about showing your neighbors you
could afford a house full of carpet, the
turn of the century was about opting
instead for hardwood floors, gleaming
and bare beneath the Pottery Barn
and Restoration Hardware pieces that
symbolized casual, yuppieish elegance
to people who associated carpet with
the basement at Mom and Dad’s house.

2020s
Fitted Fabric Revival
Because time is circular, in the 2020s
wall-to-wall carpet is starting to feel
like the right kind of wrong to the people
who set trends—just look to the colorful
carpeted runways of Gucci and Bottega
Veneta at 2023 Fall/Winter Milan Fashion
Week or the full-on textile floor coverings
at this year’s International Contemporary
Furniture Fair.

DWELL N OV EM B ER/D ECEM B ER 2023 25

 CURATED BY EDITED BY TEXT BY ICONS BY | @OPETER

Julia Stevens Megan Reynolds Jesse Dorris Peter Oumanski

Modern World

A quilt titled Student

Government by
Brooklyn designer
Sarah Nsikak shows
the future of an
age-old art form.
PHOTO ILLUSTRATION: AGATA NOWICKA; PRODUCT PHOTOS: COURTESY RESPECTIVE ARTISTS, COMPANIES, AND DESIGNERS

american icons
Levi’s 501 jeans. Eames chairs. Two turntables and a microphone. The best
American innovations have influenced generations. Here, we celebrate
enduring design and new work that embodies the spirit of its forebears.

DWELL N OV EM B ER/D ECEM B ER 2023 27

american icons

1
Diamond Quilt,
Thompson Street
Studio

2
Quilted Tapestry,
Students of Berea
College for DWR

3
Otti Quilt,
Studio Ford

Patchwork
1
People have been sewing
cloth onto other bits of cloth
basically since textiles were
invented. But block quilts, like
the classic log cabin patterns
of the 19th century and ring
designs in the early 20th, have
distinctly American variants.
Maybe the most famous
American tradition came from
the enslaved women of Gee’s
Bend, Alabama, who invented a
distinct abstract, improvisational
form of quilting. “[During the
Civil War] people didn’t have
money to buy a big, long, fancy
piece of fabric. So you had a
piecing together. That kind of
instinct is, I think, an American
invention,” says Lauren Cross,
the associate curator of
American decorative arts at The
Huntington Library, Art Museum,
and Botanical Gardens. Today,
contemporary designers all over
Agata Nowicka, New York City
PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY | @PIXELENDO

the country continue to experi-

ment with various free-form
or otherwise innovative quilting
techniques, carrying forward
in their own ways a combina-
tion of deft craftsmanship and
ad hoc invention.

Pictured above:
1880–1910 Circle in Star Quilt,
Artist Unknown

28
 2

DWELL N OV EM B ER/D ECEM B ER 2023 29

american icons

1
Palm Table Lamp,
Blue Green Works

2
Barrel Pendant,
Tracy Glover

3
Fazzo Table Lamp,
In Common With
x Sophie Lou
Jacobsen

4
Greta Hanging
Lamp, Friend of All

Tiffany Glass
New York City’s Louis Comfort
Tiffany domesticated the gran-
deur of stained-glass windows
for blockbuster lamps. (He also
took the credit for them, though
artists like Clara Driscoll and
her team of “Tiffany girls” often
designed the most popular
styles.) Regardless of author-
ship, Tiffany lamps made Art
Nouveau style accessible, illumi-
nating rooms across the coun-
try. “The move to democratize
design through mass production
ran counter to [the fetishizing
of] expensive objects,” 1
says Alexandra Cunningham
Cameron, curator of contem-
porary design at New York’s
Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian
Design Museum. Even if the
lamps’ multicolor figuration has
Anthony Zinonos, Fullerton, California

fallen out of fashion and now

PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY | @ANTHONYZINONOS

evokes, say, TGI Fridays, “a

movement back to handcrafted
workmanship has fueled new
interest [in them],” says
Cunningham Cameron, “as has
a trend toward what I’d call the
Cheers aesthetic—equal parts
irony, nostalgia, and mimesis.”

Pictured above:
1907 Leaded Glass and
Bronze Turtleback Table Lamp,
Tiffany Studios

30 N OV EM B ER/D ECEM B ER 2023 DWELL

2

31
american icons

1
Marien152
Conference Chair,
Steelcase 1

2
Freedom Chair,
Freedom x Kvadrat
for Humanscale

3
Asari Chair,
Herman Miller x
Naoto Fukasawa

4
Anthros Chair,
Anthros

5
Exclusive Emerald
Navy Officer
The Swivel Armchair,
Afternoon Light x
Management Emeco

Chair
Before Frank Lloyd Wright
designed his epochal executive
chair for Buffalo, New York’s
Larkin Office Building, he made
an early three-legged iteration
lambasted as “the suicide chair”
for its propensity to tip over
and propel its user toward
the floor. These days, standing-
desk advocates sometimes
deride any office chair, but that
hasn’t stopped designers from
creating new varieties. In the
Eameses’ era, office chairs
“were a product of experimen-
tation with newly affordable,
durable materials and an effort
to reshape corporate culture
through design,” says the
Cooper Hewitt’s Cunningham 2
Cameron. As corporate culture
has spread into homes, aesthet-
ics might be as important as
ergonomics, and the design of
office chairs is morphing from
PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY | @BLAKE__CALE

Blake Cale, Richmond, Virginia

easy-on-the-back to easy-
on-the-eyes. As Cunningham
Cameron notes, the old-school
chairs, whether Eames or
Aeron, “are so ubiquitous now
that they are a nonchoice
choice.” Boring, if not deadly.

Pictured above:
1930 Birch Swivel Adjustable
Office Desk Chair

32 N OV EM B ER/D ECEM B ER 2023 DWELL

 4

33
american icons

1
Handle Vase,
Dumais Made

2
Small Vase in
Seafoam, Beginner
Ceramics

3
Rhea Cobalt
Ceramic Vase,
Light & Ladder

4
Venus Vessel,
Rory Pots

5
Oval Vase, Bzippy

Teco
Ceramics
As a material, terra-cotta, or
baked clay, is as old as the
day is long—it’s been used to
create sculptures since before
the Bronze Age. But modern 1
America offered the world a pair
of innovations in this medium.
First, we branded it: Illinoisan
William D. Gates shortened the
material’s name and used it as
the identity of a new factory,
Teco Pottery. In the early 20th
century, Teco would produce
hundreds of types of vessels, in
a distinctive matte green. Gates
embraced Arts and Crafts–style
ornamentation, attaching
architectural handles to vases
and embedding botanical deco-
rative flourishes, as well as the
American maxim bigger is bet-
ter, manufacturing vases some
seven feet in height. Today,
PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY | @STEVIEREMSBERG

designers are finding beauty

Stevie Remsberg, New York City

and mystery in Teco’s verdant

tones, widening the colorways
to give art pottery the blues and
embracing whimsy in their geo-
metric addenda—if still mostly
keeping their handcrafted or
2
small-batch vases and vessels
resolutely table scaled.

Pictured above:
Two-Handled Vase,
Teco Pottery

34
 3

DWELL N OV EM B ER/D ECEM B ER 2023 35

american icons

1
Silo Settee, Fern

2
Foam Shaker Chair, 1
Joseph Algieri

3
Nomad Chair,
Sawkille

4
Athenaeum Settee,
O&G Studio

5
Carved Oak Stool,
Sunfish

6
The Counter Stool,
Furniture Marolles

Shaker Style
In the first half of the 19th cen-
tury, the Protestant United
Society of Believers in Christ’s
Second Appearing formed
communal, utopian societies in
Ohio, Kentucky, and throughout
America’s Northeast. Their
adherents came to be known
as Shakers for the trembling
they experienced while in wor-
ship—and the furniture they
often sat on while worshipping
established a particular, rigorous
form of American minimalism.
“Shaker beliefs regarding utility
and efficiency informed their
design constraints,” says
Savannah College of Art and
Design professor Sheila
Edwards, noting the Shaker pre- 4
cept that “beauty rests on util-
ity.” The Shaker style’s ongoing
appeal might lie in the dichot-
omy of its light appearance
PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY | @DU.ARTE.DESIGN

and heft of discipline. “Although

there is some European
Oscar Duarte, Los Angeles

fetishizing of Shaker design,”

Cunningham Cameron says, “I
think it’s resonated most with
American audiences looking for
fastidious historical models.”
And, maybe, some redemption.

Pictured above:
1830–1870 Ladder-Back Chair,
Shaker Community

36
 2

DWELL N OV EM B ER/D ECEM B ER 2023 37

 P R O M OT I O N

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designer will tell you that lighting can make
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The Modern Collection was dreamed up
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PHOTOS: COURTESY VISUAL COMFORT & CO.

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Learn more at visualcomfort.com.

DWELL VISUAL COMFORT

E S S AY

Taliesin West, built in

Scottsdale, Arizona,
in 1937, has been
characterized by the
Frank Lloyd Wright
Foundation as “among
the most personal of the
architect’s creations.”

Who Owns Frank

Lloyd Wright’s Legacy?
It’s Complicated
TEXT BY

Stassa Edwards The estate of arguably America’s most famous

architect is tied up in a convoluted web of

PHOTO: ANDREW PIELAGE, COURTESY FRANK LLOYD WRIGHT FOUNDATION

foundations, conservancies, and a trust—one
that outlines the state of preservation today.
In the mid-1960s, Americans decided it Gilded Age, with a particular emphasis as preservationists and the surviving
was time to preserve their past. That’s on the Revolutionary Era. (For example, families of important American architects
when federal protective status was first the first site placed on the register was began to understand that if modern archi-
granted to historic districts, including Slater Mill in Rhode Island, built in the tecture wasn’t protected, then it would
Charleston’s in South Carolina and the 1790s.) The 20th century wasn’t yet con- be perpetually endangered. And a signifi-
Vieux Carré in New Orleans, and in 1966, sidered worth preserving. cant change was spurred by the work
the National Register of Historic Places That began to change after major of one architect in particular: Frank Lloyd
was created. But for all of the interest in works of more recent architecture were Wright. Protecting his work was a para-
preserving America’s meaningful land- destroyed, including New York’s original digm shift in historic preservation and,
marks, the midcentury sense of history Penn Station and Louis Sullivan and in response, a number of organizations
was narrow in scope; preservationist zeal Dankmar Adler’s Garrick Theater in (foundations, a trust, and conservancies)
largely focused its efforts on buildings Chicago, which was leveled for a parking were formed to protect individual
and districts established before the garage. The tide shifted in the early 1970s buildings. The result today is a web of

40 N OV EM B ER/D ECEM B ER 2023 DWELL

 E S S AY

nonprofits that effectively own different demolished in 1963, making way for a In 1970, its Citizens Action Committee
pieces of Wright and his work, sometimes housing development, and other works identified work by Wright and his acolytes
with competing visions for his legacy and of his were torn down in his lifetime. with the purpose of protecting it. The com-
what it entails. This patchwork approach Protecting Wright’s work, however, was a mittee was particularly interested in the
isn’t specific to Wright, but as arguably complicated endeavor. Most of his work home and studio, where Wright did his
COURTESY FRANK LLOYD WRIGHT TRUST, CHICAGO (OAK PARK); JAMES CAULFIELD, COURTESY FRANK LLOYD WRIGHT TRUST, CHICAGO (ROBIE HOUSE); COURTESY THE WESTERN PENNSYLVANIA CONSERVANCY (FALLINGWATER)

the most famous American architect, was in private hands, and homeowners professional work for more than a decade.
PHOTOS: BRETT ANDERSON, COURTESY TALIESIN PRESERVATION (TALIESIN); ANDREW PIELAGE, COURTESY FRANK LLOYD WRIGHT FOUNDATION (TALIESIN WEST); COURTESY STEELCASE; COURTESY BRIZO; COURTESY KITH;

he produced work that is effectively the like the Steffenses were free to sell to the Wright built the Oak Park Home and
model for protecting architectural land- highest bidder, regardless of architectural Studio in 1889 with money borrowed from
marks in the United States—for better and significance. (This wasn’t particularly Louis Sullivan. He worked there until 1909,
for worse. unusual for works of modern architecture; during that time achieving “broad recog-
when Ray Eames wanted to preserve her nition as a leading American architect,”
— and Charles’s Los Angeles house, she according to architectural historian Lisa
couldn’t find a single extant institution D. Schrenk. Oak Park was both where he
Wright died in 1959, leaving behind a vast that would guarantee it wouldn’t sell the lived with his first wife and children as
body of work scattered throughout the home within a decade.) well as where he eventually established his
nation after executing over 500 buildings It became clear that if there wasn’t a own workshop, training young architects.
in his lifetime. High-profile commissions concerted effort to protect Wright’s work, (In addition to buildings designed by
like the one he received from New York’s much of it would vanish, eroding not just Wright, the neighborhood is home to
Guggenheim Museum, combined with our collective architectural inheritance but many of his acolytes’ work.) Though
his distinctive style and scandalous per- Wright’s reputation as well. In response, Wright left Oak Park in 1909, writing that
sonal life, had made Wright a household distinct groups of preservationists sought his “family life…conspired against the
name. (Ayn Rand is said to have modeled to protect his homes and workspaces— freedom to which I had come to feel every
her most famous protagonist after him.) namely, his Oak Park Home and Studio in soul entitled,” he continued to remodel
Despite his fame, Wright’s work wasn’t Illinois, Taliesin in Wisconsin, and Taliesin the home and studio until 1956, shortly
immune to the urban reshaping that West in Arizona—but their interpretations before his death. Oak Park, Schrenk
led to the destruction of many 20th- of Wright’s legacy often differed. writes, held “deep personal significance,”
century landmarks. The Chicago home The Village of Oak Park, a tony suburb making it one of Wright’s most conse-
he designed and built for Oscar and of Chicago and home to dozens of Wright’s quential buildings. But even before his
Katherine Steffens, for instance, was buildings, was one of the first to take action. death, the home was no longer in his or

Western
Frank Pennsylvania
Lloyd Wright Conservancy
Foundation

Licensing program
with companies
such as Kith, Brizo, Fallingwater,
Steelcase, and Pennsylvania
Lindal Cedar Homes

Frank
Taliesin Lloyd Wright
Institute Trust

Taliesin,
Wisconsin

Taliesin West, Annual

Arizona Conference
The Rookery,
Chicago

Taliesin Frank
Preservation Frederick C. Lloyd Wright
Robie House, Building
Chicago Conservancy
Unity Temple,
Chicago
Oak Park Home
and Studio, Chicago

DWELL N OV EM B ER/D ECEM B ER 2023 41

E S S AY

his family’s possession, because he had After Wright’s death, his third wife, to the foundation, the mission of its
used it to secure substantial loans. Olgivanna Lloyd Wright, continued to live licensing program is to promote “beauti-
When the Village of Oak Park formed in Taliesin West and became the president fully designed products that allow people
its Citizens Action Committee, the home of the foundation. In her 1979 letter to to bring Wright’s ideas into their lives.”
and studio were still privately owned. the National Register of Historic Places, A partnership with Kith might seem
Even though they were open for tours and requesting that Taliesin West be consid- far afield from Wright’s idiosyncratic
their owners were using the entry fees ered for the registry, she wrote, “I believe ideas about architecture, to say nothing
to “further their twenty-year effort to that the two Taliesins, both of which were of his deep and abiding commitment to
restore the house to its original appear- built by my husband, should be considered design inspired by natural elements, and
ance,” according to a 1966 newsletter from together as a unique expression of his work what emerges from a close look at the
the Society of Architectural Historians, and that the Landmark designation be foundation and the trust are differing
the home and studio had undergone extended to Taliesin West, as it has been to views of an architect and what preserva-
extensive renovations. Taliesin in Wisconsin.” Taliesin West was tion of his work means. The Wright of
Oak Park went up for sale in 1972. It designated a national landmark in 1982. Taliesin was an established architect
took a few years, but eventually the Oak Further complications lie ahead: designing the Guggenheim Museum who
Park Development Corporation partnered Though the foundation owns Taliesin, had abandoned his family life in pursuit
with the National Trust for Historic the building is managed by Taliesin of what he described as “voluntary exile.”
Preservation to buy the home and the site. Preservation, a separate 501(c)3 estab- As such, the foundation is deeply invested
The Frank Lloyd Wright Home and Studio lished in 1993 with an $8 million loan from in ensuring Wright’s place as the father
Foundation was established to manage the Wisconsin Housing and Economic of modern American architecture, culti-
the property and oversee its eventual Development Authority. The purpose of vating the legacy of an undoubted genius
restoration. The foundation evolved into that money was location specific, meant whose work is perpetually relevant, even
the Frank Lloyd Wright Trust, and the to preserve and restore the house while to Gen Z–focused brands. The Wright of
Oak Park was still a young family man
eager to experiment and establish him-
What emerges from a close look at the foundation self and build his atelier, and the preser-
vation of Wright’s Oak Park was part of
and the trust are differing views of an architect and a larger community-driven project to
what preservation of his work means. restore numerous architecturally impor-
tant works. Though Wright’s works
and presence loom large in Oak Park’s
National Trust leased the home and studio also adding outbuildings for visitors. ongoing preservation efforts, he is part
to it “for a nominal fee over a period up to Taliesin Preservation functions more like of a larger project. The story of those
40 years,” writes architectural historian the trust. The foundation’s goals, on the Wrights also diverges from the obstinate
Richard Longstreth in the 2023 book other hand, are broader; they focus on architect of Fallingwater, the iconic
Rethinking Frank Lloyd Wright. (The trust preserving the two Taliesins as much as vacation home commissioned by Edgar
went on to purchase the home in 2012.) on furthering Wright’s reputation, con- Kaufmann and donated to the Western
Today the trust has expanded to oversee tinuing to ensure that his recognizable Pennsylvania Conservancy. Unlike the
four of Wright’s major sites, including the style is disseminated and alive. Taliesins, most of Wright’s work for
Frederick C. Robie House in Hyde Park, The foundation also runs the newly Fallingwater is in the public domain.
Illinois. As a 501(c)3, the trust focuses on formed initiative Taliesin Institute, which In 2019, eight of Wright’s buildings
historic preservation, as well as exhibi- teaches the “history and future of organic were added to the UNESCO World Heritage
tions and education. Its purpose differs architectural principles.” But, perhaps list, including Taliesin and Taliesin West,
slightly from that of the Frank Lloyd more significantly, the foundation becoming the first works of modern
Wright Foundation, a separate 501(c)3 licenses Wright’s work, which includes architecture in the U.S. given that desig-
based in Arizona with a slightly different the tchotchkes available at virtually nation. The effort was led by yet another
name. Unlike the trust, the foundation every museum store. That reproduction organization: the Frank Lloyd Wright
was established by Wright himself in of a Wright lamp your mom gave you for Building Conservancy, a nonprofit that
1940. In a 2021 interview, Stuart Graff, the Christmas? It was probably licensed by doesn’t own any Wright properties but
foundation’s current president and CEO, the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation. But is dedicated to preserving his work. Like
said Wright formed it to “perpetuate his the licensing isn’t limited to curios: It also the foundation and trust, it’s rooted in
architectural ideas, known as organic works with partners like Brizo, which the preservationist spirit of the ’70s, the
architecture, ‘to make life more beautiful, makes bathroom hardware inspired by result of a paradigm shift inspired by
the world a better one for living in, and to Wright’s organic architecture. There’s a Wright’s work. Though the existing foun-
give reason, rhyme, and meaning to life.’ ” collaboration with Steelcase on a line of dations, trust, and conservancies are a
Wright endowed the foundation with office furniture and even entire houses complex web, they’ve succeeded, acciden-
the places that became his homes and from Lindal Cedar Homes. (Lindal’s presi- tally or otherwise, at one common goal:
studios after he left Oak Park: Taliesin in dent is on the foundation’s board of trust- building a model for preserving architec-
Wisconsin, where he lived off and on from ees.) Then there are Wright-inspired New ture, broadening our sense of what is his-
1911 until his death, and Taliesin West, his Balance sneakers produced with trendy torically valuable, and using sometimes
winter studio from 1937. street-wear label/retailer Kith. According competing mythologies to get it done.

42 N OV EM B ER/D ECEM B ER 2023 DWELL

 PA R T N E R S H I P
The spatial experience of
Bridge House begins with
the motor court—shown
here with architect Dan
Brunn’s 1996 Porsche
Carrera 4S in Guards Red.
The motor court is covered
in small pebbles that make
a distinctive sound as they
are driven over, inviting
drivers to slow down and
embrace a different pace
on arrival.

TEXT BY

Mandi Keighran

Just Add Color

Architect Dan Brunn adds vibrant When architect Dan Brunn designed the
Bridge House, his home and studio in
new details to his minimalist home as Hancock Park, Los Angeles, in 2019, he envi-
an homage to his love of Porsche. sioned it as an ever-evolving, gallery-like
space that celebrates natural materials, the
surrounding landscape, and his love for collect-
ing cars—with a motor court fronting the
property.

DWELL PORSCHE
 In its most recent evolution, he decided to immediately became enamored of the electric the secluded zones at the rear. This transition
bring art into the actual architectural form of hue of a Riviera Blue 993 out front. In his first between public and private is marked by four
Bridge House after he discovered that professional project, he chose to replicate vertical slats interspersed with glazing that
Porsche and paint brand Backdrop collabo- that color on a statement wall, but the only offers glimpses of nature to invite reflection.
rated to bring four iconic Porsche colors to way to do so at the time was by using actual These slats have each now been painted one
life in celebration of the sports car brand’s automobile paint from a body shop. “When I of the colors in the new Porsche x Backdrop
75th anniversary. “Over the course of its exis- saw the Porsche x Backdrop collab drop, and 75th anniversary collection. “Before it was art,
tence, we’ve always used it as a place to share that color was there, it was just mind-blowing architecture, and light—now, you have these
art, to invite artists,” says Brunn of the to me that it’s available now and somebody four iconic colors that provide incredible
4,500-square-foot home. “We’ve had any- could just roll that on without that entire
thing from sculptures to wall art, so it became chase that I had to do to get that same color,”
a very natural position to actually use the says Brunn.
house itself.” From the pebbled motor court, the home is
The colorful new palette is a fitting one for entered through two enormous pivot doors,
Bridge House; the home is entered via a which Brunn describes as being “almost like an
motor court that showcases Brunn’s car col- embrace.... The doors open to hug you.” The
lection, which currently numbers eight, includ- impact of the newly applied color is immediate,
ing a 1987 Porsche Carrera 3.2 and a 1996 with an Irish Green statement wall visible as
Porsche Carrera 4S. “It’s an experience start- soon as doors swing open to reveal the atrium.
ing from public spaces at the driveway, and The dark hunter green wall is not only a nod to
the deeper you go, the more private it the lushness of the surrounding landscape, but
becomes,” says Brunn. it also acts as an extension of the living wall
The four colors in the Porsche x Backdrop that defines the space and conceals a hidden
collaboration reference a different era in the bar. “When we host events, it’s really fun to see
sports car brand’s brilliant 75-year history. people’s reaction to the bartender opening the
Riviera Blue—a shade developed in 1994 and panels and saying, ‘Here’s your hors d’oeuvre,’
frequently seen on the Porsche 911, 928, and or ‘Here’s your food,’ ” says Brunn.
968 models—holds particularly poignant Another dramatic moment of impact is cre-
memories for Brunn: While he was an archi- ated in the circulation space that runs past the
tecture student, he passed a Porsche dealer- internal courtyard that separates the more pub-
ship every day on his way to school and lic living spaces at the front of the home from

DWELL PORSCHE
 PA R T N E R S H I P

The dining area (opposite,

left) is adjacent to the
internal courtyard, and
large glazed walls frame
the newly colored verti-
cal slats in the hallway.
A linear pool (right) runs
alongside the 210-foot-
long, 20-foot-wide home,
evoking the same strict
geometric language of the
architecture.

DWELL PORSCHE
 PA R T N E R S H I P

The home spans an exist- punctuation,” says Brunn. “It’s beautiful to

ing brook—like a bridge— watch it evolve throughout the day and see the
and is surrounded by
lush landscape, which
colors reflecting on the floors and ceiling.”
is invited inside through The play between interior and exterior
expansive glazing (left). spaces is a common theme throughout the
The Irish Green by home—large areas of glazing invite the out-
Porsche x Backdrop
side in, and there are several outdoor living
wall (above) evokes this
setting. and entertaining spaces, including the inter-
nal courtyard, a pool area, and a semiprivate
outdoor gathering space anchored by a Cor-
Ten firepit. “The idea with the design was to
un-design in a way,” says Brunn. “To find
nature and be one with nature.”
Given this affinity with the landscape, this
latest evolution of Bridge House is a natural
one. “Just as the landscape will change, the
house will behave the same way,” says Brunn.
“Color has never been something I shy away
from, but now I have a reason to have it in
my home. After so many years of seeing the
Watch the house as a clean, white space, it’s exciting.”
Home Tour
video Shop the colors at backdrophome.com/
porsche.

DWELL PORSCHE
 BAC KS TO RY
SA N J UAN ISL A N DS, WASH I NGTON
The
20th
Century
The design languages that
defined the middle of the 20th
century had their moment,
fell out of fashion, and came
back as classics. Their hold on
LOS AN GE L ES, CALI FO RN I A

the American consciousness

feels as strong as it’s ever
been, but in a contemporary
context, midcentury architec-
PHOTOS: KYLE JOHNSON (WASHINGTON); JOYCE KIM (CALIFORNIA); ZACH PONTZ (PENNSYLVANIA)

ture reads very differently than

it did 30, 50, or 70 years ago.
In these stories, we take a look
at the people reconsidering
what it means to have a home
designed at such a distinctive
moment in time—and how to
live in it now.

Now
W YOM I SS I N G, PE N NSYLVAN I A

47
BAC KS TO RY

Happily
Ever After
TEXT BY

Lauren Gallow

PHOTOS BY | @KJPHOTOS1022

Kyle Johnson

Getting to the remote islands off

Washington State’s northernmost coast is
not always smooth sailing. Just ask archi-
tect Jason F. McLennan and his wife, artist
Tracy McLennan, who in 2019 found
themselves stranded on San Juan Island
after their century-old wooden cruiser,
the Vagabond, started smoking during a
family trip. “We got stuck there and were
just goofing around one night, looking at
property online,” recalls Tracy. “We saw
this bizarre, interesting place for sale.”
Having bought and restored several
quirky properties in Washington over the
years, including a five-story tree house True to form, Jason and Tracy took the eating—perched among towering
made partly with salvaged ship parts and leap and bought the camp-like retreat in Douglas firs, cedars, and madrones over-
a 100-year-old barracks with a horse sta- 2020—even though it had no power or looking the Salish Sea.
ble that is now his office, Jason was smit- running water at the time and is on a Designed by a Boeing engineer named
ten the first time he visited the “pod secluded island with no ferry service. Hugh Pape in the late 1970s, the pods
houses,” as they are affectionately known. The property, part of a development were prefabricated using aeronautical
“We fell in love with the potential of the called Camp Everhappy, is one of the engineering techniques and airlifted by
property,” says Jason, who runs McLennan more eccentric projects Jason has tackled. helicopter onto Pape’s property, where
Design on Bainbridge Island and is chief It consists of three prefabricated pods— they were finished with modular panels
sustainability officer at Perkins & Will. one each for living, sleeping, and and joined into a single retreat. “He built

Architect and sustain-

ability expert Jason
F. McLennan and his
wife, Tracy, an artist
(above), renovated a
neglected getaway on
a small island off the
coast of Washington.
The secluded setting
and spectacular views,
like the one from the
living room (left), make
the many challenges
they faced in updating
the property worth it.
“It’s a magical place,”
says Tracy.

48 N OV EM B ER/D ECEM B ER 2023 DWELL

 The founder of the Living Building
Challenge and his family restore an off-
grid outpost in the San Juan Islands.

Designed by aviation
engineer Hugh Pape in
the 1970s, the house
comprises a string of
elevated hut-like rooms
connected by hallways.
Because the island is
accessible only by boat
or helicopter, the prefab
pods were airlifted from
a barge onto founda-
tions that Pape had
constructed on-site. “It
was so well planned and
executed that apparently
it took the chopper just
thirty minutes to drop
the pods in,” says Jason.

49
 Steel-framed wooden decks
(left) can be drawn up with
cables to winterize the
house. The kitchen (below),
designed by Space Theory,
features a refrigerator from
Smeg. Everything is solar
powered, and—thanks to a
rainwater catchment system,
a well, and a composting
toilet—the home is completely
off-grid.

Camp Everhappy N

DESIGNER Hugh Pape

RENOVATION ARCHITECT McLennan Design
LOCATION San Juan Islands, Washington

A Living Room
B Deck
B C Entrance
D Kitchen/Dining
Area
H E Toilet
F Pantry
B
I G Utility Closet
H Bedroom
G D
I Shower
F
E
C
B

ILLUSTRATION: LOHNES+WRIGHT
A

it like an aircraft,” says Jason. “Nothing can says Jason. “It’s the ultimate recycling
rot. We haven’t repainted the exterior project when you can reuse a structure
because I don’t know what kind of airplane instead of tearing it down.”
paint he used—but it’s still going strong.” In 2006 Jason launched the Living
The property hadn’t been updated much Building Challenge—widely considered the
over the years, save for an A-frame added world’s most progressive green building
in the 1990s that contains additional program—and since then he has tirelessly
sleeping areas. Jason, Tracy, and their worked to mainstream the concept of
four children set out to bring the camp “regenerative” buildings that make a net
back to life with the help of local builder positive impact on the environment. Now,
Jim Parker and Jason’s “solar guru,” Eric with several family reunions at the camp
Youngren. The team installed photovolta- under their belts, including a few raucous
ics and batteries that power the home and nights by the campfire under the moon-
allow it to run off-grid, updated the origi- light, the McLennans are learning how a
nal rainwater harvesting system, and building can be regenerative for a family.
added new water lines that connect to an “It forces us close together,” says Jason.
underground well. The couple also “We have to troubleshoot things together,”
enlisted a gaggle of high schoolers— agrees Tracy. “The camp asks something
friends of their sons, Aidan and Declan— of us. It’s hard work to get there, get your
to help haul supplies for a new Space supplies up, get it functioning. But that
Theory kitchen and a Smeg refrigerator makes it a bit sweeter when you can sit
from a barge up to the site. and look out at the water and appreciate
“The house needed its next steward,” how you got there.”

50 N OV EM B ER/D ECEM B ER 2023 DWELL

THOSMOSER.COM FREEPORT, MAINE
800.862.1973 BOSTON
WASHINGTON D.C.
SAN FRANCISCO
BAC KS TO RY

One of a Kind
A thoughtful renovation celebrates
the only house ever built by architect
and activist Kazuo Umemoto.

Owned by the same family for

almost 60 years, the Hamilton
House, designed by postwar archi-
tect Kazuo Umemoto, was virtually
unchanged when Simon Cremniter
bought it in 2018. Renovation archi-
tect Sonya Lee made upgrades as
needed while retaining as many
of the home’s midcentury features
as possible. Original acrylic screens
(this page), which close off the
kitchen and line the floor-to-ceiling
windows, are a signature design
element. “We took almost museum-
quality care of them,” says Lee.
Simon and his girlfriend, Amanda
Cebell, sit on a Modernica Case
Study daybed sectional in the living
area (opposite). The Eames dining
chairs are from 1961, the same
vintage as the house.

TEXT BY PHOTOS BY ɿ @JOKIMBO

Brian Libby Joyce Kim

52
Nestled into a hillside in the Los Angeles at the end of World War II and later dur- were going strong and getting published
neighborhood of Mount Washington, ing the Korean War. into the late 1930s, but after the bombing
this 1961 post-and-beam home is a clas- Afterward, he studied architecture at of Pearl Harbor, it all went to hell.”
sic, simple, midcentury fusion of wood the Illinois Institute of Technology while The succeeding generation, to which
and glass. But as architect Sonya Lee the department was headed by Ludwig Umemoto belonged, kept a lower profile.
began renovating it, the bittersweet story Mies van der Rohe; Umemoto would draw In the first decades after World War II,
of the home’s original designer, Kazuo on Miesian works like the Farnsworth many Japanese-American architects in
Umemoto, came into focus. The house House while designing this home over a L.A. tended to work for other people’s
is special not only for its design but decade later. Yet, this was the only com- firms that were—almost always—owned
because it is a singular work in its note- plete house he is known to have ever by white architects, and they founded
worthy creator’s career. designed, and it was commissioned in their own practices in small numbers. “It’s
Umemoto was born in 1925 in L.A. to part because the clients, Donald and a kind of lost generation,” Winship says.
Japanese immigrants, and while he was a Dolores Hamilton, were family friends. Umemoto spent much of his career
teen during World War II, his family was Umemoto’s portfolio was eclectic, per- as an architect for Los Angeles County’s
taken from their home and interned at haps by necessity. “In the 1920s and ’30s, parks department; among the projects he
the Heart Mountain Relocation Center in there was an active group of Japanese- designed was a handsome activity center
Park County, Wyoming. Even so, in 1944 American architects in Los Angeles who for Amelia Mayberry Park in 1968. Later,
Umemoto enlisted in the United States called themselves the Ateliers,” says archi- he designed one of the first In-N-Out
Army and served two tours, first in Italy tectural historian Sian Winship. “They Burger fast-food franchises, a golf

DWELL N OV EM B ER/D ECEM B ER 2023 53

BAC KS TO RY

A switchback driveway, mature

trees, and abundant plantings
(right) create privacy. In the
kitchen (below), the refurbished
cabinets, including the pulls, are
original. The Corian countertops
and most of the appliances are
new, but Simon and Lee kept the
existing Frigidaire oven, which
was repaired by a specialist.
“We loved its midcentury detail-
ing,” says Lee. A wide patio
(opposite) extends the living
area. “It has the same view,
except you’re looking through
the house,” says Simon.

course, and an industrial park. “ Doing the restoration encouraged me to think

Umemoto was also active in politics,
and in 1966 he campaigned on a progres- about what Umemoto had in mind, so it’s been a
sive platform as a Democratic Party candi- wonderful instrument in cultivating history.”
date for the California State Senate. He
lost, but his run raised awareness for SIMON CREMNITER, RESIDENT
forward-looking ideas, including develop-
ing a rapid transit system for Southern
California, antismog programs, welfare that’s thin enough to bring natural light in years, and the plumbing needed to be
reform, and new urban planning laws. to its center. Two bedrooms and a study redone. The original linoleum floors were
He died in 1992. bookend a living/dining area with an adja- in disrepair and contained asbestos, and
As for the Hamilton residence, it cent kitchen. The house had barely been the maroon bedroom carpets were worn
remained in family ownership until late altered since its 1961 construction, one out and darkened the spaces. The exposed
2018, when professional poker player exception being an off-the-shelf metal ceiling beams, which extend outside the
Simon Cremniter bought it and hired Lee, awning added to the back. “The heart of house, were covered with a faux-wood
whom he knew through mutual friends, the project was still there,” Lee says. veneer in the living areas.
to renovate it. The shoebox-shaped Even so, the air-conditioning was bro- Though walled-off midcentury kitch-
2,150-square-foot house has a simple plan ken, the cracked pool had not been used ens are frequently opened up, even
in otherwise faithful restorations, the
galley-style kitchen was already partially
open to the dining area, with a cutout and
a 44-inch counter at one end. However,
for times when the Hamiltons wanted to
close off the space completely, Umemoto
had designed movable screens, which
Lee preserved.
Suspended on tracks from the ceiling
like drapery, these screens are identical
to those lining the floor-to-ceiling glass
walls in the front and back of the house,
which provide privacy and help to control
heat gain. Made of many individual
squares of acrylic fused into a checker-
board pattern, they are the home’s signa-
ture design element.
“I could not imagine the house without
these screens,” Simon says. “The way they
ILLUSTRATION: LOHNES+WRIGHT

look when collapsed next to the wood

window mullions is beautiful—that’s the
house as I know it.”
Lee created a new primary suite by
opening up a hallway and reconfiguring
the adjacent bathroom, which is clad in a
distinctive slatted wood wall that wraps
around a corner. Fresh finishes like Heath

54 N OV EM B ER/D ECEM B ER 2023 DWELL

Hamilton House N
Ceramics tiles in the bathrooms and ter-
ARCHITECT Kazuo Umemoto RENOVATION ARCHITECT Sonya Lee razzo and linoleum flooring are period
LOCATION Los Angeles, California
appropriate, while new lighting creates
a softer nighttime ambience.
Simon, who shares the home with his
18-year-old rescue cat, Raven, has come
G to admire Umemoto’s abilities as an archi-
tect, even if they only got to shine in one
house—and he finds his activism equally
C D inspiring. “It shows that he was willing to
fight for what he believed in,” Simon says.
D E
F “I’m very moved by that.”
B C A Entrance
With views toward the San Gabriel
B Study Mountains and its lush, hillside setting,
A C Bedroom the house extends a tranquil invitation
D Bathroom
E Living/Dining
to indoor/outdoor living—and Lee’s reno-
Area vation has given Umemoto’s work a chance
F Kitchen to bloom anew. “It’s one of those projects
G Terrace
that you feel really lucky to be a part of,”
she says.
BAC KS TO RY

Designed by the
prominent midcen-
tury architecture firm
Muhlenberg Brothers
in the late 1950s, a
house outside Reading,
Pennsylvania (left),
proved irresistible
for Philadelphians
Paul Savidge and Dan
Macey. The couple
worked with architect
Kevin Yoder and inte-
rior designer Louise
Cohen to refurbish the
brick-and-wood home,
adding a 36-foot salt-
water pool (opposite),
where their golden-
doodle likes to take an
afternoon float.

TEXT BY

Mari Uyehara

PHOTOS BY | @ZACHPONTZ
A Retro Revelation
Zach Pontz
Experts in renovating historic homes,
a Pennsylvania couple transform a surprising
find into their forever house.

In December 2017, Paul Savidge and Dan on a slightly elevated corner parcel of land leading down to a small lake, and neighbors
Macey were staying at a hotel for a wed- surrounded by a short slate wall. It was waved to one another on garbage day. Dan,
ding in Reading, one and a half hours also a single story—exactly what Paul and a food stylist and historian, had his pick of
northwest of their home in Philadelphia. Dan wanted to settle into as retirement options from a “hipster butcher,” large
Once outside the nuptial festivities, they edged closer. Latino markets, and the local Amish food
were met with a bleak winter weekend, The original owner, Dr. Elmer L. Horst, stands. Of their earlier misapprehension
and the couple got a flat tire on a dark and was, as his daughter later told Paul and about the area, Paul, the chief legal officer
icy trip home. The dour weather seeped Dan, “obsessed” with Philip Johnson and for a biotechnology firm, shakes his head.
into their mood. Who would want to live tried to hire the famous architect. When “We were just stupid—it’s great.”
here? they asked each other. Johnson turned him down, he looked to The pair brought on their own longtime
As it turned out, they would. local architecture firm Muhlenberg collaborators over multiple homes: archi-
In February 2019, the pair got a call Brothers to design the house in that style tect Kevin Yoder of K Yoder Design and
from a real estate agent and friend spe- and retained Johnson’s longtime collabo- interior designer Louise Cohen. In 2014,
cializing in midcentury houses. There was rator, William Pahlmann, to do the interi- Yoder led an 18-month restoration of their
a house in Wyomissing, a town next to ors. The furniture that Pahlmann Philadelphia home, Louis Kahn’s Esherick
Reading, that they had to see, she said. designed was long gone by the time Paul House, just listed on the National Register
“We drove up to the site, we looked at and Dan arrived, but they did find one of Historic Places. The couple split their
the house, and we looked at each other,” original remnant during renovations: a time between Wyomissing, Philadelphia,
says Paul. Before the sun set, they were scrap of wallpaper illustrated with restau- and Sarasota, Florida, depending on their
ready to sell their second home in New rant matchbooks that they framed and work and the weather.
Hope, a town on the New Jersey border, mounted in the foyer. The architecture of the Wyomissing
and buy this one. As for the surrounding area, the couple home also appealed to their preservation-
Built in 1957, the flat-roofed, realized it would be the antidote to the iso- ist sensibilities. Dan is on the board of the
International Style house featured floor- lation of their woodsy New Hope home. In Chestnut Hill Conservancy, and the couple
to-ceiling steel windows interspersed with this tree-lined neighborhood, homes were dug into “boxes and boxes” of Pahlmann
oatmeal-hued brick walls and was perched situated more closely, with sidewalks archives at the Hagley Museum in

56 N OV EM B ER/D ECEM B ER 2023 DWELL

BAC KS TO RY

57
BAC KS TO RY

Wilmington, Delaware. The previous conceived an extension for a sunken house. “Paul had bought these vintage
owners passed on the collection of library in what used to be a courtyard and A.V. Mazzega blown-glass lights probably
Johnson books they had received from added a backbar in the former laundry twenty years ago at auction, and they have
Horst. But this renovation, unlike the room across from it. “Even the design of been literally carting them around from
Esherick House, wouldn’t require approval the windows that were added to the library residence to residence, trying to put them
from a historical commission and offered is sensitive to the style of the times,” says in every project,” recounts Cohen. They
more room for their personal whimsy. Paul. The team used more custom walnut finally found a home above the bar.
The two-and-a-half-year project—like millwork along with bricks from nearby The one-time skeptics have become
all the couple’s other extensive renova- manufacturer Glen-Gery, which has been local boosters in their aesthetics too. Next
tions, says Cohen with a laugh—was sup- in operation since 1890 and supplied the to their newly installed saltwater pool is
posed to be small. For starters, the ovens original house. “You would look at the a 1950s-esque mural of swimmers by
in the kitchen couldn’t fit a Thanksgiving room and say, Oh, that was there in 1957,” British-born artist Robert Pepper, who
turkey, which wouldn’t do for Dan. To says Dan of the addition. lives in the area. And Paul and Dan feature
accommodate a new kitchen layout, the To pay homage to the house’s vintage, pagodas—a symbol of Reading—as a
original walnut cabinetry had to be the couple made other tweaks. After motif throughout their home: the salt and
replaced, and they went with local firm considering terrazzo and brick—both pepper shakers; on hand towels in the
Lutz Wood. Cohen also swapped out the Johnson-style flooring but too expensive— entryway bathroom; as a tall, teal sculp-
dark brown kitchen island countertop for they replaced the wall-to-wall carpeting ture in front of similarly patterned gold-
a four-inch-thick white quartz one with a with herringbone slate tiles. The bath- and-gray wallpaper by Phillip Jeffries in
heavy 14-inch overhang. It required a steel rooms were previously outfitted with the dining room.
cable running through the slab so that it inoffensive white tiles; Paul and Dan kept “I always say to Dan, ‘We’ll probably die
wouldn’t tip over. the porcelain sinks but added retro color in the hospital here in Reading,’ ” says Paul
In the midst of the renovation, Paul, a via a pink-and-blue tiled guest bathroom as the summer sun reflects on the pool
board member of the National Jane Austen with a cobalt blue Corian countertop and and their two dogs laze about on the patio.
Society, realized that there was no space a flooring mosaic of white and greens. Sometimes life comes together in the
for his large book collection. So Yoder The two avid collectors’ art fills the place you least expect.

A former laundry room collection. Built-in

was turned into a bar walnut seating, also by
with walnut millwork Lutz Wood, is covered
by Lutz Wood. The in Cortina Leathers
vintage lights are by cushions. A 1960s
A.V. Mazzega, and the Hungarian tapestry
custom-upholstered hangs nearby. At night,
Tulip stools are from light coming through
Knoll. The bar faces a the wall of original
sunken library (right) steel-framed windows
that houses Paul’s illuminates the pool
extensive Jane Austen area (above right).

58
 What makes an icon?
Purposeful design. Quality craftsmanship. Timeless beauty.

Pitu Chaise Lounge Chair & Ottoman by Aristeu Pires

www.sossegodesign.com
 The accessory dwelling unit behind the home
of Sonja Batalden (opposite, with her son Isaiah
Scharen, her dog, Cosette, and assorted chick-
ens) in Saint Paul, Minnesota, has cheery yellow
siding that the entrance appears to carve into.
“If the yellow of the siding is the wrap-
per on the candy, this is kind of like
the gooey middle,” architect
Christopher Strom says about
the thermally modified
ash lining the entry.

A Minnesotan’s desire to build

a sense of community close to
home inspires a bright accessory
dwelling unit partly designed
by her son.
60 N OV EM B ER/D ECEM B ER 2023 DWELL
 BAC K YA R D H O U S E

Conversation Starter
TEXT BY PHOTOS BY | @ALYSSALEEPHOTOGRAPHY

Shawn Gilliam Alyssa Lee

Questions about community played an with their partners and many pets, moved the firm headed by one of his professors,
important part in Sonja Batalden’s deci- home from college. “Suddenly this house— architect Christopher Strom. Accessory
sion to buy her Saint Paul, Minnesota, where I was going to live by myself—had dwelling unit (ADU) designs by Strom’s
home. “How can we continue to think dif- five adults, three dogs, six rats, and six firm dot the Twin Cities, and Isaiah
ferently about how we use space in the chickens,” Sonja says with a laugh. thought one would be perfect for his
city?” the nurse-midwife says she asked The tight-space situation proved seren- mother’s yard. (Minneapolis first legalized
herself before purchasing it. “And how can dipitous. “Isaiah is studying architecture, ADUs in 2014, and Saint Paul followed in
we create different ways of living together?” and his partner, Maura, is in landscape 2016.) Sonja hired Strom, and Strom hired
She thought the home’s driveway—shared architecture, and they’re always looking Isaiah for another summer to work on the
with one of her best friends, right next for a challenge,” Sonja says. In this case, project. Now, Finn lives in Strom and
door—could serve as a first step in con- it would involve her backyard. “Isaiah Isaiah’s backyard creation.
necting with her neighbors. And its deep and Maura thought, Let’s try and design Because Sonja’s home already had a
yard offered space for her to explore new something that fits within the regulations detached garage, the ADU could be com-
ideas about home life. and doesn’t require any variances,” she pletely devoted to living space, and it could
Little did Sonja know how quickly her explains. “It was almost like a game.” be built at the back of the lot, just beyond
ideas would take shape. “I closed on the As luck would have it, Isaiah had just the flowering pollinator garden, vegetable
house the week everything shut down upped his design game with an architec- garden, and chicken coops. Structural
because of the pandemic,” she says. Soon ture class at St. Olaf College in Northfield, insulated panels—which quickly snap
after, sons Isaiah and Finn Scharen, along Minnesota, and a summer internship with together on-site—provide an airtight,

DWELL N OV EM B ER/D ECEM B ER 2023 61

BAC K YA R D H O U S E

Strom designed the ADU with

Isaiah. They went for gray-
green Ikea cabinetry that wraps
two sides of the room (left and
below). “It’s one thing to have
a wall of cabinets, but if you
can turn it around a corner,
it makes it look much more
tailored to the space,” Strom
says. A bedroom loft is upstairs
(bottom left). “The first level is
much more connected to the
garden and the community, but
upstairs, we envisioned it as
being a nest where you could
get away,” Sonja says.

Sunflower N

ARCHITECT Christopher Strom Architects

LOCATION Saint Paul, Minnesota

Upper Level Lower Level

F C B A
G H

D
A Entrance E Mechanical Room
B Living Area F Bathroom
C Kitchen G Office
D Patio H Bedroom “ This isn’t just a rental unit or a speculative
project to add more living space to the yard.
It’s about bringing people together.”
ISAIAH SCHAREN, DESIGNER

continuous seal. Using them also reduced of the wood so it doesn’t absorb moisture
construction waste, a priority for Sonja. and rot,” Strom says. “It’s essentially
The ADU’s “Monopoly house” shape, as waterproof wood.”
Strom and Isaiah describe it, keeps the Color also takes a bit of a break on the
design simple and leaves opportunity for 760-square-foot interior, which is primar-
creativity. “When you start with that ily painted white. “We were trying to bal-
form, you can carve away at it and do ance the creativity and color of the ADU
things that are a little more unexpected,” with the desire for it to have a lot of dif-
Strom says. “For example, you can take a ferent lives—to be able to adapt to differ-
ILLUSTRATION: LOHNES+WRIGHT

bite out of the Monopoly house to make ent people living there,” Isaiah says.
an entry.” It’s the ADU’s yellow exterior that steals
The entry—which departs from the rest the show. “You can sort of see it from all
of the exterior’s board-and-batten engi- directions when you’re walking around
neered-wood siding, painted sunflower the block,” Sonja says. “People will say,
yellow—is clad with thermally modified ‘Oh, you built the yellow house!’ And then
ash. “It’s baked to 200 degrees Celsius, they want to hear all about it.” Building
which changes the molecular composition community has officially begun.

62 N OV EM B ER/D ECEM B ER 2023 DWELL

BEFORE & AFTER

Design-build firm Spot Lab re-

imagined a 980-square-foot
apartment in a Brooklyn cooperative
building for programmer Eric Tsai,
research collection manager Audrey
Christensen-Tsai, and their eight-
year-old son, August (right). In
the updated kitchen (bottom),
custom refrigerator and dishwasher
panels by Spot Lab complement the
new built-in banquette and birch-
plywood cabinets that weave
throughout the apartment. Floor-
to-ceiling bookshelves in the living
room and entrance hallway (oppo-
site) make ample space for the
family’s extensive book collection.

TEXT BY PHOTOS BY ɿ @NICHOLASCALCOTT

Jenny Xie Nicholas Calcott

Bookcase Study
In a 1950s Brooklyn co-op, a scholarly couple’s
cramped corner unit gets a smart makeover with
attention to storage for their library.

Book Nook N

DESIGNER Spot Lab

LOCATION Brooklyn, New York

A Entrance E Living Room

B Kitchen F Bedroom
C Dining Area G Bathroom
D Office/Library

B C

F
D

G
ILLUSTRATION: LOHNES+WRIGHT

E F

64 N OV EM B ER/D ECEM B ER 2023 DWELL

 BEFORE & AFTER

You know a renovation is getting serious Eric and Audrey, who have an eight- designated workspace to replace Eric’s
when you have to buy a commercial build- year-old son, August, purchased their two- desk in the entrance hall, which doubled
ing to get a space large enough to make bedroom corner unit knowing they would as a pullout dining table and, unofficially,
the custom millwork. That was what Tessa have to address the kitchen’s and bath- a catchall for unending clutter.
French and Zeb Burge, the couple behind room’s outdated finishes and appliances. To open things up and add functional-
design-build firm Spot Lab, found them- “I remember moving in and saying, ‘We ity, Spot Lab envisioned curved, birch-
selves doing in the spring of 2021 when just have to live with the kitchen for a plywood cabinets that would snake from
they signed on to reimagine a 980-square- year,’ ” says Audrey. They had to nail shut the kitchen—which gained a U-shaped
foot apartment on the top floor of a 1953 drawers that had no bottoms. Throughout banquette—to the living room, creating
cooperative building in Brooklyn’s the apartment, cramped, closed-off spaces a built-in desk in the hallway and adding
Windsor Terrace neighborhood. were a squeeze to navigate, and there was floor-to-ceiling bookshelves. Blue Durat
The clients—Eric Tsai, a programmer a serious lack of storage for their library kitchen and bath countertops made of
at a linguistics research institute, and of more than 1,000 books, which occupied a recyclable, polyester-based material and
Audrey Christensen-Tsai, a research col- every corner and surface. “I’ve never really blue paint on the undersides of shelves
lection manager—had seen the pair’s work gotten rid of books,” says Eric. “Generally, and inside closet doors visually connect
on a Brooklyn house, which had been fea- any book that I get my hands on doesn’t the spaces. Modular pegboards in the
tured on Brownstoner, a local real estate leave.” (“I read everything on Kindle kitchen and office area allow for evolving
website. “It felt like it was done by some- because of Eric’s book habit,” Audrey uses. “It was the right call in terms of flex-
body that had a handle on fun detail, but adds.) In addition to a modern kitchen, the ible growth, but also the language of the
it wasn’t overdone,” says Audrey. “They family wanted a way to host up to eight circles as a texture became a cool part of
had a strong sense of color.” dinner guests comfortably and a the design,” says French.

DWELL N OV EM B ER/D ECEM B ER 2023 65

BEFORE & AFTER

A custom blue Durat countertop and shelving (bottom right). For the desk
birch-plywood vanity in the bath- chair, Spot Lab refurbished and
room match the renovation’s material reupholstered a vintage chair that
palette, while Daltile wall subway had been left on the street. A custom
tiles add an unexpected flair (above). media console in the living room
The hall workspace features a peg- creates yet another space-saving
board wall and a built-in bench with solution to maximize the unit’s small
storage, in addition to more open footprint (below).

There was just one problem: The design-

ers didn’t have prior cabinetry-building
experience. “We just bootstrapped this
thing,” says Burge, who called a vacuum
press supplier for a crash course in bend-
ing plywood in the couple’s new woodshop,
which they’d converted from a dilapidated
alternator repair shop so they could pro-
duce millwork in-house. “The banquette
was the most difficult thing we made,”
he says. French agrees: “It was way more
math than we even thought possible.”
The designers’ hard work paid off, how-
ever—the family hosted eight for dump-
ling-making around their banquette this
past Chinese New Year. Eric’s desk is no
longer an afterthought. In terms of other
millwork, a custom media console in the
living room holds the couple’s robust
record collection, a closet (created by com-
bining two small bedroom closets and a
linen closet) expands storage in the pri-
mary bedroom, and a new vanity punches
up the bathroom. The family’s next proj-
ect? In true bibliophile fashion, organizing
and cataloging their books.

66 N OV EM B ER/D ECEM B ER 2023 DWELL

JANUARY 18-21, 2024
FORT MASON CENTER

January 17, 2024

Preview Gala Benefiting
the San Francisco Museum
of Modern Art

CELEBRATING 10 YEARS
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TYPEFACE DESIGN: VJ-TYPE

DWE LL I N GS
November/December 2023 PROJECTS.
69
DWELLINGS

A housing development in Tempe, Arizona,

offers a model for affordable home ownership.

70 N OV EM B ER/D ECEM B ER 2023 DWELL

TEXT BY
Kelly Vencill Sanchez

PHOTOS BY ɿ @KYLE_RM_JOHNSON

Kyle RM Johnson

71
DWELLINGS

The 13 units that make up

Tempe Micro Estates have made
home ownership a reality for
residents like Christian Curry
(above), whose 600-square-
foot house has a mezzanine
bedroom reached by a stair
(left). Solar panels on the cov-
ered parking area (right) gen-
erate energy for the property,
which sits on a nonprofit com-
munity land trust designed to
keep housing affordable in the
Phoenix metropolitan area.

Danielle Ippolito and Daniel Velez had of a community land trust (CLT), which Community Development Corporation,
never imagined they’d become homeown- means that residents own their homes but Arizona’s largest community land trust, to
ers when they visited a new development lease the land they sit on through a low- build a version of the complex on a walk-
down the street from their apartment cost, renewable lease that lasts 99 years. able and bikeable site near ASU. In addition
in Tempe, Arizona, just east of Phoenix. Originating during the civil rights move- to support from the land trust, a combina-
They’d been searching for a new place, ment in the 1960s, CLTs have been a way tion of government funding and grants
says Danielle, “but we couldn’t find any- for communities to preserve and increase would keep home prices below market
thing within our budget. And we didn’t affordability in neighborhoods where sky- rates—from $170,000 to $210,000 apiece.
think we’d be able to buy anytime soon.” rocketing property values have tradition- At 600 square feet, the homes are mod-
Their interest was piqued when they ally pushed out lower-income residents. est, but architect Matthew Salenger, of
heard about Tempe Micro Estates, a hous- The lack of affordable housing in Tempe coLAB studio, has incorporated thought-
ing project targeted at low- and moderate- was at the heart of the Micro Estates proj- ful features: There are fully equipped
income buyers. Arranged around a central ect. In 2015, city officials tasked engineer- kitchens, operable windows, and patios
courtyard, the development’s 13 single- ing students from Arizona State University in each home. Most have sleeping lofts,
family homes, including one accessible (ASU) with exploring the feasibility of while the accessible model has a semi-
unit, and a 900-square-foot community creating a group of “humble homes” near separate bedroom. Salenger brought
center were still under construction, downtown. The result was an idea for unique details to the exteriors as well—
but the couple saw the possibilities. “It an energy-efficient tiny home development adorning inset patches on the otherwise
made it more enticing that we already with a shared garden and a community white stucco boxes with metal panels
lived in the area and liked it,” says Daniel. center that would eventually become and attaching small awnings over each
To address the needs of first-time buy- the Micro Estates. Fast-forward a few years entrance. Modest square windows punch
ers and others increasingly shut out of the and the city partnered with Maricopa through the units, creating irregular
housing market, the development is part County and the nonprofit Newtown patterns on their facades.

72 N OV EM B ER/D ECEM B ER 2023 DWELL

 Architect Matthew Salenger,
of coLab studio, clad the com-
munity center (above) with cor-
rugated Corten steel that nods to
material used on a neighboring
property. Christian upgraded his
kitchen with quartz countertops
(left) that he found at a local
scrapyard and added customized
closet units from Ikea (right).
Salenger trimmed the exteriors
of the units with custom metal
panels in a palette inspired by
the desert landscape (below).

Tempe Micro Estates N

ARCHITECT coLAB studio

LOCATION Tempe, Arizona

Standard Unit Accessible Unit &

Community Center

B G
D
C E C F
A
A
ILLUSTRATION: LOHNES+WRIGHT

Lower Level Upper Level D

D C

A Patio E Bedroom E B
B Living/Dining Area F Communal Space
C Kitchen G Laundry Room
D Bathroom

DWELL N OV EM B ER/D ECEM B ER 2023 73

DWELLINGS

“The sustainable details here are important,

because, as they say, environmentalism
doesn’t really work if it isn’t for everyone.”
MATTHEW SALENGER, ARCHITECT

74 N OV EM B ER/D ECEM B ER 2023 DWELL

In addition to lining roofs with
solar panels, the design team
used stabilized decomposed
granite in place of concrete
wherever possible and installed
a 2,600-gallon cistern to cap-
ture rainwater for irrigation.

75
DWELLINGS

Daniel Velez and Danielle Ippolito

(right and opposite, left) share
their unit with their dog, Renly.
Like the other standalone homes,
it has vaulted ceilings and glass
front doors to maximize natural
light and includes a semiprivate
patio (opposite, top right). “We
thought we couldn’t afford a
house, but when this opportunity
came up, we saw it was pos-
sible,” says Daniel. “I don’t ever
feel like it’s really small,” adds
Danielle. “If we want to play
board games or have a friends-
and-family dinner, we can go to
the community center.” There
are EV chargers (above), and a
shared garden sits at the center
of the development (opposite,
bottom right). “There’s a lot
packed into these little houses,”
says builder John Anderson.

76
 Working with David Crummey, homeowner association (HOA). After “Newtown can then pay it forward for
Newtown’s former project manager, and graduating from college, he considered the next homeowner,” he says. Newtown,
John Anderson and the team at 180 Degrees renting in the Phoenix area, but faced which is dedicated to affordable housing
Design + Build, Salenger sought creative with soaring prices, he moved in with his and homebuyer education, now has more
ways to keep construction costs in check, parents. The Micro Estates offered him than 200 homes in its CLT, and there are
though pandemic-related material delays something renting could not—the chance two large developments in the works.
and price increases meant they sometimes to build equity. “You can go to other parts The layout of the property was designed
had to resort to their third or fourth choice of Phoenix and pay almost $350,000 for to encourage interaction. The parking
to stay on schedule. “We had deadlines we the same amount of square footage,” he area, complete with solar-paneled roofs
had to meet or we’d risk losing a portion says. “And this has all the necessities of and EV charging stations, is set near the
of the funding,” Anderson remembers. a standard home.” street, so residents engage with their
Limiting the windows to four per home, Newtown and the HOA encourage neighbors as they come and go. The com-
including a glass front door, was another residents to make the homes their own. munity center, which is outfitted with
cost-saving measure, so orientation was Christian, for instance, has incorporated a kitchen and laundry facilities, is used
key. “The windows have different depths tech features such as smart light switches for gatherings. Soon after moving in,
of shading, depending on whether they and blinds, redone the bathroom, and some of the residents planted fruit trees,
face north or south,” notes Salenger. “Most swapped out Formica countertops in the but keeping them alive in the Arizona
of the east- or west-facing windows and kitchen for quartz he salvaged at a scrap- heat proved to be a struggle.
doors are under an overhang, so there’s yard. When he or any of the residents Daniel says becoming a homeowner
not a lot of direct solar heat gain.” decide to sell, Newtown can buy back has changed the way he and Danielle live.
Details like these at an affordable price the home for the original purchase price, “We’re caretakers of our property now.
were a major draw for Christian Curry, plus 25 percent of the increased value. It’s People take care of things a little differ-
who’s now the head of the development’s an arrangement Christian appreciates. ently when they’re invested in it.”

DWELL N OV EM B ER/D ECEM B ER 2023 77

When Jeremy Parker found
a listing for a 1949 Philip
Johnson–designed house
in upstate New York, it was
painted a pastel blue. Thanks to
original plans found in Columbia
University’s Avery Architectural
and Fine Arts Library, Parker
and his friend Jiminie Ha were
able to restore the home down
to its cypress wood exterior.

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 DWELLINGS

The Next
TEXT BY

Joanna Rothkopf

PHOTOS BY | @KAUFMANPROJECTS

Dean Kaufman

Chapter
A Philip Johnson house in upstate New York grapples
with the architect’s legacy and looks to the future.

When Jiminie Ha, the senior director Recent owners renovated and had all confirm that the house had indeed been
of graphic design at the Guggenheim but forsaken Johnson’s original vision. designed by the prolific and influential
Museum in New York, and artist Jeremy The exterior wood paneling had been architect celebrated as a champion of
Parker stumbled on a real estate listing extended to reach the ground and obscure modernism—and later postmodernism—
for a house in Newburgh, New York, it the brickwork on the first floor, and a during his decades-long tenure in the
cited, almost as an afterthought, that the porch had been added to the second-floor architecture department of the Museum
property had been designed by controver- dining room. “They brought the exterior of Modern Art and now derided for his
sial giant of 20th-century architecture all the way to the ground,” explains support for Nazism and American fas-
Philip Johnson. Jeremy. “So you lose that first story kind cism early in his career. Every major cata-
The home no longer resembled of floating above the second story. And it log the duo consulted confirmed the
Johnson’s initial design of two stacked was also painted—as I joke with home to be the Benjamin V. Wolf House,
boxes—a smaller brick box with a larger Jiminie—a gender-reveal blue.” built in 1949—the same year as Johnson’s
cypress-clad box perched atop it, jutting Nevertheless, “his ghost was haunting iconic pellucid Glass House in New
out over a ground-floor patio and grassy this place,” says Jiminie. Canaan, Connecticut. Jiminie says the
slope overlooking the Hudson River. Jiminie and Jeremy were able to (Jewish) Wolf family eventually came to

DWELL N OV EM B ER/D ECEM B ER 2023 79

To furnish the home, the pair
relied on pieces they already
had, like a black-and-white
table by Superstudio that
Jeremy found abandoned on
New York’s Lower East Side,
and sourced pieces second-
hand, like black Spaghetti
chairs by Giandomenico Belotti
for Fly Line that surround a LC6
table on the patio.

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 DWELLINGS

A silver-and-red (made from recycled

Castiglioni lamp (left) illu- paper and resin), a Miele
minates the primary bed- dishwasher, a Sub-Zero
room. Jeremy and Jiminie refrigerator, and a Wolf
took the most liberties induction stove. The pair
with design in the kitchen worked with Swiss fur-
(below), which features niture company USM to
a concrete tile floor, outfit their kitchen with
PaperStone countertops dead stock shelving.

visit them and share press clippings and think we used up all the cypress in the there, the house flows seamlessly, from
photography from the time the house was Northeast. I’m not even joking—down to the kitchen to a dining area and open office
built and even film footage documenting the last piece of wood. Our supplier was to a bedroom to an enclosed patio with
the construction of the home, featuring a like, ‘We were able to find this one little terra-cotta tile flooring.
cameo by Johnson himself. piece. We have no more.’ ” But for the friends, the restoration was
Even though longtime friends Jeremy Today, the structure once again exhibits about more than simply turning back time.
and Jiminie had never officially worked Johnson’s signature style: an open plan, It was primarily a preservation project,
together before, they dove headfirst into clean lines, and plate-glass walls that pro- which meant knowing when and, even
the task of restoring the home to the orig- vide views of the surrounding landscape. more important, when not to build.
inal design. Upon walking up the steps from the entry- That meant furnishing the home with
“We did everything to the specifications way, you’re greeted by an expansive view thrifted pieces (think Wassily and Cité
of the original plans,” Jeremy says, of the Hudson River through enormous chairs, an LC6 patio table, a Superstudio
“including using cypress for the exterior. I picture windows in the living room. From table Jeremy found and pushed on a dolly

81
 A line of doors (left) home. From the outside,
reveals Johnson’s origi- they underscore the large
nal ventilation system. windows and, accord-
Slats open to the exterior ing to Jiminie, they keep
and allow the breeze to the house a perfect
circulate throughout the temperature.

15 blocks through Chinatown to his

Manhattan apartment) as well as a new
modular sofa from Hay. They also
approached Swiss modular furniture
designer USM to create a kitchen made
entirely of the company’s dead stock
materials.
“I don’t think anyone had proposed this
to [USM] before,” says Jiminie. “That’s
part of the reason why they were so
engaged with the idea.”
“Literally, even the person who deliv-
ered and helped install the kitchen was
like, ‘Thank you, guys, for getting this crap
out of the warehouse,’” says Jeremy. “And

82
 DWELLINGS

“We climbed up the stairs and all of a sudden

these massive windows are revealed and
we’re like, ‘Oh my God.’ ”
JIMINIE HA, RESIDENT

DWELL N OV EM B ER/D ECEM B ER 2023 83

Wolf House N

ARCHITECT Philip Johnson

LOCATION Newburgh, New York

Upper Level Lower Level

A H I
B C D D
B

G
L K J
B B F E
A

A Bathroom E Dining Room I Mechanical Room

B Bedroom F Kitchen J Powder Room
C Porch G Garage K Laundry Room
D Living Room H Entrance L Storage Room

84 N OV EM B ER/D ECEM B ER 2023 DWELL

 DWELLINGS

just how beautiful a story is that?” would be a work of art with people who
When it comes to Johnson’s politics, are Jews says something about his own
there is no easy takeaway—on the one personal reformation.”
hand it may feel impossible to promote To that end, the friends say they’d
an architect who campaigned for anti- rather preserve the past consciously and
Semitic and pro-fascist Canadian- use what has been built to serve artists
American radio broadcaster Father and their own community going forward.
Coughlin. On the other, the house exists. They plan to use the space as an incubator
In a short documentary produced by and a venue for art as well as an educa-
Jiminie and Jeremy, Michael Wolf, who tional resource for Newburgh students
lived in the house growing up and whose and residents. (The two share the house
parents commissioned it, says that if his part-time and open it up for rentals and
parents had known about Johnson’s his- events to pay the bills.)
tory, they wouldn’t have hired him. That “How can we give voices to artists that
said, “The fact that Johnson would want have been neglected?” says Jeremy. “How
to [design] something that he thought can we use the house as a platform?”

Large windows look out stools, a Barcelona table,

onto the Hudson River. and a USM Haller media
Inside, simple pieces console. Just off the
provide a counterpoint to kitchen, Bertoia chairs line
the outdoors, like a Hay a Vaarnii wood table from
modular sofa, Noguchi Matter.

DWELL N OV EM B ER/D ECEM B ER 2023 85

 Coming
Home

86 N OV EM B ER/D ECEM B ER 2023 DWELL

 DWELLINGS

The Ben Smith Welcome Home Center in

New Orleans provides a well-designed safe
space for formerly incarcerated men as
they start new lives.
TEXT BY PHOTOS BY | @JUSTINKANEPS

Kenya Foy and Alex Lubben Justin Kaneps

New Orleans organizer and

nonprofit cofounder Ben Smith
devoted his life to helping men
who were released from prison
successfully reenter society.
And now, a 3,200-square-foot
transitional home designed
by architecture firm OJT
and named in his honor will
continue his work.

87
There are two things that men leaving indeed, the home is equipped with full The project, a 3,200-square-foot house
the prison system in New Orleans most baths, complete with tubs. with the capacity to sleep eight, is the
commonly request from The First 72+, a Based on his previous experience as a product of long conversations between
nonprofit that helps the formerly incar- resident, First 72+ reentry court case man- designers and architects who sought to
cerated adjust to life on the outside. The ager Troy Delone has an idea of the other provide the ideal space for men leaving
first is enough privacy to wake up and not comforts that future residents have to prison to make a fresh start. “[The design]
make eye contact with another man. look forward to. “The bed, just in and of mostly dealt with the way the organization
The second is a bubble bath. itself—having a soft mattress with those worked with the residents and how the
Those are two things that “we made nice, solid clean sheets that were so com- residents lived, both as a community and
central to the design of the house,” fortable,” says Delone, who spent 16 years as individuals,” says architect Jonathan
says Kelly Orians, who directs the in the Louisiana State Penitentiary, the Tate, who designed the space with his
Decarceration and Community Reentry maximum security prison commonly firm, OJT, as well as input from Orians and
Clinic at the University of Virginia’s law known as Angola, named for the former prison advocates. This meant delineating
school and is a founder of The First 72+. plantation it occupies and Portuguese col- areas that provided both a sense of auton-
In creating the Ben Smith Welcome Home ony in Africa from which enslaved people omy and connectivity, along with visitor
Center, The First 72+ took its cues directly who once worked there came. “It just gives access that didn’t interrupt residents, who
from the men it intended to serve. And, you a peaceful vibe.” have individual bunks, personal lockers,

Housing for The First 72+ N

ARCHITECT OJT
LOCATION New Orleans, Louisiana

Lower Level

A Porch
K B Entrance
A L
H C Meeting Room/
B F
F Office
D Living/Dining Room
J
E G E Kitchen
C D H E F Half Bathroom
I G Laundry/Utility
H Storage
I Bathroom
J Den/Study
Upper Level K Deck
ILLUSTRATION: LOHNES+WRIGHT

L Ramp
I I M Bedroom

M M M M

88 N OV EM B ER/D ECEM B ER 2023 DWELL

 DWELLINGS
In an effort to foster a sense of for spacious, expressive upstairs
accessibility, the transitional house bedrooms and gives the structure
sits just across from the city’s a distinct look among other resi-
central lockup (below). The First dences. The living area (opposite,
72+ office sits immediately next left) provides space for First 72+’s
to the group home, where Troy executive director, Troy Glover,
Delone, case manager for First 72+, economic empowerment manager
chats with current resident Shannon Meagan Jordan, and Delone to
Ferguson (seated). A sharply meet. Glover ascends the stairs to
angled roof provides an opportunity the bedrooms (opposite, right).

“ We want to be accessible to that jail.

We want people to know that they can come here
from right across the street.”
KELLY ORIANS, A FOUNDER OF THE FIRST 72+ AND DIRECTOR
OF THE DECARCERATION AND COMMUNITY REENTRY CLINIC
AT THE UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA SCHOOL OF LAW

DWELL N OV EM B ER/D ECEM B ER 2023 89

and access to laundry and bathrooms. both features are intended to emphasize The kitchen has stainless-steel appli-
“There were also regulatory operational the idea of separate units. The home’s jag- ances. In the back of the house, there’s a
issues that had to be considered in the ged roofline stands out among the other half bath next to a culinary classroom,
makeup of spaces—no locks on lockers, residences in the area. another, wheelchair accessible bathroom
etcetera,” adds Tate. “We located all the bedrooms in the taller down the hall in the residential area, plus
The First 72+ raised just over $500,000 volumes of the building and wanted those two full bathrooms upstairs next to the
in a five-year period from grassroots spaces to be expressive—sharper, angled bedrooms. Each bedroom sleeps two—
donations from a variety of sources, roofs—while the programming elements but, crucially, provides privacy by placing
including the RosaMary Foundation, and a sloped away, which lowered the scale of the cabinets for storage in the center of the
boost in visibility from the Greater New building to the street,” says Tate. room, between the two beds. The men can
Orleans Foundation. The project’s largest If the goal was to create a space that sleep, read, and relax outside of the line of
contributor was IMPACT 100, an organiza- felt nothing like the confined and often sight of their bunkmate. Every aspect of
tion of 100 women who donate $1,000 each, dehumanizing atmosphere of a prison, the house is designed with intention, from
then combine it in a single grant. they succeeded. The interior is bright and the layout of the space to the splashes of
A central split divides the structure and airy. There’s a large common space for color inside the drawers of the
the facade and features eight windows hanging out and a separate room for nightstands.
placed in a nonuniform configuration; group meetings. The ceilings are high. “We were trying to figure out how the

Each bedroom sleeps two and

features built-in headboards
with reading lamps, full-size
beds, and storage cabinets that
offer a bit of privacy. The house
has full bathrooms to accommo-
date one of the residents’ main
requests: a bathtub. The First
72+’s Wayne Sneed helps set up
one of the rooms (left).

90 N OV EM B ER/D ECEM B ER 2023 DWELL

 DWELLINGS

“ You’re not in a bed that feels temporary.

You’re in something that feels like
it’s really substantial.”
DOUG HARMON, FOUNDER AND DIRECTOR
OF THE REVIVAL WORKSHOP

91
92
 DWELLINGS
The Revival Workshop worked
with the architects on the layout,
furniture, and selection of build-
ing materials. Choices like walnut
veneer plywood allowed the team
to easily build and assemble durable
pieces that evoke beauty and
warmth. Doug Harmon (center),
founder of the Revival Workshop,
sits here with apprentices Jovan
Butler (left) and James Washington.

furniture helped to really welcome peo- house—in a way not so dissimilar to the is deliberate. “We want to be accessible to
ple, how to create a warm, noninstitu- way people move through the prison sys- that jail,” Orians says. “We want people
tional place,” says Doug Harmon, founder tem—the designers sought to make it feel to know that they can come here from
and director of the Revival Workshop, like home. Doing that wasn’t always right across the street.”
which partnered with Tate on the layout, straightforward. Staffers from the organization also
furniture, and selection of building mate- “Having the headboard and the night- assist residents with enrolling in social
rials. “If anyone deserves good design, it’s stand integrated into a wall, there is a services programs that will help them get
people in their situation.” sense of being anchored,” Harmon says. back on their feet. “They transitioned me
To help execute the vision, members of “You’re not in a bed that feels temporary. back into society. They got me my license,
the community The First 72+ serves had a You’re in something that feels like it’s my disability. They helped me get my
hand in the project as well. Harmon’s really substantial.” Medicaid and Medicare—they got all my
Revival Workshop teaches woodworking Still, the housing is meant to be tempo- stuff straight before they let me go,” says
to the formerly incarcerated; the partici- rary. Each resident only stays in the house Raymond Girtley, a resident in the pro-
pants built the closets. And volunteers for 90 days, and that’s baked into the gram. “They gave me the whole nine
from Angola’s hospice program stitched design, too. The First 72+ strove to create a yards.”
the colorful quilts that cover the full-size space that was “comfortable, but not too There are more subtle benefits to par-
beds, which come with built-in head- comfortable,” says Tate. “How do you make ticipating in the program, too. When
boards and reading lamps. a space that feels special and their own Delone left The First 72+’s housing pro-
But even in a communal, transitional and then have them move on?” Looking gram, he was so focused on getting him-
living space, the organization strove to out through some of those windows, resi- self an apartment, he didn’t initially think
create an environment that didn’t repli- dents might see a somewhat unpleasant to get furniture. “I learned from this place
cate incarceration. Though residents are sight—their neighbor, New Orleans how to actually manage household stuff,”
meant to rotate in and out of the Central Lockup. But even that placement he says.

While offering the creature comforts

of home and more—including a
spacious common area, a full-size
kitchen with stainless-steel appli-
ances, and a culinary classroom—
the Ben Smith Welcome Home
Center is designed to provide the
residents with a stable, though
temporary, readjustment period
of 90 days.

DWELL N OV EM B ER/D ECEM B ER 2023 93

 P R O M OT I O N

Diaz + Alexander Studio gives the classic

French Château style a modern twist by combining
clean, geometric forms with rich materials.

Something Old,
Something New
The charm of a period home is hard to “We wanted the floors to shine and pull back dynamic cut that embraces the natural beauty
capture in a new build, yet timeworn beauty from a busy design,” says Diaz of the decision of the oak tree,” says Daniel Clason-Höök,
defines a new family home by Diaz + Alexander to use Madera’s “live grade,” which celebrates managing partner and owner of Madera.
Studio in Studio City, California. The four- the raw, natural beauty of the timber. “This cut and grade tells the full story of the
bedroom Mary Ellen House is a modern take Madera, a design and fabrication firm tree with articulated center cracks, rift and
on French Château style, with a thoughtful that utilizes the medium of wood for innova- quarter edges, and an overall dynamic look.”
mix of new and old materials. One of the tion and creative expression, produced The house was developed to sell on
most striking is the heart oak timber flooring 14-inch-wide heart oak timber flooring in up the open market—and key to its appeal is the
from Madera. to 24-foot lengths for the expansive first floor. timeless beauty of its timber-rich palette.
“While this is a new build, it has an old charm The wood flows seamlessly into the stairs, Unsurprisingly, it quickly went to a family of
PHOTOS: TODD GOODMAN

to it,” explains architect Rob Diaz. “Our palette which feature 13-inch treads to match the four who were enchanted by the play between
is a blend of Southern California warmth with wide-plank flooring. old and new. “Mary Ellen House was a big
a big splash of European influence.” “Rob and his team wanted to highlight the moment for me,” says Diaz. “I am so proud of
The interior features clay walls and impres- natural beauty of wood, so instead of going the finished home.”
sive swaths of oak flooring, complemented with a prime grade selection—which is com-
by sumptuous textiles and sculptural lighting. mon these days—they specified live grade, a Read more at dwell.com/madera.

DWELL MADERA
 Måne | Stockholm Collection
Design by Starling Architecture
Photography by George Del Barrio

SEAMLESS WOOD DESIGN

Custom Flooring. Integrated Millwork. Bespoke Furniture.
MADERA is a design and fabrication firm that uses the medium of wood for innovation and creative expression. We work with
architects, designers, and homeowners to create full millwork solutions that complement and enhance our wide plank floors. We
believe wood flooring looks best when speaking to other wood elements through honest and unified design.

maderasurfaces.com
MY HOUSE

Work-life and life-life don’t always align, Ashley found a position at Abercrombie & Ashley and David’s new home, designed
but for Ashley Sargent Price, the dots were Fitch in Columbus. in 1960, felt warm and a little eccentric.
starting to connect. It was 2016, and she When she landed the job, David hustled But the 3,500-square-foot, four-bed,
and her husband, David, had been in New back to Ohio to see a home in nearby three-bath space was also outdated. Of
York City for 20 years. They kept consider- Bexley. After the visit, he was taking an course, Ashley, a career creative, had
ing a move back to David’s hometown— odd route back to the airport when he thoughts. “We wanted to add some con-
Columbus, Ohio—to be nearer to his passed what looked like a quintessential trasting elements so it didn’t feel quite as
family and make it easier to raise their midcentury with a For Sale sign. “David literal to the time period,” she says. “A
kids, but New York had the most opportu- called me for a video tour, and before he common thread in my work is playing
nities for her career as a creative director. reached the front door, I said, ‘This is our with the idea of things feeling elevated
Everything changed, however, when house,’ ” remembers Ashley. and refined, but also not overly

Picking Up the Thread

They already had a lot to like, but a creative
director in fashion turned her family’s
midcentury home into something they love.

96 N OV EM B ER/D ECEM B ER 2023 DWELL

 MY HOUSE

considered. It’s those interacting elements

that create a richness.”
With a cast of helping hands, Ashley
helmed a renovation in three phases, each
of which began with sketches. “I went to
school for industrial and graphic design,
so I still revert back to pencil and paper to
work through ideas,” she says. First up,
working with their contractor, the couple
refinished the hickory floors, carved out a
mudroom, and updated all the bathrooms

TEXT BY

Jaelani Turner-Williams

PHOTOS BY | @JOAOCANZIANI

João Canziani

Creative director room (right) displays

Ashley Sargent Price Ashley’s reference
updated the kitchen materials and heir-
(opposite and above) looms, including a
of her family’s Ohio porcelain vase made
midcentury with by her grandmother.
Donald Judd–inspired Ashley’s husband,
cabinets, Calacatta David, lounges with
marble countertops, some good reading
and terrazzo floor material near the entry
tiles. The family (above right).

DWELL N OV EM B ER/D ECEM B ER 2023 97

MY HOUSE

The living room (above design objects gifted from the sunroom out
left) is complete with and purchased. The over the back patio
an Akari 120A pendant steel beam that pro- (below). In the primary
by Isamu Noguchi and vides structural sup- bedroom (above right)
a Vitsœ 606 Universal port in the renovated is a vintage burlwood
shelving system that kitchen also props up bedside table by Milo
holds a collection of the eave that extends Baughman.

with plywood vanities and marble

counters.
Next, Ashley collaborated with local
architecture firm GRA+D to open the
sunroom, next to the back patio, for a
better indoor/outdoor connection. That
has made hosting gatherings for
extended family—often as many as 50
guests—so much easier, Ashley and
David say.
For the most recent and final phase,
in 2021, the couple opened up the kitchen
and combined it with the dining area,
where they removed the drop ceiling to
expose the original beams and ran a new
steel one lengthwise for roof support.
Ashley and her family have built on the
warmth that attracted them to the home
with personal touches. Through the front
door is a gallery wall featuring charcoal
sketches that she and her mother made
in college, a black-and-white photograph
of model Kate Moss given by photogra-
pher Pamela Hanson as a present, and a
sketch by mime artist Marcel Marceau,
also a gift. “I wanted it to be about pieces
that speak to our family history,” Ashley
says. “I want people to walk in and feel
that the space is inviting—that there is a
sense of warmth and serenity.”

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 Miniature Marvel
A micro addition in Seattle makes
a mighty impact with just 30
square feet.

The ofuro (above) in this

renovated Seattle home was
recessed to avoid blocking
sight lines to the backyard, and
a 50-square-foot backyard
office (right) with a living roof
was added midway through the
remodel.

When a family of four outgrew their cozy cottage in Seattle’s nized—at the expense of the kitchen. “We took a seemingly
Phinney Ridge neighborhood, they wrestled with their need for more counterintuitive approach by slightly reducing the width of the kitchen to
breathing room. Agonizing over possible next steps, they considered accommodate the generously sized family bathroom,” says Katich. Once
relocating to a larger home, adding a third story to the existing cottage, they were reconfigured, a 30-square-foot “micro addition” was intro-
or leveling the house and starting over. Engaging local firm Best duced solely to accommodate the sunken ofuro, the hub of the reno-
Practice Architecture to weigh their options, they ultimately decided to vated family home.
remain in the home they loved and undertake a modest expansion—of The original windows of the 1907 cottage were replaced in kind, and
only 30 square feet—to meet their family’s needs. “They didn’t need the rear addition afforded greater freedom. With the family wishing to
more space, just better space,” says Kip Katich, an architect and part- maximize natural light and preserve sight lines to the surrounding land-
ner at the firm. As the winner of this year’s Andersen Bright Ideas scape and open sky, Katich and team introduced expansive glazing at
Awards, the outstanding residential project was chosen for its creative the home’s rear. A folding window wall seamlessly joins the ofuro with
design approach and exceptional daylighting strategy. the outdoors, providing amplified views of the lush backyard’s mature
PHOTOS: RAFAEL SOLDI

The reconfiguration of the 1,665-square-foot home’s main living level maple and cherry trees. “Whether it is a place to sit on the deck to dip
centered on one feature: a Japanese ofuro, or soaking tub. The couple, your toes on a warm day or enjoy a hot, relaxing soak with abundant
one of whom had grown up in Japan, envisioned the traditional tub natural light, the final design provides a place for shared family experi-
becoming a gathering spot for their family. “It was the one indulgence ence,” Katich says.
they afforded, for that was an essential part of the family culture,” says
Katich. A previously tiny, single bathroom was enlarged and reorga- Read more about this year’s winning project at dwell.com/andersen.
C O N S T R U C T I O N D I A RY

In the 1960s, Betsy Frederick’s grand- Part of the go-it-yourself plan was to
parents’ property in Owls Head, Maine, avoid labor costs, which would have eaten
was struck by lightning. It caused a fire into the budget, but Andrew and Betsy
that cleared a half acre on a small hilltop, also wanted to touch every part of the
TEXT BY close to where members of her family still process to create the healthiest and most
Debra Spark live. Wanting to raise their two children environmentally friendly home they
there, Betsy, a midwife, and her husband, could. That meant no paint and no diesel-
PHOTOS BY ɿ @ISAACLKOVAL Andrew, who runs his design-build firm powered machinery, among other criteria.
Isaac Lane Koval Croft (which makes carbon-sequestering Keeping the plan small at 1,040 square feet
prefab panels), located a site on the hill across two structures—one for living
to create a new home for their family. areas and another containing the primary
Andrew relied on his architecture educa- suite, the two connected internally and
tion and carpentry background to build it with outdoor walkways—gave them a big
largely himself, by hand. advantage when it came time to build.

Made in Maine A carpenter/designer

builds his family’s home by hand, using
locally sourced, healthy materials.
100 N OV EM B ER/D ECEM B ER 2023 DWELL
 C O N S T R U C T I O N D I A RY

A MAG ICA L LO CATI ON

Betsy: The design for the house really
came together after we decided on the
site, which we chose for the elevation
and flora: beautiful huckleberry bushes,
juniper, and low bush blueberry. We
wanted to emphasize that uniqueness
and not destroy it.
Andrew: We built on bedrock, which is
essentially a ledge, with a nine-foot vec-
tor between the highest and the lowest
point of the home’s footprint. Because
windows are so pricey, we positioned the
house on the land in a way that would
deliver the most natural light to the inte-
riors in every season.

Andrew and Betsy plumbing. The primary

Frederick’s Maine suite has a pivot door
home (opposite) com- made with optical glass
prises two volumes that makes it “our little
with clapboard siding vitamin D hub,” says
treated with pine tar Andrew. He made the
to preserve it. A deck shelving, cabinets, and
at the rear of the home shroud in the kitchen
(above) leads to float- (below) from a felled
ing walkways that hide maple tree.

AN HON EST D ESI GN

Andrew: After our first daughter was
born, I asked myself, Why would we build
with anything that we wouldn’t want our
toddler to put in her mouth? Rather than
build a giant house with damaging mate-
rials that are unhealthy, we wanted to
create a smaller one and make it out of
nicer things.
Betsy: We tried to do things in the least
toxic way possible and sourced lumber
locally.
Andrew: Being familiar with the typical
approach to home construction, I was
curious: Could you do it with just humans
and without heavy equipment? If you were
to just go gather the materials and make a
shelter, what does that take?

DWELL N OV EM B ER/D ECEM B ER 2023 101

C O N S T R U C T I O N D I A RY

The children’s reading

area off their bedroom,
affectionately called
the book nook (left),
has an eave skylight
that Andrew made
from a reclaimed piece
of safety glass. The
TH E BU I L D
aperture opposite the
Andrew: I had a good friend who was skylight looks down
helping ten to fifteen hours a week, but I into the living area.
did the rest of the build solo, working non-
stop for eighteen months. We excavated by
hand with a shovel and a geologist ham-
mer and pinned the house to the site’s
bedrock with concrete piers. We framed
the building, built and programmed the
heat-recovery ventilators, and built the
kitchen cabinets from a maple tree that we
felled at our last house. We also used a
structural roof ridge, which allowed us to
have a fully open cathedral ceiling. We had
a party with two friends to celebrate lift-
ing the ridge beam into place.

“ We ran windows all the way to

the ceiling so that you have a view
of the sky virtually anywhere in
the house.”
ANDREW FREDERICK, DESIGNER AND RESIDENT

Andrew sits at an with veneer plaster.

oak Ikea Möckelby A custom mix of base
table near the back and finish coats, tinted
entrance (above), a with bright-white tita-
12-foot pocket door nium dioxide, allowed
framed in Douglas fir. for two textures and
Walls throughout the three shades of white,
house, including in all of which Andrew
the ground-floor hall modulated during the
(right), are finished troweling.

102 N OV EM B ER/D ECEM B ER 2023 DWELL

 C O N S T R U C T I O N D I A RY

Frederick Residence N

DESIGNER Andrew Frederick

LOCATION Owls Head, Maine LE SSO NS LEAR N E D
Betsy: It amazes me every day how big the
house feels, given that it’s really quite
First Floor Second Floor
small. I think we executed on the vision
that we had for the home in that there are
I
M just all these pretty unique moments that
A
happen as you’re moving through it.
B
Andrew: If you’re doing all the labor
yourself, you’ve essentially removed fifty
C D J A Entrance percent of the costs, so you can get
B Closet
roughly twice the house in terms of qual-
E C Bathroom
D Laundry/Utility Room ity that you would otherwise. We have
F E Mechanical Room plaster finishes, hardwood cabinetry, and
F Pantry
K marble countertops. Even our bedding
G Kitchen
G H Living/Dining Area has nontoxic organic fibers. Betsy and I
I Primary Suite are the sort of people who will forgo a lot
H J Study/Guest Room in order to seek out one nice thing. And
L K Children’s Room
L Book Nook I think that played out in the creation
M Storage/Reading Loft of our home.

An opening off the

children’s bedroom
(above left) brings in
light and functions like
a window looking over
a courtyard, allowing
the family to com-
municate easily from
different levels. The
house was designed
to minimally interfere
with the hilltop veg-
ILLUSTRATION: LOHNES+WRIGHT

etation, which is what

attracted the family to
the site (above right).
The interior lights are
from Schoolhouse
Electric (right).

103
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 sourcing

The products, furniture, architects, designers,

and builders featured in this issue.

WindsorONE Fisher & Paykel

One of a Kind windsorone.com; fisherpaykel.com; Haiku
thermally modified ash ceiling fan from Big Ass
siding around entryway Fans bigassfans.com
from Arbor Wood Co. 65–66 Vintage chair
arborwoodco.com; refurbished and
Sunflower exterior paint reupholstered by
from Benjamin Moore Spot Lab; NH pendant
benjaminmoore.com; light from Artemide
Elevate windows from artemide.com;
Marvin marvin.com; countertop from Durat;
Ultimate doors from concrete tile from Clé
Marvin cletile.com; wall subway
62 Lighting from WAC tile from Dal Tile daltile
waclighting.com; .com; faucet, shower
Bodarp gray-green fixtures, and bathroom
and Veddinge white accessories from Hans
cabinetry, Birch kitchen Grohe hansgrohe-usa
island, Bodarp base .com
cabinets, and
Huvudsaklig microwave 70 Within Reach
from Ikea ikea.com;
refrigerator and coLAB studio
freestanding bottom colabstudio.com
freezer from Liebherr 180 Degrees Design +
liebherr.com; Build
dishwasher from GE 180degreesinc.com
geappliances.com; Newtown Community
kitchen island pendants Development Corporation
from All Modern newtowncdc.org
allmodern.com; ceiling 72 Sofa from American
48 Happily Ever After Eames Eiffel chairs from imperialcontracting mother-of-pearl fans from Minka-Aire Furniture Warehouse
Chairish chairish.com; group.com countertops in Amber- minkagroup.net afw.com; rug from
McLennan Design 606 Universal Shelving Landscape design by Pearl from Ice Stone Ashley Furniture
mclennan-design.com by Dieter Rams from Worms Hardscaping & icestoneusa.com; 64 Bookcase Study ashleyfurniture.com;
Cabinetry by Space Vitsœ vitsoe.com; Case Landscaping custom-upholstered Incredible White wall
Theory Study daybed from wormslandscaping.com Tulip stools from Knoll Spot Lab paint from Sherwin-
spacetheory.com Modernica modernica Interior design by knoll.com; sofa spotlabdesign.com Williams sherwin-
48 Womb chair from .net Louise Cohen Interiors cushions upholstered Thaer Abuqare, williams.com
Knoll knoll.com 54 Quartz countertops lcoheninteriors.com in Harvest Vine from Imperium Construction 73–77 Windows and
50 Cabinets from Space in Snow White from Sound engineering by Cortina Leathers Services doors from Arcadia
Theory; walnut table Corian corianquartz Steve Paul, Solutions cortinaleathers.com; imperiumcm.com Custom arcadiacustom
and chairs from Danger .com; cooktop from AVT white shag rug from 64 Countertops and .com; metal panels from
dangerbainbridge.com; Viking vikingrange.com; solutionsavt.com Stark starkcarpet.com tabletop in custom color Revamp Roofing
refrigerator and kettle dishwasher from Bosch Cabinetry by Mike Lutz, from Durat durat.com; re-vamproofing.com;
from Smeg smeg.com bosch.com; refrigerator Lutzwood 60 Conversation Starter refrigerator from corrugated Corten steel
from Fisher & Paykel lutzwood.com Bertazzoni bertazzoni paneling from Corten
52 One of a Kind fisherpaykel.com 58 Walnut millwork by Christopher Strom .com; custom appliance corten.com; customized
Lutzwood; cabinet Architects panels and pulls and Bestå closets, kitchen
Sonya Lee Architect 56 A Retro Revelation brass pulls by Revel christopherstrom.com dining table by Spot fixtures, and Sektion
sonyaleearchitect.com Capewell revelcapewell Jack Carter, Über Built Lab; cooktop from cabinets from Ikea ikea
52–53 Super-Elliptical K Yoder Design .com; bar lighting uberbuilt.com Invisacook invisacook .com; sofa from Living
table by Piet Hein + kyoderdesign.com designed by Louise 60–61 SmartSide .com; oven from Verona Spaces livingspaces
Arne Jacobsen for Fritz Rodney Simmons, Cohen and fabricated by vertical siding from LP veronaappliances.com; .com; Wade Logan
Hansen from Design Imperial Contracting Imperial Contracting; lpcorp.com; composite faucet from Brizo brizo coffee table from
Within Reach dwr.com; Group glass and trim strips from .com; dishwasher from Wayfair wayfair.com
PHOTO: JOYCE KIM

110 N OV EM B ER/D ECEM B ER 2023 DWELL

 78 The Next Chapter Brown print from
Made in Maine Gagosian Gallery
Jiminie Ha and Jeremy gagosian.com; wall
Parker, Wolfhouse finishing from SureCrete
wolfhouseny.com surecretedesign.com;
Cabinetry from custom Venice terrazzo
USM usm.com floor tiles from Concrete
79 Modular sofa from Collaborative concrete-
Hay hay.com; Barcelona collaborative.com
table by Mies van der 98 Akari 120A light
Rohe; rocking stool by sculpture by Isamu
Isamu Noguchi Noguchi shop.noguchi
80 Desk by Superstudio .org; 606 Universal
superstudio.us; Shelving by Dieter Rams
Spaghetti chairs by from Vitsœ vitsoe.com;
Giandomenico Belotti vintage Moroccan
for Fly Line; LC6 table Beni Ourain rug
from Cassina cassina from Atlas Weavers
.com atlasweavers.com
81 Plywood countertop
in pewter finish from 100 Made in Maine
PaperStone
paperstoneproducts Croft croft.haus
.com; cabinets from 100–102 Horizontal
USM; refrigerator from wood siding from
Sub-Zero subzero-wolf Katahdin Clapboard
.com; induction stove Co.; vertical wood
from Wolf subzero-wolf siding from Robbins
.com; dishwasher from Lumber rlco.com;
Miele mieleusa.com Palissade outdoor
84-85 Modular sofa seating by Ronan and
from Hay; media Erwan Bouroullec for
console and cabinetry Hay hay.com; kitchen
from USM cabinetry and maple
range hood shroud by
86 Coming Home Andrew Frederick; Ikea
Möckelby kitchen table
OJT officejt.com ikea.com; induction
Edifice Builders cooking range and
Structural engineering hood from Bertazzoni
by Walter Zehner bertazzoni.com; Beacon
Cabinetry by the Revival LED sconce wall light
Workshop from Schoolhouse
schoolhouse.com;
96 Picking Up the Warm Glow LED ceiling
Thread lights from Philips
lighting.philips.com
Midland Architecture
midlandarch.com
96–97 Amber bubble
wall sconces by Helena
Tynell and Perch high
bar stools in oak by
Wesley Walters & Salla For contact information
Luhtasela from 1st Dibs for our advertisers,
1stdibs.com; Cecily please turn to page 104.

Dwell® (ISSN 1530-5309), Volume XXIII Issue 6, publishes six double issues
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DWELL N OV EM B ER/D ECEM B ER 2023 111

 one last thing

A stockpile of toys, trinkets, and American ephemera

from Los Angeles architect Melissa Shin’s past
reminds her not to take things so seriously.

AS TOLD TO

Lauren Gallow

PHOTO BY | @ITSYASARA

Yasara Gunawardena

I’ve always been a little cheeky hiding “Easter eggs” in math because it felt like we were the might be completely separate
and playful. My architecture proofs or coding projects as a only Asian family there. Now I’m from the client’s. There’s a side
training was very heavy and seri- form of authorship. My office’s nostalgic for all these little of architecture that is a service
ous, but I’ve just never been that secret—and I haven’t told any of things, like going to the same five profession, but there’s also a side
person. When I started my own my clients this before—is that I restaurants, even though I grew of, What does this project mean
practice, Shin Shin, in Los make my stamp by hiding draw- up feeling like I did not really fit to me?
Angeles, there was a big question ings of these trinkets and toys in there. The watermarks are a huge
of how I wanted to identify myself from my childhood in architec- Today, narrative is a huge part part of Shin Shin’s identity and
as a designer. I knew I wanted to tural plans that Shin Shin of my creative process, whether playfulness. I love the idea of
produce rigorous work, but with- produces, like a watermark. I’m designing an ADU or a single- producing a very serious and
out always being so severe. I keep the toys around my family residence or the head- rigorous project and obsessing
At MIT, where I studied math- office as a reminder to have fun, quarters for an electric over the floor plans and draw-
ematics and computer science, but they also carry stories from motorcycle company. I always ings, but then hiding a Smurf in
there’s a culture of hacking, my past growing up in Detroit in develop my own inner mono- there. It’s my own little tongue-
which often includes pranks like the ’80s. Sometimes it was hard, logue about a project, which in-cheek thing.

112 N OV EM B ER/D ECEM B ER 2023 DWELL

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