The challenges of preserving and upkeeping mid-century modern homes mean many are at risk of demolition, conservation experts tell Dezeen as part of our mid-century modern series.
Open-plan layouts, large windows and aesthetically on-trend fitted furniture are among the attributes found in many mid-century modern houses built from the mid-1940s to the early 1970s that make them sought-after today.
However, experts say that difficulties in maintaining the original building fabric and the challenges of fittings that aren’t compatible with modern technology mean mid-century modern homes are especially vulnerable to demolition.
“Mid-century homes are a labour of love,” said Liz Waytkus, director of conservation group Docomomo US. “Most people who own them put most of their time into them.”
“Mid-century modernism was when we came up with the idea of open concept between the kitchen, the living room and dining room, so they’re absolutely what people still want,” she told Dezeen.
“Maybe the bathrooms and closets were smaller, but maybe we can learn something about our consumerism and our spending habits.”
Mid-century modern houses “underbuilt for the land”
Although many mid-century modern homes have qualities that people today consider desirable, in some cases, they are torn down to make way for larger developments.
A number of notable mid-century modern homes have been razed recently. These include Marcel Breuer’s Geller I house in Long Island, demolished to make way for a tennis court, and Craig Ellwood’s Zimmerman House in Los Angeles, which was torn down by actor Chris Pratt to build a mansion.
“There are realtors in all 50 US states who specialise in mid-century because there is such a demand,” said Waytkus. “It gets trickier when you have a house in a desirable area – the mid-century homes are then considered underbuilt for the land.”
Waytkus aims to offer guidance to homeowners navigating the challenges of maintaining mid-century modern homes in the hopes that more of the homes will be well preserved. One of the ways she does this is by connecting them with contractors who have experience working with mid-century materials.
“The earlier examples of modern homes were often made of wood, and wood will last you longer than any of the plastic garbage that you get on the market now,” she said. “With a little bit of TLC, that wood could be restored.”
“Later, in the 60s and 70s, the materials were more experimental and it takes more time to find the right contractor who understands mid-century homes. Having a knowledgable community is really important to point people in the right direction.”
Jon Wright, who is the 20th-century heritage lead at architecture studio Purcell, agreed with Waytkus that mid-century modern interiors are popular are highly sought after today.
“Mid-century modern is really quite desirable now, and it fits very well into modern lifestyles,” he said. “The key thing for that is the open-plan nature of it.”
“If we were having this conversation 20 years ago, nobody would have been interested in G plan furniture, fitted teak sideboards, open plan living, or anything from the 50s or 60s,” he continued.
Lack of mid-century modern conservation reference material
However, he argued that fixtures and fittings from the period are a challenging aspect of home preservation and that there are not enough previous examples for people to reference.
“The fixtures and fittings are not compatible with new technology and new ways of living, particularly in the kitchen,” Wright said. “That includes completely new pieces of utility that would not been there before, like dishwashers.”
“There’s also an issue of knowing how to look after it,” he continued. “If one were dealing with the fixtures and fittings of a Victorian or Georgian house, there is a long track record of textbook cases that you could go to – you know what to do because it’s been done in another 100 places.”
But there isn’t that track record for post-war building conservation. Very often, you’re doing things for the first time.”
Wright emphasised the importance of distinguishing between original features and later alterations when conserving a building.
For mid-century homes, he argues that the most significant features are the building materials, the arrangement of internal spaces and how the project relates to the surrounding landscape.
“Making changes is what conservation is really about – what can I do to this building without messing up what’s truly important about it?” he said.
Balance between preservation and future suitability is necessary
UK conservation group Twentieth Century Society director Catherine Croft believes that some alterations are necessary to make mid-century modern homes liveable and long-lasting.
She explained that in some cases, homeowners are told by authorities to preserve impractical home fittings that are sometimes later additions to the house.
“With housing more than anything else, we’re sometimes asked to intervene on behalf of owners who feel that they’re being given too hard a time by local authority planners and conservation officers – particularly about retention of kitchen fittings that aren’t necessarily original,” she said.
“It’s the sort of cases where we end up saying, maybe back off a little bit. Let’s get a balance between preserving the historic fabric and making sure these buildings have a future.”
Suzanne Singletary – director of The Center for the Preservation of Modernism and architecture professor at Thomas Jefferson University – hopes to spread awareness of the significant design aspects of mid-century modern homes by using Hassrick House as an example.
Designed by modernist architect Richard Neutra in 1958, the Philadelphia home was sold to Thomas Jefferson University to be used for educational purposes.
Singletary has analysed Hassrick House with her students, documenting how the building’s condition declines without proper maintenance.
“The reason why many buildings from this period are being demolished is because it’s easier to get rid of it and start all over with newer materials, even though the notion that the greenest building is one already built is true,” said Singletary.
“Within the five years since we’ve purchased Hassrick House, we can see already how quickly the building deteriorates,” she continued. “They used novel materials that are often hard to replace and hard to get to a state of equilibrium where they’re not decaying any further.”
Croft argued that allowing buildings to be listed before they are at risk of being torn down would help protect more mid-century modern houses and would mean they are purchased by people with a desire to maintain them.
“Buildings are only being added to the list if they are threatened with demolition, but it would be infinitely better if a broader upgrading of the listing system was happening on a regular basis,” she said.
“It’s not really fair that people might buy a property and then subsequently have restrictions placed on it that they weren’t anticipating.”
There is more of an interest in preserving these types of homes now than ever before, according to experts.
“There’s more of an outcry when something from this period is threatened than there ever has been before,” added Wright. “That’s entirely due to listing and organisations like the 20th Century Society putting their head above the parapet, saying, actually, this stuff is really great.”
Mid-century modern
This article is part of Dezeen’s mid-century modern design series, which looks at the enduring presence of mid-century modern design, profiles its most iconic architects and designers, and explores how the style is developing in the 21st century.
This series was created in partnership with Made – a UK furniture retailer that aims to bring aspirational design at affordable prices, with a goal to make every home as original as the people inside it. Elevate the everyday with collections that are made to last, available to shop now at made.com.
