Popular Mid-Century Modern Homes Are Fetching Top Dollar
Via Realtor.com
Architect Reja Bakh specializes in international mega projects, such as the cultural center and hotel complex he is designing in Beijing. But the project that has captured his imagination involves a tiny glass and stucco house in New Canaan, Conn., built in 1953. Known as the Alice Ball House, the home was designed by Philip Johnson—an icon of Midcentury Modern architecture.
“I looked at the house and said, ‘I must have this,’ ” said Mr. Bakh, 49 years old, who paid $2.3 million for the 1,500-square-foot rectilinear house in 2015. “We’re not building onto or doing anything to the original house—it would be like buying the Mona Lisa and taking a magic marker to it.”
Mid-Century Modern architecture—a catch-all term that encompasses a wide range of styles, from Bauhaus-inspired glass houses to the California ranch home—has gained cultish popularity in recent decades.