Mackintosh’s Hill House Becomes an International Iconic House!

SPECIAL – Czech Classics

Record Number of New Iconic Houses - Part 1

At Plečnik House: To Decide Where the Shadow Falls

Record Number of New Iconic Houses - Part 2

A Story of Burnt Books and Broken Bricks

Iconic Encounters: London

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: 12 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 – Dutch Delights!

SPECIAL - Vacances en France!

SPECIAL – German Greats!

SPECIAL - Casas Icónicas en España!

SPECIAL – Northern (High)Lights!

SPECIAL – Iconic Artist Residencies

SPECIAL – Iconic Collective Housing

SPECIAL – Women & Iconic Houses

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

Support the Frankfurt Declaration (on Housing)

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, 2013

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 June 30, 2016

Lynda Waggoner reports

  • Fallingwater, Frank Lloyd Wright 1939. Photo © Western Pennsylvania Conservancy.
  • Expert Meeting Fundraising Van Schijndel House Utrecht. Photo Aad van Vliet.
  • Dutch, German and Belgian members of the Iconic Houses network. Photo Aad van Vliet.
  • Visit Rietveld-Schröder House. Natalie Dubois, Lynda Waggoner, Natascha Dabbe. Photo Els Zweerink.
  • Dinner hosted by Tracy Metz and Baptist Brayé prior to the lecture for the John Adams Institute.
  • Lecture for John Adams Institute Amsterdam in Canal Museum Amsterdam. Photo Gerrit Serné.
  • Lecture for John Adams Institute Amsterdam in Canal Museum Amsterdam. Photo Gerrit Serné.
  • Lecture for Ungers Archive for Architectural Studies in Wallraf Richartz Museum Cologne. Photo Heidrun Hertel.
  • Wiltrud Hammelstein, Sophia Ungers, Lynda Waggoner, Rainer Minz, Anja Siebers in Wallraf Richartz Museum Cologne. Photo Heidrun Hertel.
  • Lecture by Lynda Waggoner in Villa Tugendhat in Brno.
  • Tom Waggoner, Lynda Waggoner, Iveta Cerna in Villa Tugendhat in Brno.
  • Lecture by Lynda Waggoner in Villa Stenersen in Oslo.
  • Villa Stenersen in Oslo.
  • Fallingwater, Frank Lloyd Wright 1939. Photo © Western Pennsylvania Conservancy.
  • Expert Meeting Fundraising Van Schijndel House Utrecht. Photo Aad van Vliet.
  • Dutch, German and Belgian members of the Iconic Houses network. Photo Aad van Vliet.
  • Visit Rietveld-Schröder House. Natalie Dubois, Lynda Waggoner, Natascha Dabbe. Photo Els Zweerink.
  • Dinner hosted by Tracy Metz and Baptist Brayé prior to the lecture for the John Adams Institute.
  • Lecture for John Adams Institute Amsterdam in Canal Museum Amsterdam. Photo Gerrit Serné.
  • Lecture for John Adams Institute Amsterdam in Canal Museum Amsterdam. Photo Gerrit Serné.
  • Lecture for Ungers Archive for Architectural Studies in Wallraf Richartz Museum Cologne. Photo Heidrun Hertel.
  • Wiltrud Hammelstein, Sophia Ungers, Lynda Waggoner, Rainer Minz, Anja Siebers in Wallraf Richartz Museum Cologne. Photo Heidrun Hertel.
  • Lecture by Lynda Waggoner in Villa Tugendhat in Brno.
  • Tom Waggoner, Lynda Waggoner, Iveta Cerna in Villa Tugendhat in Brno.
  • Lecture by Lynda Waggoner in Villa Stenersen in Oslo.
  • Villa Stenersen in Oslo.

The appeal of Fallingwater is as strong as ever. Or at least that is how it seemed during my three week European lecture tour in May. The tour was organized by the indomitable Natascha Drabbe, Director of the Iconic Houses Foundation, and began in Utrecht (home base for the foundation). We began at the stunning Van Schijndel House. Designed in 1992 by Natascha’s late husband, Mart van Schijndel, the house was a complete surprise - a self- contained world of light and soaring space that seems totally apart from the city outside. There is no street façade; instead, one enters into a courtyard with the entry to the house at the far end. Its many innovations include cupboards whose doors have no hardware hinges; instead, they are attached or hinged on a thin bead of silicone; there are also glass walls that slide back in an ingenious way to open the corner of the living space onto a small enclosed garden thereby blurring the separation between the inside and outside. The triangle is a major design motif in house. It is found in the plan, architectural elements, the furnishings and even glassware..., resulting in a strikingly beautiful unified whole.

At the Van Schijndel House I led a fund raising workshop for modern house museum directors, one of whom traveled from as far away as Berlin. We discussed the unique challenges all museums face with significant cut backs in government funding. I shared how Fallingwater, over the course of twenty-plus years, has learned various ways to garner support through a combination of earned income and private or civil society engagement.

The following day we used the most popular form of transportation, bicycles, to travel to the other side of Utrecht to see the remarkable Rietveld-Schröder House, a World Heritage Site. A private tour of the small two-story house confirmed the brilliance of the design. The house is known the world-over for its abstraction of form and use of clearly defined primary colors, replete with interior walls that collapse and transform rooms from one function into another, it was a manifesto of the De Stijl Movement and remains as inspiring today as it was when constructed in 1924.

The first lecture was in Amsterdam. There we were entertained royally in the home of Tracy Metz, director of the John Adams Institute, which organized the lecture. We were thoroughly impressed by this beautifully restored 17th century canal house and enjoyed a classic Dutch supper of asparagus, eggs and ham prepared by Tracy’s husband Baptist Brayé. However, it was ‘eat and run’ as we dashed down the street to the Museum Het Grachtenhuis (Museum of the Canals) to prepare for the lecture. Happily, the house was packed with many people standing or sitting in doorways (the Fire Marshall must have been out of town). After the lecture Tracy brilliantly moderated a conversation about Fallingwater and Q&A interspersed with video clips that included footage of Fallingwater’s former owner, Edgar Kaufmann jr., and the Taliesin apprentices who helped oversee its construction. The questions were many and knowledgeable - all in all, a great way to begin the tour.

Next was Cologne. Prior to the lecture, a private tour of the rationalist German architect Oswald Mathias Ungers’ Cube House proved fascinating. In it, I found similarities to Frank Lloyd Wright’s own Oak Park Home and Studio, especially in the organization of the library space with its wrap around mezzanine. Like Wright, and Van Schijndel, Ungers used the house as a laboratory for his ideas.

That evening, the Wallraf-Richartz Museum’s 250-seat auditorium (the museum was designed by Ungers) was an ideal location for the sold-out event. Dr. Rainer Minz, CEO of the Amerika Haus, opened the evening with a welcome and thanks to co-sponsor Sophia Ungers of the Ungers Archive for Architectural Studies. As we approached the museum, a line extending around the block prompted me to ask, ‘What’s going on?’ The answer was, ‘They are here for your lecture.’ It was hard to believe. The lecture was followed by a showing of Ken Love’s film ‘Fallingwater: Frank Lloyd Wright's Masterwork’ and Q&A which elicited a number of interesting questions.

A short flight and bus ride delivered us to Brno, Czech Republic. Brno is a remarkable city and a showcase for modernism. Our hostess and guide, Iveta Černá, director of the great Villa Tugendhat designed by Mies van der Rohe, seemed to hold all the right keys as she led us from one fabulous modernist site to another, culminating with the Miesian masterpiece, Villa Tugendhat, the location of the lecture. Built between 1929 and ‘30, like Fallingwater, it simply takes your breath away. The house was designed for the Tugendhats, a wealthy Jewish family that was forced to abandon the house as they fled Brno during the Second World War. During the Nazi occupation and later under the Soviets, the house experienced one abuse after another including a period during which it was used to stable horses. Notable not only for it design, but for its futuristic mechanical systems including air cooling and cleaning technologies, an innovative heating system, and an engine room for the mechanics which operate its retractable windows. Now meticulously restored, it is a World Heritage Site and shines as one of modernism’s greatest works.

The last stop was Oslo. Following a long delay our flight arrived in late evening, but it was still daylight at 10 PM; it was the perfect introduction to the ‘land of the midnight sun.’ The following morning we had some free time, so we borrowed bicycles from the hotel and peddled off to see works by Norway’s best-known artist, Edvard Munch at the Munch Museum and the Norwegian National Gallery. Larger and even more striking than I expected, they were fascinating.

Shortly after five, Lin Stafne-Pfisterer, who oversees the Villa Stenersen, picked us up to go to the villa, the site of the lecture. En route Lin fielded a call for tickets to the event. She explained it is full but she would add their names to the waiting list. However, the caller was persistent and Lin finally relented saying, ‘Okay just show up and if we have room we will fit you in.’

Villa Stenersen sits high on a hill in a residential neighborhood with views of the Oslo Fjord. Arne Korsmo, one of Norway's most renowned architects, designed it in 1939 in the International Style as a private home for finance broker and art lover Rolf M. Stenersen and his family. In 1979 Stenersen donated the villa to the Norwegian state to be used as the prime minister’s residence, but only one Norwegian prime minister ever lived there. Now it is owned by Oslo’s National Museum of Art, Architecture and Design and functions as a meeting place for those involved in the fields of architecture and design and is opened for tours on a limited basis.

Following the lecture we went to the Ekeberg Restaurant. Located not far from where Edvard Munch painted his famous work, ‘The Scream’, it is now a Michelin-starred restaurant located in a magnificently restored art-deco building high on a hill with commanding views of Oslo. We were joined by one of Lin’s colleagues and together we talked until dark - which is late in this part of the world - about everything from architecture to Donald Trump. It was a happy and fitting end to a wonderful experience.

Lynda Waggoner, Mill Run, USA
Amsterdam, Cologne, Brno and Oslo, 12-24 May 2016

Posted June 30, 2016