Marcel Breuer's first binuclear house, Geller I in Lawrence, New York has been demolished in the dead of night. Geller I is largely considered the project that propelled Breuer to private practice in New York and prompted the Museum of Modern Art to commission Breuer to design an exhibition house in the museum’s courtyard entitled The House in the Museum Garden in 1949. — Docomomo US
The conservation advocacy organization chalked up the loss to a combination of changing local property dynamics and the inability of the town of Hempstead’s planning laws to prevent the destruction of a structure it says would have claims to both the New York State and National Register of Historic Places.
“Late last year, Docomomo US was alerted to plans to demolish the house for a larger project combing multiple lots. Docomomo US and our colleagues at Docomomo US NY/Tri-State, the Preservation League of New York State, Preservation Long Island and Caroline Rob Zaleski author of Long Island Modernism formed a coalition to work for a better preservation outcome,” the group’s statement explained.
“In December, an application for local landmark status was submitted to the Town of Hempstead and enthusiastically received and supported by the Hempstead Landmarks Preservation Commission. So far, there has been no response from the Village of Lawrence for what would be an honorary designation. The Village of Lawrence does not have a preservation ordinance and retains jurisdiction in the incorporated village.”
The house is significant as an example of the designer’s first forays into the American post-war housing market. Breuer had recently split from Walter Gropius and the rest of his former Bauhaus colleagues to pursue his vision of the residential typology as dictated by the newfound trend of suburban family living and defined by separated areas for sleep and living.
The end result was a well-received “country home for the commuter” that earned it lengthy profiles in the most influential design periodicals of the time. Docomomo says it still has a further design lobbying effort planned, and that what it can do now is to “encourage those involved with the project to take another look at the house and protect a nationally important work of Modern residential architecture designed by one of the world’s most prominent architects of the post-war era.”
The town of Hempstead could not be reached for comment at this time.
3 Comments
Can imagine they tore it down judging from the NYE pictures, but whoever butchered it to end up looking like that committed a serious crime against architecture.
these kind of works seem valuable only as artifacts which record some trace of the professional history of architects who later became known for better works. It's hard to argue for saving real buildings just to maintain an archive of works completed by dead architects.
Best to work with the owners to get thorough photographic / 3D scanned documentary materials and let the work return to the world of pure concepts.
That tree really got out of control btw. Ruined the composition.
In reviewing a catalogue of Breuer's works (all photographed from the exterior of course) I am struck by an overpowering weight/mass. I have never experienced any of his buildings. Was "Geller 1" so named for its client/owner or the popular "radical" designer Andrew Geller? If for the latter I'd say Breuer never understood his perceived opponent.
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