Above: On a wooded lot sits this rustically modern Cape Cod getaway home Photo: Raimund Koch
I suppose it’s a bit out of season but perhaps we can hope for next summer to find a perfect Mid Century Modern weekend retreat. Following the Second World War the middle class American family found itself with little extra money which provided for luxuries like a nice, modern house in the suburbs, two cars, and even a little place in the woods, on the beach, or by some secluded lake. Soon, a summer/vacation house, once the reserve of the well-heeled, was something almost every middle class family could afford. It wasn’t long before the building and selling of vacation homes became big business and developers bought up land along beaches and lakes to sell to those looking for a private, wooded retreat. Various lumber organizations published hundreds of do-it-yourself vacation home plans for the weekend handyman as a way of promoting their product.
Most summer places were modest affairs but some were a little more up the social register. It is often a forgotten fact, for instance, that Mies van der Rohe’s Farnsworth House in Plano, Illinois was designed as a weekend retreat for Dr. Edith Farsworth. For all of its fame and iconic status it is still a ‘cottage’. Several of Frank Lloyd Wright’s commissions were for summer houses and weekend retreats as many felt Wright’s Usonian Style, with its use of natural materials, were well-suited to cottage life. But whether built by Dad and his buddies over the course of summer weekends, or conceived at a cocktail party on Manhattan’s Upper East Side they are all just lovely cabins in the woods.
A selection of summer homes, vacation cottages, and weekend retreats. Click on the image for full view
For the Do-It Yourself Handyman.
Image from one of the many do-it-yourself vacation home catalogs for the handyman – which there were many more of in the 1950’s.
Perhaps the ultimate Do-It-Yourself Handyman was renowned designer Jens Risom who designed and helped build his prefabricated summer home.
Jens Risom’s at his vacation house on Block Island, a prefabricated structure he designed for himself. Photo: Dwell
Horace Gifford in the Early 1960’s. Photo: horacegifford.org
Here’s a few lovely contemporary modern retreats that give me hope! Click on image for full view.
The ‘Delta Shelter’ designed by Architect Tom Kundig.
Continuing with Modern design in summer homes is this striking example. Located in Austria the Hainbach House was designed by Moosmann Architects.
Contemporary lake house designed by Johnson and McLeod Design Consultants
Contemporary lake house designed by Johnson and McLeod Design Consultants
Check out these great books of Mid Century Modern Summer houses!
