Famous Homes: The Round House

Greetings readers! If you've been following this blog and my Famous Houses series over the years, you will see that there is always something unique that makes a house a Famous House. And this installment's house is maybe one of the most unique you will find.

Sometime around 1966, modernist architect and Philip Johnson-collaborator Richard Foster (Foster worked with Johnson on the iconic New York State Pavilion for the 1964 World's Fair as well as Johnson's famed Glass House previously here) was driving on Olmstead Hill, Road near Wilton, Connecticut and came upon a green dip in the landscape which he referred to as "a perfect amphitheater." Shortly thereafter this four acre plot would become the site of his "Circambulant House" or as it is also known: The Round House.

Over the next two years he worked with various contractors and craftsman to construct a unique home for his family, one that could rotate 360 degrees and provide any room in the house a picturesque vantage point of the landscape. The house combines engineering from Germany, local Connecticut Steel and stone from the Dolemites. Foster went through 5 design concepts before arriving on the circular home. He felt that such a house would compliment the landscape by giving the inhabitants unfettered views from any room at any time.

The Fosters made the Round House their home for 35 years. The mechanisms that rotate the house have required little maintenance over the years. Features such as the corten steel circular porch, wood shingles, stone pavers have given the home a well worn patina while also connecting it to the local surroundings. When Richard Foster died in 2002 the home passed out of the family’s hands and eventually arrived into new ownership.

Thankfully, in 2012 the home underwent a deep restoration. Mack Scogin Merrill Elam Architects re-envisioned the interior of the space along with a renovation of the exterior garage and driveway. Home systems that were cutting edge in the late sixties were upgraded for the day and the exterior of the house was restored very much to its original finish.

But its most unique feature remains intact: at the flip of a switch, the house slowly spins--clockwise or counterclockwise--up to 5 feet per minute and takes 45 minutes to make a full rotation.

Happy designing!

Famous Homes: Sunnylands

Built for Walter and Leonore ("Lee") Annenberg and completed in 1966, the Annenberg Estate in Rancho Mirage, California near Palm Desert in the Coachella Valley is known as Sunnylands.

Walter Annenberg (1908 - 2002) was a publisher (he owned and operated Triangle Publications), philanthropist, and diplomat. Upon his father's death, Walter took over the family's failing and scandal-ridden publishing business, turning it around and buying the Philadelphia Inquirer newspaper. He also created the lucrative magazines TV Guide and Seventeen. But he had a civic-minded side as well and he became one of the founding trustees of Eisenhower Fellowships. Richard Nixon appointed him Ambassador to the Court of St James's in the UK. Walter became close friends with Queen Elizabeth II and other members of the Royal family and was eventually made an honorary Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire (KBE) in 1976. Lee became known and admired for her entertaining and support of patriotic British causes, such as the restoration of St. Paul's Cathedral in London and the renovation of Winfield House, the American ambassador's residence.

The liberal-minded Annenberg's were known for their philanthropy, too. Walter founded the journalism school at USC and the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Pennsylvania. In 1990, he donated $50 million to the United Negro College Fund. In 1991, he gave $60 million to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting to support student math and science programming. A $2 million Annenberg gift endowed a new Pennsylvania Hospital institute devoted to hip replacement surgery, and named it after physician Richard H. Rothman, who had performed such surgery on Annenberg himself. In 1993, he attended a White House ceremony at which President Clinton announced the ambassador’s $500 million matching-grant program that ultimately funded 2,400 public schools serving more than 1.5 million students. And in 2001 he gave the Philadelphia Museum of Art $20 million, its largest gift ever, and a total of $29 million went to the Philadelphia Orchestra, much of it to renovate the aging Academy of Music building. With Annenberg funds the Philadelphia Zoo acquired a new baby elephant. If only the people of extreme wealth today supported society and education and our culture at large...

Needless to say, the Annenberg's had amassed quite a fortune in their lives and built their winter residence near Palm Springs, enlisting an A List of names in architecture and interior design: modernist architect A. Quincy Jones designed the estate and main house with its distinctive pink roof (Lee wanted it pink to match the pink glow of sunrise and sunset reflecting off the nearby San Jacinto Mountains) while Billy Haines and Ted Graber (whom we just learned of here) did the interiors.

Lee and Walter also amassed a staggering art collection with original major works by Corot, Picasso, Van Gogh, Cézanne, Seurat, Braque, Monet, Degas, Renoir, Gauguin, Lautrec, and Matisse. They donated a majority of their collection to the Met in New York which now houses the Walter H. and Leonore Annenberg Collection. The pieces on the walls now at Sunnylands are excellent quality digital copies produced by the Met itself as the originals are at the museum in Manhattan.

While the house is important in the scheme of architecture and interior history, and is certainly famous for who owned it and who visited, the modernist structure is curiously at odds with its 1940s pastels and staid furnishings. While Billy Haines created some original pieces for the house such as the dining room tables and chairs, and used his signature pieces in other areas of the house, the house does not hang together when considering its envelope. I wonder if it's possible the house was ahead of its time and the furnishings had yet to catch up.

Entrance to Sunnylands

The pink roof of Sunnylands

Over the neighboring Annenberg Center, we can see the pink hue that inspired Lee for the roof color

The Atrium featuring Auguste Rodin’s Eve, a second artist's proof casting by Rodin himself

The Dining Room

The Game Room

The Game Room

The Inwood Room with views of the San Jacinto Mountains

The Memory Room/Library

The Living Room

The sitting area of the Master Bedroom

Sitting area

Because of his political relationships and time spent as Ambassador, Walter and Lee Annenberg had influential friends, many of whom visited Sunnylands over the years. In addition to the impressive roster of Presidents, heads of state, and royalty, regular visitors included Frank Sinatra (who was married there), Bob Hope, Fred Astaire, Gregory Peck, Ginger Rogers, Bing Crosby, Truman Capote, Mary Martin, Jimmy Stewart, and Sammy Davis, Jr. It seems only fitting that the property is at the intersection of Frank Sinatra and Bob Hope Drives.

President Xi Jinping of China and President Obama at Sunnylands in June 2013

Lee, Bill Clinton, and Walter

Dwight D. Eisenhower and Walter

Herny Kissinger at a party at Sunnylands

Lee and Margaret Thatcher in the greenhouses of Sunnylands

Richard Nixon, Lee holding a baby Jennie Eisenhower (the Nixon's granddaughter) and Pat Nixon

From left, an unidentified man, Gerald Ford, Leonard Firestone, an unidentified woman, Lee, and Brooke Astor

From left, Walter, Ronald Reagan, Charles Price, William French Smith, George Shultz, and Donald Regan

From left, Prince Philip Duke of Edinburgh, Lee, HRH Queen Elizabeth II, and Walter

HRH Queen Elizabeth II and Lee

You can visit Sunnylands! While there is an Open Air Experience and a Bird Tour, the Historic House Tour is the only one that takes guests into the house. It is 90 minutes and costs $48 per person. Tickets must be purchased in advance and are available only online. Access to the historic house is only by guided tour. The nearby Sunnylands Visit Center & Gardens is open to the public Thursday through Sunday, 8:30 am to 4:00 pm. There is no fee and reservations are not required. Visitors to the Center & Gardens enjoy sculpture from the Sunnylands Collection as well as a rotating exhibition. There is a film and other offerings about the history of Sunnylands and its founders, Walter and Leonore Annenberg. The Cafe offers light lunch items and unparalleled mountain and garden views.

Happy designing!

The Mid-Century Starburst

Back in March of this year, I published a month-long series of posts about Mid-Century Modern design. I started the month with a post about George Nelson Associates clock designs in which I mentioned the iconic starburst pattern. The post-war years saw a lot of change. The end of World War II was brought about in part by atomic bombs, and the atom and science were now a part of everyday life. "Better Living Through Science," the motto promised. A sudden boom in the middle class meant the explosion of suburbs brimming with open-plan ranch homes to be filled with furniture and products. And many of these products naturally sported the atomic starburst pattern! Dinnerware, glassware, and lamps as well as drapery and upholstery fabrics were peppered with stylized starbursts or stylized atomic models.

And consider also that, at the time, there was a suspenseful race to space: the United States and the USSR were in competition to see who could make it to the stars, and the Soviets won the first round by launching Sputnik 1 to orbit our planet and then later put Yuri Gagrain in orbit, the fist man in space. We were living in the Atomic Age and the Space Age at the same time!

Vintage objects like these, or even reproductions offer a fun, retro moment for interiors! A bar set with the starburst pattern is actually quite current, as is a ceramic lamp with the classic fiberglass shade, seen in the last two images below. Such collectible items can be judiciously mixed in with contemporary interiors...remember Design Mantra #1: "Contrast brings interest!"

Happy designing!

History of Furniture: The Eileen Gray Side Table

For this installment of The History of Furniture, let's take a look back at a staple of modernist design, the Eileen Gray Side Table.

Between 1926 and 1929, Irish interior and furniture designer and architect Eileen Gray (above) collaborated on the design and construction of a modernist villa with her lover, the French architect Jean Badovici. Located in Roquebrune-Cap-Martin in the south of France, the house was very forward-looking with a flat roof and floor to ceiling glass windows to take advantage of the views of the Mediterranean. Gray named it the E-1027 “Maison en bord de mer” house, a name which contained a secret code: E for Eileen, 10 for Jean (J is the tenth letter of the alphabet), 2 for Badovici and 7 for Gray.

For this home, Gray designed the interiors and pieces of furniture as well. And one of the most enduring of her designs is the iconic side table she created for her sister, who liked to have breakfast in bed. The table has an open circular base that allows it to slip under a bedside or sofa, letting the user bring it as close as possible. For maximum function, the table itself adjusts up and down. Featuring a tempered glass top, the body is made of stainless steel, inspired by some of the tubular steel experiments of Marcel Breuer at the Bauhaus (previously here).

Here is an archival photo of the table in situ at the E-1027 house in 1929!

As you can see, the design, while minimal and streamlined, is timeless and can go with furnishings from the 1930s, the 1960s or 70s, or with any current styles. It is a perfect accent or occasional table.

The table is now produced by ClassiCon, under authorization of The World Licence Holder Aram Designs Ltd, London. Design Within Reach is an authorized dealer as well.

Happy designing!

Mid-Century Modern March: Eichler Homes

What would a month-long mini-survey of Mid-Century style be without a look at Eichler homes? Contrary to popular assumption, Joseph Eichler was not an architect but a real estate developer. As a businessman, he was inspired to create modernist houses after his family spent a brief period of time living in a Frank Lloyd Wright-designed home. He initially teamed up with the architect Robert Anshen of Anshen & Allen to design the initial Eichler prototypes in 1949. In later years, Eichler homes were designed by other architects like A. Quincy Jones and Raphael Soriano, and by firms including the San Francisco firm Claude Oakland & Associates. Between 1949 and 1966, Eichler Homes built over 11,000 homes in nine communities in Northern California and homes in three communities in Southern California.

The Eichler style came to be known as "California Modern" since one of the main goals in his home design was to bring the outside in, to blur the line between interior and exterior, and our mild California climate certainly allows for that concept. Flat or A-line roofs cap façades that are mostly solid; floor to ceiling windows are placed in the inner courtyard and the sides and rear of the home, taking advantage of grassy views instead of asphalt streets. The exposed post-and-beam, open plan homes featured a lot of design and material innovations at the time such as radiant heat embedded in poured concrete floors, tongue and groove siding on ceilings, pocket doors, and bespoke kitchen cabinetry that featured sliding fronts.

Nowadays, Eichlers are highly sought after. There are entire real estate network sites dedicated solely to Eichlers, and there are forums specifically for owners of Eichlers. Remodeling one can be a sensitive undertaking since the homes have not stood the test of time too well. The flat or A-line roofs tended to sag or rot. When the radiant heating coils failed in the flooring, few people wanted to jackhammer up the entire foundation to repair them. The thin, laminated cabinet doors in the kitchen tended to chip and crack. But a properly restored Eichler can be gorgeous. I recently consulted on an Eichler kitchen remodel and it is important to pay attention to period details like globe lighting hanging from the ceiling or mid-century modern sconces on the walls. Using period-correct details like Heath tiles for bathrooms will add an air of authenticity as well. And finally, a liberal peppering of Eames chairs and Saarinen Tulip tables and chairs provide the proper set dressing.

The classic Eichler design even showed up in Pixar's delightful animated film "The Incredibles!" Look at the screen shots below and notice the Eichler-esque façade, the roof line windows, the stacked stone, and the general Mid-Century vibe of the interior!

Happy designing!