Mackintosh’s Hill House Becomes an International Iconic House!

Record Number of Modern House Museums Newly Affiliated with Iconic Houses

Iconic Houses Network Members' Meetup London, November 4

Remembering Irving J. Gill

Iconic Houses in the Media

Interview in Leading Catalan newspaper ARA

Bauhaus Villa in Berlin For Sale

Historical Exhibition, Marie-Laure de Noailles, Painter, Conversation

Our Badge of Honour

Istanbul’s Modernist Ataköy Housing Estate is At Risk

Early Furniture Designs by Le Corbusier on Permanent Display in Maison Blanche

Photo Report City Icons Amsterdam

Healing Through Architecture

Reopening An Iconic Modernist Landmark

City Icons Kick Off with Talk by Linda Vlassenrood

MORE MIES - Pure Architecture in Haus Lange Haus Esters

Through a Bauhaus Lens: Edith Tudor-Hart and Isokon

Modernism Week Lecture: 10 Years of Iconic Houses

Aluminaire House Grand Opening

Exhibition Icons of the Czech Avant-Garde

An Elementalist and Mediterranean Architecture

Icon for Sale - Loos Villa: Haus Horner

SPECIAL – Iconic Dreams Europe - Sleep in an Iconic House!

SPECIAL – Iconic Dreams North America - Sleep in an Iconic House!

SPECIAL – German Greats!

SPECIAL - Vacances en France!

SPECIAL - Casas Icónicas en España!

SPECIAL – Dutch Delights!

SPECIAL – Iconic Artist Residencies

SPECIAL – Northern (High)Lights!

SPECIAL – Iconic Collective Housing

SPECIAL – Women & Iconic Houses

Public Screenings and Private Streaming of Pioneers of the Dutch Modern House

Winy Wants a World Wonder

Welcome Atelier Volten!

Sleep in a Modernist Gem – Huis Billiet in Bruges

Iconic Houses in The Netherlands - 100 Years Van Zessen House

Exclusive Tour and Film Screening Package

The Last House Designed by Adolf Loos Will Be Built in Prague

Icons of the Czech Avantgarde

Icon for Sale - Casa Legorreta

Rietveld Day: 200 Enthusiasts Explored 3 Utrecht Icons

Hurray! 10 Years Iconic Houses

7th International Iconic Houses Conference A Huge Success

Meet Conference Co-Chair Iveta Černá

Meet Conference Co-Chair Maria Szadkowska

Eighteen Iconic Houses Under One Roof

17 June - 'Pioneers-film' Screening Amersfoort

Iconic Houses in The Netherlands - Van Eesteren House Museum

Welcome Margarete Schütte-Lihotzky Zentrum in Vienna!

Welcome Vila Volman! Jewel of Czech Functionalism

Movie Night: Adolf Loos- Revolutionary Among Architects

'Inside Iconic Houses' Case Study House #26 Webcast in Webshop

Inside Iconic Houses at Taut’s Home in Berlin

Rediscovering Forgotten Loos Interiors in Pilsen

'Inside Iconic Houses' - Online Tour Program

Iconic Houses in The Netherlands - The Diagoon House

Iconic Houses in The Netherlands - Rietveld Schröder House

Rietveld Houses Owners Association

Corberó Space: New Life for Hidden Jewel

Iconic Houses in The Netherlands - Pierre Cuypers' House and Workshops

Reeuwijk Celebrates Completion of Restoration Rietveld Homes!

Iconic Houses in The Netherlands - Van Doesburg Rinsema House

Welcome Rietveld's Van Daalen House!

Architect Harry Gessner Passed Away at 97

Watch Pioneers of the Dutch Modern House Now On Demand

Icon Saved: Dorchester Drive House

Welcome Umbrella House!

Iconic Houses in the Netherlands – Berlage’s Masterpiece

Iconic Houses in The Netherlands - Het Schip

Inside Iconic Houses - Tour of Maison Cazenave

Inside Iconic Houses Tours Vizcaya Museum & Gardens in Miami

Casa Masó Celebrates 10 Year Anniversary

Inside Iconic Houses tours Roland Reisley's Usonian Frank Lloyd Wright House

Rietveld’s Experimental Housing in Reeuwijk Saved

Serralves Villa after restoration

Portraits of the Architect - Interview with Gennaro Postiglione

Test Labs for New Ideas - Interview with Natascha Drabbe

Inside Iconic Houses - Isokon Building

Inside Iconic Houses - 16 December: Sunnylands with Janice Lyle

BCN-BXL Coderch-De Koninck - Beyond Time

New Chairman Architect Nanne de Ru on The Perfect Platform

Health and Home - Interview with Beatriz Colomina

A Life Less Ordinary – Interview with Valentijn Carbo

Invisible Women - Interview with Alice T. Friedman

Winy Maas on the Green Dip

Anita Blom on Experimental Housing of the 1970s

Women’s Worlds - Interview with Natalie Dubois

The Culture of Living - Interview with Robert von der Nahmer

Hetty Berens: A Fresh Take on Modernism

Niek Smit on Supporting Modern Heritage

Alice Roegholt on Amsterdam’s Working-Class Palaces

July is Iconic Houses Month

Hans van Heeswijk on The Pioneers of the Dutch Modern House

Wessel de Jonge on Dutch Icons at Risk

Save Maison Zilveli - Sign the Petition!

How a Building Tells a Story - Recorded Event

Toolkit for Owners of a Modern House

13 Aalto Sites Nominated for UNESCO World Heritage

Villa Beer At Risk - Sign the Petition!

Business Cards of Stone, Timber and Concrete in the Brussels Region 1830-1970

Exhibiting & Visiting Modernist Monuments

Fostering Well-Researched Responsible Design

ICONS AT RISK

Enjoy a virtual visit to the California House and a Q&A with architect Peter Gluck

Exhibition 'Modernism and Refuge'

A Hidden Gem of Postmodernism

New Centre for Historic Houses of India

An Online Chronicle of the Douglas House

Villa Henny, geometric style icon in The Netherlands

A Mendini temple in Amsterdam

IH-lectures USA & Canada Feb 2020 on Melnikov House

Sponsors and Friends

An Afternoon with the Glucks

Chandler McCoy on Making Modern Houses Sustainable

Catherine Croft: Getting Away from the Demolition Mentality in the UK

Patrick Weber on Discovering an Unknown Icon

Fiona Fisher on Iconic Interiors

Jocelyn Bouraly on Villa Cavrois

Mireia Massagué on finding success through a new kind of partnership

Danish Moderns – Looking Back at Our Mini-Seminar

Venturo house complements Exhibition Centre WeeGee’s offering

Lecture report: Remembering Richard Neutra

Hôtel Mezzara and the Guimard Museum project

We welcome 13 new members!

BREAKING NEWS: 8 Wright Sites Inscribed on Unesco World Heritage List!

LECTURE 29 August - Raymond Neutra: My Father and Frank Lloyd Wright

Iconic Reads

Iconic Houses End Year Message

City-ordered rebuild of landmark house stirs debate: Appropriate or overreach?

Kohlberg House Restoration in Progress

Planned Demolition of Rietveld Homes in Reeuwijk

Renovation Gili House in Crisis

An Iconic Saga

Restoring Eileen Gray’s Villa E-1027 and Clarifying the Controversies

Modernism on the East Coast

Iconic Houses in Latin America

Conference testimonials

House Tours May 2018 

Expert Meetings

Natascha Drabbe - Iconic Houses: The Next Chapter

Terence Riley -KEYNOTE SPEAKER- on Philip Johnson

New era for Villa E-1027 and Cap Moderne

Hilary Lewis on Philip Johnson and his Glass House

John Arbuckle on Great House Tours

William D. Earls on the Harvard Five in New Canaan

Stover Jenkins on Working for Philip Johnson

Frederick Noyes on his Father’s House

Scott Fellows and Craig Bassam on their Passion for Preservation

Jorge Liernur -KEYNOTE SPEAKER- on Latin American Modernism(s)

Fabio Grementieri on Modernism in Argentina

Catalina Corcuera Cabezut on Casa Luis Barragán

Renato Anelli on Lina Bo Bardi’s Casa de Vidro

Tim McClimon on Corporate Preservation

Amanda Nelson on Building Donor Relationships

John Bacon on Planned Giving

Jean-Paul Warmoes on the Art of Fundraising in America

Chandler McCoy on Why Less is More

Katherine Malone-France on Moving with the Times

Anne Mette Rahbæk on Philanthropic Investments and Preservation

Peter McMahon on Saving Modern Houses on Cape Cod

Toshiko Kinoshita on Japanese Modern Heritage Houses

Roland Reisley on Life in a Frank Lloyd Wright House

5th Iconic Houses Conference May 2018

Kristin Stone, Pasadena Tour Company

Restoring the past: The Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo Home Studio

Behind the Scenes: Hendrick de Keyser Association

Crosby Doe, Architecture for Sale

Latin America Special – Focus on Mexico

De Stijl in Drachten

Preserving the Nancarrow House-Studio

Meet the Friends - Nanne de Ru

Latin America Special – Focus on Brazil

Jan de Jong’s House is Latest Hendrick de Keyser Acquisition

Stay in a Belgian Modernist Masterpiece

In Berlin’s Modernist Network

Rietveld-Schröder House Celebrates De Stijl Anniversary

Meet Our New Foundation Board Members

Maintaining Aalto's Studio – Linoleum Conservation

Virtual Tour of a Papaverhof Home in 3D

Getty Grant for Villa E-1027

Plečnik House in Ljubljana

Iconic Dacha

Iconic Houses: A Bohemian Road Trip

Work in Progress: Capricho de Gaudí

11 Le Corbusier Homes now on Unesco World Heritage List

At home with Le Corbusier

Henry van de Velde’s Study in Haus Hohe Pappeln Restored

Lynda Waggoner reports

A Conference to Remember

4th International Iconic Houses Conference

Guest of Honor - Harry Gesner

Fallingwater: European Lecture Tour

Wright Plus 2016 Walk

Susan Macdonald, Getty Conservation Institute

John Mcllwee, Garcia House

Meet the Friends – Elisabeth Tostrup

Iconic Houses: The Story So Far

Willie van Burgsteden, designer Iconic Houses

Buff Kavelman, Philanthropic Advisor

Meet the Friends - Frederick Noyes

Sheridan Burke, GML Heritage

Meet the Friends - Raymond Neutra

Sidney Williams, Frey House

Franklin Vagnone and Deborah Ryan, Museum Anarchists

Meet the Friends - James Haefner

Toshiko Mori, architect

Malachi Connolly, Cape Cod Modern House Trust

Meet the Friends - Penny Sparke

Lucia Dewey Atwood, Eames House

Cory Buckner, Mutual Housing Site Office

Jeffrey Herr, Hollyhock House

Speaking Volumes: Building the Iconic Houses Library

Sarah Lorenzen, Neutra VDL Studio and Residences

Ted Bosley, Gamble House

Keeping It Modern - Getty Conservation Grants

Meet the Friends - Thomas Schönauer

Wim de Wit, Stanford University

Linda Dishman, Los Angeles Conservancy

Jesse Lattig, Pasadena Heritage

Join us in Los Angeles! Update

Work in Progress: Casa Vicens

Work in Progress: Van Wassenhove House

Work in Progress: Villa Cavrois

Work in Progress: The Pearlroth House

Conference calls!

Follow us!

Third Iconic Houses Conference a huge success

Conference House Tours Barcelona

Marta Lacambra, Fundació Catalunya-La Pedrera

Natascha Drabbe, Iconic Houses Foundation

Special speaker Oscar Tusquets

Jordi Tresserras, UNESCO Network ‘Culture, tourism and development’

Christen Obel, Utzon Foundation

Elena Ruiz Sastre, Casa Broner

Fernando Alvarez Prozorovich, La Ricarda

Tim Benton, Professor of Art History (Emeritus)

Susana Landrove, Docomomo Spain

Rossend Casanova, Casa Bloc

Conference Program 25 November 2014

Jordi Falgàs, Casa Rafael Masó

Documentary La Ricarda

Marga Viza, Casa Míla/La Pedrera

Celeste Adams, Frank Lloyd Wright Trust

Conference 25 November 2014 at La Pedrera

Henry Urbach, The Glass House

Victoria & Albert Museum London November 12

Tommi Lindh, new director of the Alvar Aalto Foundation and Museum

Iveta Černá, Villa Tugendhat

Lynda Waggoner, Fallingwater

Kimberli Meyer, MAK Center

Rent a house designed by Gerrit Rietveld

Barragán House on Screen

Gesamtkunstwerk – An Icon on the Move

Triennale der Moderne 27 September - 13 October 2013

Prestigious Art Nouveau mansions in Brussels open

September 14 + 15: Heritage Days in Paris

June's New Arrivals: Museum Apartments

Iconic Houses is now on Twitter and Facebook

Corbu’s Cabanon: Reconstruction and Lecture

Projekt Mies In Krefeld: Life-sized model of the Krefeld Clubhouse

New arrivals: Spain special

MAMO: Le Corbu’s ‘Park in the Sky’ open 12 June

Taut's Home wins Europa Nostra Award

Annual Wright Architectural Housewalk: 18 May

Frank Lloyd Wright Homes on Screen

Message from the Editor

Neutra’s House on Screen

Michel Richard, Fondation Le Corbusier

Symposium The Public and the Modern House

Melnikov House on Screen

Iconic Houses in the media

Message from the Editor

Round Table Review

Eileen Gray House on Screen

Copy Culture

At Home in the 20th Century

New 20th century Iconic Houses website launches

Philippe Bélaval, Centre des monuments nationaux

Posted March 20, 2023

Icons of the Czech Avantgarde

Our conference in Central Europe takes us to the Czech Republic, Austria and Slovenia from 22 to 26 May. For a taster, read our article on the classic homes of Prague and Brno, Villa Muller and Villa Tugendhat, and some new house museums we discovered there: Vila Volman and the Museum of Tower Blocks near Prague, and Villa Beer and Margarete Schütte-Lihotzky's apartment in Vienna For lovers of modern architecture, a travel programme will be organised simultaneously, visiting no fewer than 16 extraordinary house museums in the Czech Republic. They provide a wonderful insight into the development of the Czech house in the 20th century and its evolution from traditional vernacular architecture to International Style modernism. Natascha Drabbe highlights six of them for us.

The Iconic Houses network counts 12 modern house museums in the Czech Republic. Absolute highlights are Villa Müller in Prague (1930) by architect Adolf Loos and Villa Tugendhat in Brno (also from 1930), the masterpiece by famous German American architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe that has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2001.

Villa Müller in Prague
Adolf Loos was an important European pioneer of modern architecture. The villa he designed for Milada and František Müller is a masterpiece of international avantgarde architecture. František Müller was co-owner of the Kapsa-Müller construction company and one of the leading figures in Czech society. The collaboration between an enlightened client and a brilliant architect gave Loos the opportunity to realise his ideas on spatiality, his so-called 'Raumplan'. Raumplan is a three-dimensional way of thinking about a building and designing spaces. Every space has different needs and different height requirement. Where there is no need for it you can bring the space to a minimum and where you want to impress guests or lift one’s spirit you can waste it where we want to. The interior of Villa Müller is a surprisingly harmonious mix of modern functionalism with the classical English style. After an eventful post-war history, the villa was restored and opened to the public as a National Monument between 1997-2000. Photos: courtesy Villa Müller.

Villa Volman is one of the most expensive homes from the interwar period  

Vila Volman in Čelákovice (near Prague)
Since last autumn, Villa Volman (1939) has also been open to the public after years of restoration. It is a jewel of Czech functionalism in Celákovice, some 30 km northwest of Prague. Josef Volman was a factory owner, and he had the impressive villa built in a large park in the romantic landscape of the river Elbe. The villa is one of the most beautiful and expensive houses of the interwar period, designed by the young avant-garde architects Karel Janů and Jiří Štursa (both 1910-1995), where the influence of Le Corbusier is clearly visible. Photos: Aleš Jungmann.

Museum of Tower Blocks in Kladno (near Prague)
A Czech example of social housing can be found near Prague: the Museum of Tower Blocks in Kladno, designed by Josef Havlíček (1899 -1961). Havlíček was the chief architect of the development plan for the residential district of Kladno–Rozdělov. He was one of the most prominent figures of the interwar avantgarde and, in addition to architecture, was also involved in furniture design, sculpture and painting. He attached importance to affordable housing for the ppor and contributed to a solution for social and collective housing with his designs. In addition to original architectonic expression, luxurious use of materials and spaciousness, the interior was thought through down to the smallest detail. Photos: Monika Urbanová.

Villa Tugendhat in Brno
In 1930, architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe (1886-1969) was commissioned by Greta Löw-Beer (1903-1970) and her husband Fritz Tugendhat (1895-1958) to design Villa Tugendhat. For the first time in the history of architecture, a steel supporting structure in the form of columns was used. The technical features are striking hot-air heating and cooling and electric windows. The interior contains precious materials, such as Italian travertine, onyx from Morocco and wood from Southeast Asia. The two large windows can be lowered at the push of a button. Behind the onyx wall is an office with library and adjacent winter garden, while behind the curved ebony wall is placed a sitting area, next to a wall of milk glass that can be illuminated. Mies' famous statement 'less is more' is epitomised by his pure forms and use of materials: glass, steel, and concrete. Photos: David Zidlicky.

Flat of Margarete Schütte-Lihotzky in Vienna
The former flat of Margarete Schütte-Lihotzky is recently opened to the public. Her design of the Frankfurter Küche in 1926 for the houses in a housing estate, which Ernst May had designed for the Neues Frankfurt project, marked a milestone in residential architecture. The 'affordable' design is considered the forerunner of today's built-in kitchen. Schütte-Lihotzky (1897-2000) spent the last 30 years of her life in a 55 m2 Viennese flat, which she designed herself. After her death, the flat was remodelled and redecorated. The Margarete Schütte-Lihotzky Club, an independent association, had the monumental flat reconstructed in 2021/22 so that one can experience what it was like in Schütte-Lihotzky's time. Photos Bettina Frenzel.

Villa Beer in Vienna
Villa Beer (1931) was designed and built for Margarete and Julius Beer by Josef Frank (1885-1967), together with Oskar Wlach(1881-1963). The house is one of Josef Frank's most important works. Despite the open space concept on the ground floor and large windows, the house looks intimate and cosy. Since the purchase of Villa Beer in2021 by a private individual, the house has been open to the public on a limited basis. It is currently closed for restoration, but Villa Beer will open its doors to conference participants. During 2025, the house will reopen to the public. Photos: Wolfgang Thaler.

Discover Czech Iconic Houses
All the house museums described here are part of the 7th International Iconic Houses Conference in the Czech Republic that takes place from 22 to 26 May 2023. Immerse yourself and take part in an extensive excursion program to these masterpieces and hidden gems. No less than 16 special houses from the 20th century are visited and
explained by experts. Friends of Iconic Houses can go on an excursion to Vienna and Ljubljana after the conference, from 27 to 30 May 2023. For the entire program, visit www.aanmelder.nl/ihc2023

About the author
Natascha Drabbe, architectural historian, and resident from the renowned Van Schijndel House in Utrecht, is director and founder of Iconic Houses, an international network of owners and administrators of modern house museums from the twentieth century. They work together and share knowledge about the preservation of this modern heritage. The iconichouses.org website serves as a platform for almost two hundred Iconic Houses all over the world, of which no less than 24 in The Netherlands, where the network is based. The houses are all open to visit (some by at appointment) and in some can you even stay overnight.

This article previously appeared in Dutch Magazine Herenhuis #94, March April 2023.

Posted March 20, 2023