Architect: Allan J. Gelbin
Builder: Millard Uline
Courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago

The Gardner house, street view

Traditionally styled New England houses faced to the street with facades that were meant to be seen and admired. These two photographs of the Gardner house show just how much modern-style homes turned away from the street and toward the view. In If You Want to Build a House, Mock advises “leave on the street what belongs on the street—otherwise think in terms of sun, view, domestic privacy, and outdoor living.”

 

The Gardner house, front

Gelbin designed this house in response to the land itself, and his clients’ needs, creating an elongated plan with the partial lower level taking advantage of the pitch of the land. He created a feeling of freedom with high ceilings and glass doors opening out onto a cantilevered balcony.

 

 

Clinton Gardner was a World War II veteran, responsible for the Buchenwald concentration camp soon after its liberation. Elizabeth was a gifted artist in pottery. Together they created a well-known business in town, “Shopping International,” selling crafts from all over the world.

Next: Walter Curt Behrendt