Table of contents for 9/1/2016 in Dwell

Imagine a house designed by Richard Neutra in the 1950s, nestled in the hills of Los Angeles. Custom oak built-ins, expansive glass, clean lines, the whole nine yards. Now imagine pink—on the walls, on the ceiling, on the drapes, on the wall-to-wall carpeting. Imagine mirrored walls, and ill-conceived revisions to the kitchen and to the outside. After many decades, this “poor pink house” hit the market, in 2013. A couple looking for a new home toured the house, mostly out of curiosity about Neutra’s handiwork. One half of the couple was immediately excited. The other half wanted to run. When I think about this issue, my mind returns to this pair, and how only one of them saw the potential right away. It took a bit longer for the other…

Always in Style One of New York’s best-kept secrets for textile designers can be found not in Manhattan’s Garment District, but two hours north, in sleepy Wappinger Falls. Here, at a former mill, the Design Library has quietly amassed more than seven million prints, fabrics, and materials—a catalog of style from 1750 onward. Studios as diverse as West Elm and Calvin Klein have made pilgrimages to see Peter Koepke, the collection’s current owner, and license rare patterns that they then spin into new ideas. The archive is closed to the public, but a new book by Koepke offers a look inside. Patterns (Phaidon), out October 3, riffles through dozens of generations of design, highlighting swatches like this hand-painted piece from the 20th century by France’s Atelier Claude Vergély. 36 Houses…

“The house needed complete rebuilding. I was immediately interested—this level of renovation usually comes with the opportunity to do something special.” —James Jeffries, architect and resident The luminous, tailor-made home where architect James Jeffries lives with his wife, Emily, and their two-year-old son, Jack, in Amsterdam’s Oud-West neighborhood is a far cry from the crumbling structure they bought in 2012. Built in the early 20th century, the brick building consisted of just one main floor under a pointed roof with ramshackle tiles. There had not been any major renovation for decades, and there was no central heating. Most crucially, the wooden pillars were in poor shape, and the building was sinking due to a weak foundation. “The structural condition of the house was so bad that the existing facade would…

Sarah Benson prefers traditional neighborhoods filled with early 20thcentury houses and big trees and often surrounds herself with myriad connections to the past, from her collection of clown memorabilia to her grandmother’s Art Deco–era liquor cart, crafted from brass and turned wood. When she found a 1925 house in Portland’s Overlook neighborhood, she was charmed by the area’s curving streets, generous porches, tiny yards, one-car garages, and the occasional pocket park. Nestled against a bluff with a view of the Willamette River, the home was also conveniently located near a light rail that replaced a trolley that once ran two blocks away. But the property lacked one major element Sarah desired: a freeflowing, midcentury-style space. Working with Leela Brightenburg and Alissa Pulcrano of the local firm Bright Designlab to tailor…

The product-packed Modern Market section of Dwell just got even better with a fresh look and an innovative crop of new modern designs. In this highly shoppable section, you are guaranteed to discover that one unique item or special gift that makes you feel at home in the modern world! For more products and services, visit us online at dwell.com! Teak Warehouse For 25 years Teak Warehouse has been manufacturing & selling high-end outdoor furniture at wholesale prices to the public. Everything is fully assembled & ready to ship nationwide. Specializing in a-grade teak, reclaimed teak, 316 marine grade stainless steel, Batyline®, outdoor wicker, concrete and Sunbrella®. Teak Warehouse has everything you need for your outdoor living space. Shown here are the Rope Outdoor Loveseat and Blok Concrete Accent Tables.…

The original coffered wood ceiling of Kate Tucker and Tom Crago’s home in Melbourne, Australia, provides a dramatic backdrop for a vintage pendant from Angelucci 20th Century. “The bay windows and high ceilings were so lovely, we really wanted to do as little as possible up front,” Kate says of the plan for the house. With the arrival of their firstborn, Jasper, artist Kate Tucker and her husband, Tom Crago, made plans to decamp from their groovy South Melbourne digs and move to Fitzroy North, another inner suburb. The renewal of this formerly industrial neighborhood had brought boutiques, galleries, and cafes to the area—and with them, a sophisticated, artsy coterie. The couple purchased a tumbledown turn-of-the-20th-century Edwardian, a former shared rental, in 2011. “The house had such charm,” Kate recalls.…

Mary Blodgett and Carlton Calvin initially approached Fung + Blatt to design a ceramics studio on their Southern California property, which contains a 1950s house by modernist architect Calvin Straub. Delighted with the result, they requested additional structures, including a pool house with a dining area that opens to the outdoors. Rising from the edge of the pool deck, a planted overhang shelters a gym and sauna below (opposite). Project Blodgett-Calvin Residence Architect Calvin Straub Renovation Architect Fung + Blatt Architects Landscape Designer Elysian Landscapes Location San Marino, California “ We wanted to preserve the idea of a house being deferential to the landscape.” —Alice Fung, architect Blodgett-Calvin Residence Site Plan N A Tennis Court B Storage C Guesthouse D Gym (Below) E Pool F Pool House G Gardening Shed…

Straight from Copenhagen and marked by a clean, honest composition, Normann Copenhagen’s Form Collection by Simon Legald was cultivated by taking a deep dive into the history of seating design. By focusing on simplicity and flexibility, the graduate of the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts brings us a series of chairs, tables, and stools that are designed to coordinate fluently with both current and future renditions. Explore the Dwell Store for the comprehensive collection for you or your client’s interior projects. store.dwell.com dwell store…

Sharyn Cairns Photographer Sharyn Cairns captured the Edwardian house of Kate Tucker and Tom Crago that was overhauled by Nest Architects in Melbourne, Australia (page 36). “It was great to see the clever use of space on this unusual plot of land,” says Cairns, who is based nearby. “The kitchen and living room now take in lovely views of the garden.” Cairns specializes in food, interiors, and lifestyle shoots and authored Perfect Imperfect, an exploration of the Japanese concept of wabi-sabi. If you could renovate one thing in your house, what would it be? “This would not be a small undertaking, but I would love to purchase the apartment next to mine and join the two into one.” David Hay Based in New York, David Hay is a playwright and…

Growing up in Los Angeles, Tyler Lemkin never dreamed he might one day own a Richard Neutra house. So when he and his wife, Margaret, stumbled upon a listing for a home by the legendary Southern California modernist, he jumped at the opportunity to view it. “I’d never actually been inside a Neutra,” he recalls. “I figured the open house might be my only chance.” As soon as the couple saw the interior, Tyler considered their real estate search over. Built in 1956 for physicist Dr. Fred Adler and his wife, Alicia, the 1,925-square-foot house is perched high in the Crestwood Hills enclave of Brentwood, offering views that stretch from Downtown L.A. to the coast. Margaret, known as Marge, was less enthusiastic. She loved the neighborhood, but the home’s interior…

In renovating a historic brick home for family friends in Washington, D.C., architect Nader Tehrani of NADAAA used ordinary plywood to reconceive the central staircase. Lined with a series of striated, geometric panels, the resulting structure is lit by a polygonal skylight above. Tehrani also designed the Pentavola table—featuring five sides, one for each member of the family—which they use as a communal workspace on the secondfloor landing (opposite). Here, the material palette continues: Plywood makes up the deep window frames, built-in shelving, and wall panels, which have been cut into gently jagged, unconventional forms. Project Rock Creek Residence Architect NADAAA Location Washington, D.C. At first appearance, with its modest windows and great expanse of brick, a renovated four-story home dating to the 1920s in the Rock Creek neighborhood of…

Architect Chris Fein’s family home in Kansas is a showcase for modern design pieces, including a Le Corbusier LC6 dining table, chairs by Maarten Van Severen for Vitra, and a Louis Poulsen pendant. The sideboard is a Florence Knoll design from 1952, about the time the house was built. Bridge House Plan N A Entry B Bathroom C Bedroom D Dining Area E Deck F Living Room G Garage H Master Bathroom I Master Bedroom J Kitchen On a busy corner in Prairie Village, Kansas, sits a 1950s house with curb appeal unlike any other on the block. The myrtle-and ivy-covered grounds are bisected by a footbridge, once unstable, that now features a restored Gino Sarfatti street lamp. In summer’s full bloom, the yard sets a scene that’s peacefully reminiscent…

In a moment of brutal honesty, Mia Dalgas and her husband acknowledged that the sleek modern house they had built in a northern Copenhagen suburb wasn’t the home for them. “We missed the city,” says Mia, mother of two. “We thought we had built our dream house, but it just wasn’t.” Bucking the trend of leaving the city to raise children in a more kid-friendly environment, the Dalgas family set their sights on a three-story home in the centrally located Kartoffelrækkerne (Potato Rows) neighborhood, a charming ward of former workers’ cottages. Mia’s vision for the house, which was designed in the 1880s by architect Frederik Christian Bøttger, was clear from the beginning— and entirely her own. “The original houses were almost all the same,” Mia says. “Today, you can’t find…

36 Mixed Media Nest Architects nestarchitects.com.au TCM Building Group tcmbuildinggroup.com.au Mason Cabinets masoncabinets.com.au TGM Group tgmgroup.com Custom furniture and lighting by Hank hank.com.au Upholstery fabric by Warwick Fabrics warwick.com.au Vintage Egg chair by Arne Jacobsen, pendant, dining table, and chairs, all from Angelucci 20th Century angelucci.net.au Rosa Bellissimo marble worktop from Parthenon Marble parthenonmarble.com.au Tapware from Astra Walker astrawalker.com.au Custom handles by Interia interia.com.au Custom stools by Tide Design tidedesign.com.au Silvertop ash shiplap cladding from Radial Sawn Timber radialtimers.com.au Arkipelag pendant by Rubn lighting from Fred International fredinternational.com.au Y chandelier by Douglas and Bec douglasandbec.com Domino paint by Dulux dulux.co.uk Tio outdoor table and chairs by Chris Martin from Luke luke.com.au 44 Pretty as a Picture Roderick McGrew rod.mcgrew1@verizon.net Allan Luster 310-717-4374 800 Series cooktop from Bosch bosch-home.com Thermador oven thermador.com Quartz countertop by Cambria cambriausa.com Crisscross Saucer lamp from Modernica modernica.net Noguchi Rudder table by Isamu Noguchi for Herman…

Of the 49 acres that make up the New Canaan, Connecticut, enclave of architect Philip Johnson, 1,815 square feet belong to his Glass House. The rest of the compound, added after 1949, is an architectural laboratory comprising 13 multifarious buildings, like the Sculpture Gallery, a skylighted showcase for Johnson’s art collection, which he briefly considered making his home once it was finished in 1970. It was his high regard for the space that motivated a fastidious restoration by the National Trust for Historic Preservation last year. Months of touch-ups targeted a brewing crisis: Water had begun to penetrate the gallery’s distinctive skylights. A replacement system, donated by Oldcastle BuildingEnvelope, mimics the exact interplay of light and shadow that was created by the original. The sculptures, including work by Robert Rauschenberg,…