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As part of the house’s 70th-anniversary celebration next month, the National Trust for Historic Preservation has announced that the iconic Farnsworth House will be renamed the Edith Farnsworth House in order to better recognize the cultural and architectural contributions of its namesake, Dr... View full entry
A home belonging to one of Los Angeles’ most storied architects is now one step closer to being saved following a unanimous vote by the Los Angeles Cultural Heritage Commission. The Jefferson Park home was Paul Revere Williams’ principal residence for nearly 30 years and has been... View full entry
According to The New York Times' Allyson Waller, "Chris Town was assembling a bed frame for a friend's son in a 19th century house in Guilford, Connecticut....when the floor gave out beneath him." Town had fallen into a fieldstone cistern well that was concealed beneath the floor boards... View full entry
A historic home designed by the first dean of the Auburn University School of Architecture, Planning, and Landscape Architecture (SAPLA) has been restored for use by students and professors. The home, a Dutch Colonial Revival-style residence listed on the National Register of Historic Places... View full entry
John Lautner's influential architectural legacy is hard to miss. Some of his works, like the Elrod House in Palm Springs or the Chemosphere in the Hollywood Hills, have been depicted in blockbuster Hollywood movies. Other projects, however, live on as humble—and not so... View full entry
The Los Angeles Conservancy, which spearheaded the landmarking efforts, canceled plans to name the property a Historic-Cultural Monument after agreeing to a deal with owners Paul and Gigi Shepherd to “take demolition off the table.” That means buyers must be willing to relocate the home if they plan to build on the stunning hillside vista where it sits. — Curbed LA
Now listed for $6.25 million, Richard Neutra's historic Chuey House in Hollywood Hills is still up for grabs. “According to listing material, the one and a half acres upon which [the house] sits could accommodate a 20,000 square foot megamansion. That’s more than 10 times the size of the... View full entry
Located in Los Feliz, the 5,500-square-foot house was built from 27,000 concrete blocks, with some blocks featuring intricate geometric patterns. [...] Ron Burkle purchased the home from the nonprofit Ennis House Foundation for $4.5 million in 2011, property records show. After purchasing, he then restored it, adding an extra $10 million to improve the home after it had suffered major damage from a previous earthquake and heavy rains. — The Real Deal
Hackney's Museum of the Home, Geffrye, has teamed up with Go Compare to offer an interactive tour through over 400 years of English urban homes. The museum, which will close in January 2018 for a two-year refurbishment, is set in an 18th century Grade I listed almshouse and explores home and home... View full entry
The Turf House Tradition of Iceland was nominated for UNESCO World Heritage status in 2011. “The turf house is an exceptional example of a vernacular architectural tradition, which has survived in Iceland,” according to the nomination. “The form and design of the turf house is an expression of the cultural values of the society and has adapted to the social and technological changes that took place through the centuries.” — National Geographic
Although living walls are still considered to be somewhat noteworthy in contemporary design, Iceland's architecture has been overgrown with the technique for hundreds of years. Along with a history of turf as a building material (and the pressures of modernism on Iceland's architecture in the 20th... View full entry
Lloyd Wright's concrete-block John Sowden House in Los Angeles makes a special appearance in “I Dare You”, the latest music video from British indie-pop band The xx as their “love letter to Los Angeles”. Directed by fashion photographer Alasdair McLellan in collaboration with Raf Simons... View full entry
Built in 1970, ‘House II’ by Peter Eisenman is a major icon of structuralist architecture—and it’s now on the market for $850K. One of ten experimental houses Eisenman designed, only four of which were built, House II is heavily influenced by the work of Noam Chomsky. The house comprises... View full entry
Built in 1946 in Bedford, New York, the 1450 sq. ft. Booth House was Philip Johnson’s first constructed commission. In 1955, photographer Robert Damora and his wife, the architect Sirkka Damora, moved in, intending for it to serve as temporary housing until they could build a home of their own... View full entry
[Rosa Parks' home] on South Deacon Street had become blighted and faced demolition in recent years, but its fortunes have since changed. The home’s facade has been removed and will be refashioned into a replica-style artwork that will be shown in museums across Europe...“She loved the city, but I don't think the city loved her very much back,” [Parks' niece Rhea] McCauley said. “This house should have been preserved here. But we live in a world where every other project takes precedence.” — Detroit Free Press
You would think that the Detroit home of Rosa Parks would have more easily garnered local support for its preservation in the present day. But as Parks' niece Rhea McCauley described, her aunt was still treated with hostility when she moved into the city in 1957, two years after she refused to... View full entry
Of the four houses Frank Lloyd Wright built in New Jersey, the first and largest was the 2,000-square-foot James B. Christie House, which dates to 1940. Wright built the home on seven acres of secluded woodland and employed his Usonian principles of simplicity and practically that connect to nature. After selling in 2014 to a private buyer for $1.7 million, the Christie House is now on the market for $2.2 million after receiving a new roof and heating system. — 6sqft.com
“Downton Abbey is just down the road from us," Mockler-Barret said. “And we’re so jealous of Lord and Lady Carnarvon. Although they won’t tell us how much they’ve made from 'Downton Abbey,' I think they’ve done quite well out of it.”
But that’s the fairytale. The residents of Milton Manor will be happy if they can just patch up their inheritance and avoid the humiliation and disgrace of losing the ancestral seat after 250 years of family ownership.
— marketplace.org
Related stories in the Archinect news:Meet the preservationist trying to revolutionize historic house museumsRowan Moore on the seemingly erratic decision-making in historic preservationBrutalism's struggle to stay relevant: a few more buildings we lost in 2015 View full entry
