July 28, 2015

Eero Saarinen’s Iconic JFK Terminal to Be Reborn as the ‘TWA Flight Center Hotel’

For the last 14 years, JFK's most beloved structure has mostly languished vacant, reopened intermittently for public tours or to serve as the backdrop of some Jet Age fashion shoot. While there has been plenty of talk surrounding the TWA Flight Center's transformation into a hotel, details have remained sparse until now. As Curbed has it, the city has finally revealed that MCR Development will be taking the reigns alongside JetBlue and the NYNJ Port Authority, bringing the iconic terminal back to life as a 505-room LEED-certified hotel with restaurants, 40,000 square feet of meeting space and a 10,000-square-foot observation deck. The project will aptly be called "The TWA Flight Center Hotel."
FInd out more here
June 24, 2015

Following a Meticulous Renovation, Philip Johnson’s Wiley House Is on the Market for $14M

The listing says it's "perhaps the ultimate Mid-Century Modern home available in the world." We can't confirm or deny that statement, but we can assure you that this property, Philip Johnson's Wiley House, is a pretty incredible piece of modern architecture. Located in New Canaan, the same Connecticut town as the architect's world-famous Glass House, the Wiley House is considered the most "livable" of all Johnson's works. It was built in the 1950s, sits on six acres of land, and is "a transparent glass rectangle cantilevered over a stone podium," according to the Wall Street Journal. Wall Street executive Frank Gallipoli bought the property for $1 million in 1994, a time when buying modernist homes was not as popular as it is today. He then spent millions more to restore the property, preserving Johnson's original design, but adding green upgrades like heat-insulating glass panes and floor heating. Gallipoli told the Journal that living in the home is like being "up in a treehouse."
Check out the rest of this amazing property
June 12, 2015

Own a Charles Gwathmey-Designed Mid-Century Marvel in East Hampton for $2.5M

If you've always dreamed of owning a piece of mid-century modern history, now's your chance. Located at 19 North West Landing Road in East Hampton, this abode was designed by famed New York Five architect Charles Gwathmey in 1968 for the graphic artist Joe Sedacca, hence its name the Sedacca House. It was only Gwathmey's third commission in a long line of projects that would include the addition to Frank Lloyd Wright's Guggenheim Museum, 445 Lafayette Street, and the United States Mission to the United Nations. The current owner of the home, Paul Amador, bought it in 1993 for only $245,000, reports Curbed Hamptons. At the time, he was quoted in the Times saying, "I feel like I won the lottery. I'm buying a piece of art for the cost of the raw materials." He's now looking to make a steep profit, asking $2.495 million for the "living sculpture."
Take a look around here
April 30, 2015

Unconventional Greenwood Heights Home Has Two Gardens and Mid-Century Modern Appeal

Here's a gorgeous single-family home just blocks away from Prospect Park that just hit the market for $2.25 million. Located in Greenwood Heights, the 2,280 square-foot home features multiple skylights, landscaped gardens, exposed beams, hardwood floors, industrial-style finishes, and built-in storage. And, of course, there are those sunken floors giving this pad the ultimate mid-century modern vibe.
More pics inside
April 3, 2015

Mad for Modern: NYC Homes That Are Cooler Than Don Draper’s Park Avenue Pad

We admit it: We’re a bit obsessed with mid-20th century modern design–its architecturally and socially advanced concepts so often result in a perfect mix of aesthetic appeal and livability. Sometimes met with suspicion and derision in its earlier days, modernist architecture has endured the test of time and is having an enormous resurgence in popularity and appreciation. How else could you explain fans' obsession with the award-winning and pitch-perfect mid-mod sets on Matthew Weiner’s “Mad Men.” It’s often said that the best ideas in home design are the ones that make the home a great place to live; the origins of modernist design had that idea at their heart. We've rounded up a few of the city’s mid-century architectural treasures and a handful of homes that embody modernist style.
More on the 'Mad Men'sets and NYC's Mid-Century Modern gems this way
April 1, 2015

The High and Low: Two ‘Mad’ Pads Offer Modernist Details, Timeless Appeal

In honor of the final season of "Mad Men," we've found a pair of current listings with the modern appeal of the Draper apartment at (fictional) 783 Park Avenue. Accents that might come straight from the pages of a mid-century magazine—like a sunken living room, wood paneling and a Nelson hanging light–or 21st century perks like open kitchens, floor-to-ceiling windows, balconies and city views add up to just as much modern cool as they did in the "Mad Men" era. $2.8 million gets you a serious mid-century pedigree, an enclosed balcony and a prime Greenwich Village location, but for $925,000, a top-floor Upper East Side pre-war pad with a recent renovation, city views and a compellingly modernist vibe looks like a serious deal.
Check out these two 'Mad Men'-worthy pads here
October 27, 2014

Daily Link Fix: Photos from the Tompkins Square Halloween Dog Parade; Ride a Vintage Train on the 110th Birthday of the Subway

AM New York has plenty of cute pup pics from Saturday’s Halloween dog parade at Tompkins Square Park. The Post unearths five hidden cemeteries across the city. Happy 110th birthday to the NYC subway system! To mark the event, the MTA has commissioned a vintage low-voltage train to ride on the 2/3 line today from 11am […]

October 12, 2014

Tour Andrew Franz’s Mid-Century Modern Glass-Walled Hideaway in Upstate New York

Andrew Franz's philosophy is that "design should inspire, incite compliment and celebrate our lives. It should serve our legacies and our relationship with the environment." That philosophy is reflected in the renovation of this mid-century modern house, located upstate in Palisades, NY. The remodeling of the home involved updating the wood floors, the exterior walls and the kitchen, and Andrew's hand gave way to a design that's modern, warm, and in touch with the picturesque forest surrounding it. In other words, the clients got the perfect vacation hideaway they were wishing for.
Inside the home here
October 11, 2014

An Architect’s Gift from the Jet Age: The TWA Flight Center at JFK International Airport

The TWA Flight Center at what is today John F. Kennedy International airport represents both the ephemeral and the ageless; our vulnerability at the end of the "American century" and the enduring beauty of inspired modern design. The work of mid-20th century Finnish-American architect Eero Saarinen, the historic terminal is among the city’s most beloved architectural treasures. It first opened in 1962, a year after the architect’s death, and Saarinen posthumously received the AIA Gold Medal award for the design in 1962. Despite its storied past and widespread reverence, since the demise of TWA and its subsequent purchase by American Airlines in 2001, the terminal’s iconic “head house” has remained eerily vacant, and its future continues to be a point of contention.
More on the terminal's past and uncertain future

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