Themed house tours are often unique, as a single cohesive theme usually unifies the series of homes. Unlike tours in which an organization is grateful just to find four or five homeowners willing to have their houses featured, no matter the style or age, themed tours arouse far more curiosity in the public. As such, these tours guarantee a bona fide experience rather than just a random assortment of loose ends.
HC&G’s 20th Century Modern House Tour
HC&G’s 20th Century Modern House Tour on August 11 gave attendees an overview of modernist vacation homes from the 1950s to 1970s in the Hamptons. Not only have these houses endured the ravages of time, but they’ve also thrived and, in many cases, have aged like fine wine compared to modern sensibilities.
Design Characteristics of Midcentury Modern Homes
Compared to today’s formulaic, modernist houses, these older homes don’t display the same conspicuous consumption. They often use natural materials like shingles and wood siding to respond to the climatic conditions of the East End. The site planning and orientation of the houses worked to take advantage of the prevailing southern breezes, and air conditioning, if any, was limited to window units. Overhangs and recessed entrances also prevented these homes from overheating.
The Evolution of the Midcentury Modern Movement
In the 1930s, the United States suffered from a major depression that limited new home builds. In the 1940s, the country went to war, and building second homes had all but ceased. The midcentury modern movement didn’t gain a foothold on the East End until the 1950s. By that time, large estate properties, having become unsustainable, were subdivided into smaller lots, and the trend toward smaller, informal, easy-care homes dovetailed with the austere aesthetic of open floor plans. These smaller vacation homes represented a complete lifestyle change and made second homes affordable for the middle class.
Andrew Geller’s Influence on East End Architecture: The Frisbie House
Throughout this period, architectural designer Andrew Geller worked for industrial designer Raymond Loewy during the week in New York. On the weekends, Geller designed modest beach houses and second homes for his clients on the East End. Geller’s 1955 “A-Frame” home for Elizabeth Reese was widely published. Many people, including stockbroker Leonard Frisbie, came to see this Sagaponack beach house. He hired Geller in 1957 to design a version of the same house on the oceanfront in Amagansett.
In this 1,200-square-foot A-frame, Geller maximized the living space with built-in couches for sleeping and bunk beds and a sleeping loft accessed by a pull-down ladder. The main floor of the house sits at the crest of the dune, and a large picture window overlooks the deck and the ocean beyond. In front of the house, there’s a separate one-bedroom entry tower with a half-round window facing the street.
The Frisbie house is not winterized. There is no insulation, and the lath rafters, collar ties, and roof shingles are all exposed on the interior. The outside is clad in weathered shingles and board and batten siding. This was one of many whimsical beach and summer homes that Geller called “summer-use playhouses.” It is the quintessential beach house where Frisbie’s adult children and grandchildren still return each summer and simply rough it. At the end of the season, the picture window is boarded up, and the pipes are drained. The house, which could not be built today given the requirements of current-day building codes, remains a unique adventure in carefree summer living.
Preserving and Updating Midcentury Modern Homes
HC&G’s Modern House Tour, presented with the nonprofit Hamptons 20th Century Modern, looked at various design solutions in the midcentury modern movement. It also showed how these houses can be preserved and nicely upgraded for contemporary living. In many ways, while the tour’s surface-level theming was simply 20th-century Modern, the larger theme overall was how these classical works of art can coexist and inspire artists of today.
