HousingWatch

Classic Modern in Connecticut: Rotating House, $1.75M

Brian Libby — 2010-06-11T15:30:00 00:00

Filed under: Design

Imagine you find a house for sale with a master-bedroom view of the surrounding garden. But what you really wanted was a view of the pond on the other side of the property where the birds and other wildlife flock. If you own the Rotating House in Wilton, Conn., that can be changed in about 50 minutes.

This entire house, a mid-century-modern classic designed by noted architect Richard T. Foster and built in 1968, sits like a flying saucer on a small pedestal, from which it rotates 360 degrees. "It's been written up all over the place," says the house's listing agent, JoAnne Fisher of William Pitt/Sotheby's International Realty. "It was featured in House and Garden magazine when [the magazine] was 65 cents."

The Rotating House is currently on the market for $1,750,000.
The price has been reduced from its earlier $2,295,000 listing. But that's not a reflection on the house itself, which had its interior extensively renovated in 2005 (kitchen and bathrooms updated, walls removed) and is clearly a one-of-a-kind property. Instead, blame the price drop on the Great Recession and the fact that it has only three bedrooms. For the same price, Wilton's more traditional homes and new "McMansions" have at least five bedrooms and four baths.

Foster's design premiered the same year as Stanley Kubrick's classic, head-tripping "2001: A Space Odyssey," and just a year before man walked on the moon. In that sense, the house is a stylistic time-capsule that's retro and futuristic at the same time.

Foster also collaborated on the design with legendary architect Philip Johnson, who designed the renowned Glass House in nearby New Canaan, Conn. This area, a bedroom community of New York, is home to many affluent residents and has given birth to numerous mid-century modern gems by master architects from Frank Lloyd Wright (the Sander House in Stamford) to Ludwig Mies Van Der Rohe (the legendary Farnsworth House in West Hartford).

The Rotating House belongs to a small class of modernist properties designed in the 1960s, when the boxy quality of early modernism -- exemplified in the Case Study houses of Los Angeles or in Van Der Rohe's designs -- gave way to something more animated and futuristic. That often meant the clean lines of modern were applied to more organic, curvy shapes, and there was briefly a proliferation of circular houses. They include the Mayes Residence in Glen Ellyn, Ill. designed by Wright protégé Don Erickson; the Malin Residence in Los Angeles (aka "Chemosphere"), by John Lautner; and the Zidell House in Portland, Ore. by Saul Zaik (built for a shipbuilding tycoon using a ship's mast).

You could also place the Wilton house with some commercial buildings of the era, parts of which also turned: the now-demolished Landmark Hotel in Las Vegas (commissioned by Howard Hughes); the Space Needle in Seattle (built for the 1962 World's Fair); La Ronde atop Honolulu's Ala Moana Building (thought to be the first rotating restaurant); The Sun Dial Restaurant atop Atlanta's Peachtree Plaza Hotel, and Toronto's CN Tower.

For all its modernist pedigree and the novelty of its rotation, though, the house at its best is really about simpler functions and pleasures, like natural light and views. The residence has floor-to-ceiling glass on the entire perimeter; the views of the property's four acres of rural countryside, and beyond, are continuous and massive, like a 360-degree IMAX screen.

"I believe this house should be bought by someone who is a collector of art," its listing agent adds. "It's just a piece of architecture that is a real collector's item. And in this market, where the prices are so much more reasonable, it's only going to get better."

A video on Yahoo's online style magazine, Shine, offers a peek. "Out with the square and in with the round," offers the host cheerfully.

See more homes for sale in Wilton, Conn. at AOL Real Estate.

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Backyard Cottages: Affordable Housing Solution?

Brian Libby — 2010-06-01T16:15:00 00:00

Filed under: Design, Cities, Economy

It's a story that touches upon the nation's economic woes, the challenge of preventing sprawl, and the quirky ingenuity of the Pacific Northwest. But is the trend of renting one's backyard cottage really big enough to have any effect beyond the symbolic? Well, yes and no.

The focus of a recent USA Today article is mostly on Seattle, where the city has seen an increase in the number of backyard cottages in single-family neighborhoods since the city changed zoning rules in 2006. It quotes one property-owner, who built a single-bedroom, 437-square-foot cottage on the site of his former garage, as saying. "I want to preserve rural areas around Seattle, and I don't want the suburbs continuing to march on without any limits.

"One way to do that," says the homeowner, 47-year-old architect John Stoeck, "is to add more density to these inner-city neighborhoods."

In Seattle, as well as in growing number of American cities, municipal governments have set urban growth boundaries in place because sprawl ultimately becomes an economic drag, because of costs associated with added transit, traffic and pollution. This relative scarcity of land for development forces people to get more creative about making use of spaces that might otherwise remain underutilized.

In a struggling economy, where cheaper housing options are more welcome, making such efficient use of space also seems more relevant. The construction costs for Stoeck's backyard cottage in Seattle were about $50,000. When completed this summer, he plans to rent it for around $900 a month. If successfully rented at that rate, it would only take about five years to pay off the construction cost and start earning pure profit. What's more, $900 is a pretty good deal for a stand-alone home in Seattle; backyard cottages can make a dent in the city's need for affordable housing.

Backyard cottages are not a new concept. They're part of the more broadly termed "accessory dwelling unit" that includes numerous kinds of extra spaces on a single-family home's property: the apartment over the garage, in the basement, the attic, or in the garage itself.

In past decades of economic struggle or greater social conservativism, such as in the 1930s and '40s, many American families rented out an extra space as a way to earn extra income (especially with more women staying home). It helped with the mortgage payment or with other expenses. It was a common part of the cultural landscape. (Think of The Fonz on TV's "Happy Days," living above the Cunningham family's garage.)

Generations before that, there were carriage houses, where carriages were kept and servants were quartered. Later these were converted for extended family use. But after World War II, society moved toward the suburban ideal, with a home for everyone the new American dream.

But since the 1950s, particularly amid the development of more bland, suburban developments (think cul de sacs, tract homes and McMansions) communities have adopted stricter residential zoning regulations. In some homeowners' eyes, backyard cottages and other accessory dwellings are a threat to their privacy and security.

Meanwhile, the romantic idea that everyone could afford home ownership, and that it was worth it to sprawl out to the horizon or bend the mortgage rules to make it happen, extended all the way through to the George W. Bush administration.

But now that tough -- or some would say realistic -- times have returned, the concept of making smart use of space seems just that: intelligent and efficient. Accessory units, whether over a garage, in a basement, or a stand-alone structure, tend to be small and utilize existing space whenever possible. That's a key principle of being green and sustainable.

Not everyone thinks it's time to let backyard cottages be built willy-nilly across otherwise pristinely quiet neighborhoods. The USA Today story quotes Seattle architect and developer Marty Liebowitz as arguing that cottages could threaten neighbors' freedom to "barbecue, entertain guests and walk around naked if they're kinky." Local arborist Michael Oxman also expresses concern that building too many cottages would "decimate the urban forest of Seattle" by replacing trees with cottages and parking spaces.

It's as if Liebowitz and Oxman are saying, "That Fonzie was a troublemaker -- and there's a whole army of them invading!" But they needn't worry about an accessory dwelling unit invasion anytime soon. Notice that the total number of backyard cottages built since the Seattle zoning change in 2006, according to Keen's story -- about 50 -- is about the same as one medium-sized condominium project. In other words, accessory dwelling units, by their very definition, are always going to be the add-on, a number too small to substantially change society or derail Liebowitz's vision of nude domesticity.

But if there isn't a seismic shift happening in housing, there at least might be a subtle ground shift at work.

Disappearing are the days when neighborhoods are made to share a vanilla sameness. Successful neighborhoods need not only a mix of uses -- the corner market that keeps you from driving to the big-box, the nearby school that negates the need for busing -- but also scales and ranges of residence sizes. It's a way to prevent the ghettoization of people who look just like you, drive the same car, and choose the same carbon-copy house plan.

This isn't just New Urbanism -- the revival of compact, walkable places -- but is part of the natural real estate spectrum that every city has traditionally had in its own backyard.

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Living Modern Like a 'Single Man' in L.A.

Brian Libby — 2010-02-22T17:03:00 00:00

Filed under: Design

When the Academy Awards take place on March 7, English actor Colin Firth will be one of the chosen few at Hollywood's Kodak Theater nominated for a major award: Best Actor, for his role in "A Single Man."

While Firth is unquestionably the heart of the movie, and Julianne Moore is his most visible co-star, a supporting-role nod must go to the mid-century modern house in which Firth's character, a college professor grieving for his deceased love in early-1960s Los Angeles, spends much of "A Single Man."

The movie is the directorial debut by legendary fashion designer Tom Ford, who clearly has an eye for visual detail. From the immaculately tailored Kennedy-era suits George (Firth) wears to the vintage Mercedes he drives, "A Single Man" is a visual delight, which provides a fanciful ballast against the movie's morose subject matter.

George's home is supposed to be in Santa Monica near the ocean, but the real house, designed by architect John Lautner, is nestled in the Whiting Woods area of Glendale northeast of the city.

As it happens, the house is for sale, listed at $1,495,000. The listing reads:

Hidden in a wooded valley at the foot of the Verdugo Mountains, the redwood, concrete & glass residence opens to the oak forest that influenced the form and orientation of the design. A meticulous restoration of systems, as well as surfaces, hardware & appliances has been completed. This published, world class architectural treasure incorporates open plan living, dining and den areas, two bedrooms, one & a half baths, laundry and attached two carport. In nature and apart, yet just 15 minutes to downtown Los Angeles.

Lautner (1911-94) was one of America's foremost 20th-century architects, particularly when it comes to the legacy of Southern California modernism. He spent six years as an apprentice to Frank Lloyd Wright, joining the first group of Taliesin Fellows. In 1937 he supervised construction for two of Wright's projects, afterward establishing his own practice in Los Angeles. Lautner's first solo project was a house for his own family, which architectural critic Henry-Russell Hitchcock called "the best house by an architect under 30 in the United States." Later Hitchcock remarked that "Lautner's work could stand comparison with that of his master."

Some of his other residences besides the one featured in "A Single Man" have looked particularly futuristic, almost like flying saucers. One house he designed in Palm Springs, the Elrod Residence, was used in the 1971 James Bond film "Diamonds Are Forever". A more famous Lautner design, the Chemosphere, has been featured in numerous movies, from "Charlie's Angels" to "Body Double", as well as the video game "Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas."

In "A Single Man," the house serves as a metaphor for the openness that George both needs and shuns. Like most modernist homes, it is teeming with glass and transparency - both for better and worse. The light permeating such houses was decades ahead of its time, given how today's houses put a premium on natural illumination and transitional indoor-outdoor spaces. But it also means you're living right out in the open. In one scene from early in the movie, George cringes as next door neighbors wave to him from outside--as he is sitting on the toilet.

Modernism occupies only a relatively small fraction of the overall market for single-family homes. But the form has a stronger presence in Southern California. "Modernism is the perfect style for Southern California living because it is compatible with our way of life," reads the SoCal Modern Web site. "Modern homes are open, characterized by a freedom from confinement and a strong connection to the outdoors. Even though modern architecture was born in the cold, gray climate of Bauhaus Germany and de Stijl Holland, it has flourished in the warm weather of Southern California, where its inherent openness and abstract language make more sense. The barriers between indoors and outdoors are minimal, and people live in much closer contact with nature." An entire scene in the documentary film "Los Angeles Plays Itself" is devoted to the use of modern architecture in the movies.

Modern houses have long had an over-sized presence in TV and movies, not just because they may be favored by directors and producers but because they read well on the screen. "Things that are beautiful aren't necessarily filmable," Hollywood location scout Beth Milnick once told me for a Metropolis magazine story about architecture in film in television. "There's an elegant simplicity in most great locations."

When the winner for Best Actor is announced, Firth will have his hands full competing for the statuette with heavyweight thespians like Jeff Bridges and Morgan Freeman. But if the Oscar was based on which stylistic movie world one would most like to live inside, Firth would certainly be the one to walk away with the prize.

Related:

Mid-Century for Sale [HW]

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Vancouver's Olympic-Sized Billion Dollar Burden

Brian Libby — 2010-02-16T17:53:00 00:00

Filed under: Design, News

In Vancouver, as in other Pacific Northwest cities like Seattle and Portland, sustainability is an overriding principal for architecture and urban planning. So it was with pride that the city's Olympic organizing officials crafted a public-private partnership in which an inner-city, former industrial zone became not only the site for the Olympic Village -- housing for more than 2,700 Olympic athletes during the during the games in sustainably constructed buildings -- but a laudable mix of market-rate condos and subsidized affordable housing afterward. Given how such recovery of inner city land reduces the need for sprawl at the edges of the Vancouver metro area, the development actually embodies all three components of the "reduce, reuse, recycle" mantra.

The Olympic Village, once the games are completed, will give way to what's being called the Millennium Water development, featuring about 1,100 units, 250 of which will be set aside available for low-income households, and 120 for rentals. The buildings are targeted to save up to 50 percent on energy (versus code), while up to 70% of electricity needs are provided by an innovative system that recovers heat from sewage.

The waterfront condos are winning high praise from Olympic athletes, who are not used to having such cushy housing; most units have high-end finishes such as marble countertops, as well as expansive views of the downtown skyline and distant snowcapped mountains. "It's blown us away, to be honest," American speedskater Chad Hedrick told Time magazine. "They really went big on this. It's a million-dollar view, for sure."Located along Vancouver's SkyTrain transit line and adjacent to downtown, living in a post-Olympic Village condo would give future residents a front row seat for one of the most vibrant and livable cities in North America. Vancouver is inherently Canadian, polite and well mannered. But it is an urban crossroads of numerous other cultures, a more diverse city than most Canadian metropolises. Over the last decade, a forest of tall, thin condo towers have added enough density to help Vancouver pass that crucial urban tipping point wherein there becomes a reliable array of restaurants and shops along every major avenue.

At the same time, the development-conceived during the economic boom and opened amidst an historic recession-has been controversial given its cost to the city of Vancouver. The city planned to invest about $47 million in the project back in 2006. But by early 2009, new Vancouver mayor Gregor Robertson conceded that the city (and angry taxpayers) would be responsible for a $1 billion project, thanks to a combination of cost overruns and the impact of the recession. The city had to bail out the private developers financing the project. Some people now fear that the city will be forced to put the low-income and rental units on the market to refill its coffers.

What are these units going for? A recent look at the website for local realtor Imran Ali of Sutton West Coast Realty, found a two-bedroom, two-bath condo in the 1661 Ontario building had sold for $752,521. On another site for Parker Realty, a 1,189 square foot unit in the same building, also with two bedrooms and two baths, was going for $1,042,721. According to an analysis by Vancouver real estate professional Maggie Chandler of Chandler Realty, the most expensive listing is $1,590,000 for a 1,225 square foot penthouse and the least expensive is a $319,000 studio.

Some of these units could ultimately go for less than that given the pressure on the city to make sales. At the same time, Vancouver condo prices were up 15% in January 2010 compared to the same period a year earlier. And given that the Olympic Village is centrally located on potentially prime riverfront property, the ensuing condo developments needn't necessarily be seen as boondoggle. Millennium Water and comparable post-Olympics developments are part of a holistic effort to stitch together the places where Vancouverites live, work and play.

In its vision for South East False Creek, for example, the city describes the neighborhood as:

...as a community in which people live, work, play and learn in a neighbourhood that has been designed to maintain and balance the highest possible levels of social equity, livability, ecological health and economic prosperity, so as to support their choices to live in a sustainable manner. SEFC will be a mixed-use community, with a focus on residential use, developed at the highest density possible while meeting livability and sustainability objectives. This complete community will ensure goods and services within walking distance and housing that is linked by transit and in proximity to local jobs.

Regardless of whether this is a boom or bust period, Vancouver has long demonstrated that having a healthy city is the key to long-term value for homes and communities.

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