Innholdsfortegnelse for November/December 2023 i Dwell

Farmhouse belongs on a farm. @hjbarnhart Great for Waco. Not for every suburb in America. It’s the new tract home. @mengelen1 I love modern, and I love a farmhouse, but why must they exist together? Julia Stevens, style editor Classics are classic for a reason. @lesorum In the area I live ALL new builds are white with black window trim. No creativity! @christiwaldron It’s the white siding with black trim that’s bad. Poor farmhouse looks like it’s wearing thick eyeliner. @evardoodle Joanna Gaines–style folksy shtick got annoying. Too much gray. Ban barn doors. @mjarzemsky I suppose it can be fun if it winks at its own falseness, but “modern farmhouse” usually means a few cloyingly quaint details dressing up monstrously big suburban homes. No thanks. William Hanley, editor-in-chief Monochromatic, overdone,…

In the mid-1960s, Americans decided it was time to preserve their past. That’s when federal protective status was first granted to historic districts, including Charleston’s in South Carolina and the Vieux Carré in New Orleans, and in 1966, the National Register of Historic Places was created. But for all of the interest in preserving America’s meaningful landmarks, the midcentury sense of history was narrow in scope; preservationist zeal largely focused its efforts on buildings and districts established before the Gilded Age, with a particular emphasis on the Revolutionary Era. (For example, the first site placed on the register was Slater Mill in Rhode Island, built in the 1790s.) The 20th century wasn’t yet considered worth preserving. That began to change after major works of more recent architecture were destroyed, including…

Getting to the remote islands off Washington State’s northernmost coast is not always smooth sailing. Just ask architect Jason F. McLennan and his wife, artist Tracy McLennan, who in 2019 found themselves stranded on San Juan Island after their century-old wooden cruiser, the Vagabond, started smoking during a family trip. “We got stuck there and were just goofing around one night, looking at property online,” recalls Tracy. “We saw this bizarre, interesting place for sale.” Having bought and restored several quirky properties in Washington over the years, including a five-story tree house made partly with salvaged ship parts and a 100-year-old barracks with a horse stable that is now his office, Jason was smitten the first time he visited the “pod houses,” as they are affectionately known. “We fell in…

1950s Wall-to-Wall As millions of families moved into newconstruction houses during the post-WWII building boom, they were ready to splurge on decor. Recent advances in production technology made it possible for tufted nylon to replace woven wool as the dominant carpet type, and it quickly became the fashion to stretch carpet from one wall to another. The Saxony style consisted of tightly twisted cut-pile fibers that stood straight up, creating a dense, soft feel and a uniform look. Bright blues, rich burgundies, and emerald greens were all common color options for the average suburbanite. 1960s and ’70s Shagadelic, Baby Not unlike the era’s shifting ethos, machine-made carpet began to get higher and looser in the ’60s: We’re talking, of course, about shag. Made possible by advancements in technology that allowed…

When architect Dan Brunn designed the Bridge House, his home and studio in Hancock Park, Los Angeles, in 2019, he envisioned it as an ever-evolving, gallery-like space that celebrates natural materials, the surrounding landscape, and his love for collecting cars—with a motor court fronting the property. In its most recent evolution, he decided to bring art into the actual architectural form of Bridge House after he discovered that Porsche and paint brand Backdrop collaborated to bring four iconic Porsche colors to life in celebration of the sports car brand’s 75th anniversary. “Over the course of its existence, we’ve always used it as a place to share art, to invite artists,” says Brunn of the 4,500-square-foot home. “We’ve had anything from sculptures to wall art, so it became a very natural…

There are two things that men leaving the prison system in New Orleans most commonly request from The First 72+, a nonprofit that helps the formerly incarcerated adjust to life on the outside. The first is enough privacy to wake up and not make eye contact with another man. The second is a bubble bath. Those are two things that “we made central to the design of the house,” says Kelly Orians, who directs the Decarceration and Community Reentry Clinic at the University of Virginia’s law school and is a founder of The First 72+. In creating the Ben Smith Welcome Home Center, The First 72+ took its cues directly from the men it intended to serve. And, indeed, the home is equipped with full baths, complete with tubs. Based…

48 Happily Ever After McLennan Design mclennan-design.com Cabinetry by Space Theory spacetheory.com 48 Womb chair from Knoll knoll.com 50 Cabinets from Space Theory; walnut table and chairs from Danger dangerbainbridge.com; refrigerator and kettle from Smeg smeg.com 52 One of a Kind Sonya Lee Architect sonyaleearchitect.com 52–53 Super-Elliptical table by Piet Hein + Arne Jacobsen for Fritz Hansen from Design Within Reach dwr.com; Eames Eiffel chairs from Chairish chairish.com; 606 Universal Shelving by Dieter Rams from Vitsœ vitsoe.com; Case Study daybed from Modernica modernica. net 54 Quartz countertops in Snow White from Corian corianquartz.com; cooktop from Viking vikingrange.com; dishwasher from Bosch bosch.com; refrigerator from Fisher & Paykel fisherpaykel.com 56 A Retro Revelation K Yoder Design kyoderdesign.com Rodney Simmons, Imperial Contracting Group imperialcontracting group.com Landscape design by Worms Hardscaping & Landscaping wormslandscaping.com…

SAN JUAN ISLANDS, WASHINGTON LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA WYOMISSING, PENNSYLVANIA…

In December 2017, Paul Savidge and Dan Macey were staying at a hotel for a wedding in Reading, one and a half hours northwest of their home in Philadelphia. Once outside the nuptial festivities, they were met with a bleak winter weekend, and the couple got a flat tire on a dark and icy trip home. The dour weather seeped into their mood. Who would want to live here? they asked each other. As it turned out, they would. In February 2019, the pair got a call from a real estate agent and friend specializing in midcentury houses. There was a house in Wyomissing, a town next to Reading, that they had to see, she said. “We drove up to the site, we looked at the house, and we looked…

Danielle Ippolito and Daniel Velez had never imagined they’d become home-owners when they visited a new development down the street from their apartment in Tempe, Arizona, just east of Phoenix. They’d been searching for a new place, says Danielle, “but we couldn’t find anything within our budget. And we didn’t think we’d be able to buy anytime soon.” Their interest was piqued when they heard about Tempe Micro Estates, a housing project targeted at low- and moderate income buyers. Arranged around a central courtyard, the development’s 13 single-family homes, including one accessible unit, and a 900-square-foot community center were still under construction, but the couple saw the possibilities. “It made it more enticing that we already lived in the area and liked it,” says Daniel. To address the needs of…

Work-life and life-life don’t always align, but for Ashley Sargent Price, the dots were starting to connect. It was 2016, and she and her husband, David, had been in New York City for 20 years. They kept considering a move back to David’s hometown—Columbus, Ohio—to be nearer to his family and make it easier to raise their kids, but New York had the most opportunities for her career as a creative director. Everything changed, however, when Ashley found a position at Abercrombie & Fitch in Columbus. When she landed the job, David hustled back to Ohio to see a home in nearby Bexley. After the visit, he was taking an odd route back to the airport when he passed what looked like a quintessential midcentury with a For Sale sign.…