Information
about the town’s world-famous collection of Modern houses is now available
online. “Modern Homes Survey: New Canaan Connecticut,”
completed last year, has now been made into a website. The survey was carried
out by BCA Associates, of New York,
for the Glass House, which is owned by the National Trust for Historic
Preservation, with assistance from the Connecticut Trust, the Connecticut
Commission on Culture and Tourism, and the New Canaan Historical Society. A $10,000
Historic Preservation Technical Assistance Grant from the Connecticut Trust
helped fund the creation of a searchable database of the survey data, which is
at the heart of the website.
The
survey contains descriptions, historical and architectural information, and
photographs for 91 Modernist houses built in New Canaan
between 1939 and 1979. The site also contains thumbnail biographies of the 31 architects
whose work is represented and a glossary. Unfortunately, the introductory
material prepared for the survey is not included, but printed copies can be
purchased through the website.
One of
the aims of the project was to help other locales carry out their own surveys.
In order to do this, the website also contains tools that include budgets, letters
to homeowners, even a master survey form, as well as links to surveys of Modern
architecture in other places.
According
to Christy MacLear, the Glass House’s executive director, the survey and web
site were inspired by the destruction of the Micheels house in Westport, in January 2007 (see CPN,
March/April 2007). Although the house was designed by Paul Rudolph, a judge ruling
on a motion to prevent demolition said “there were no stated criteria or
documentation to back up claims of the house’s significance.”
