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Stillman House

Excellent
  • Modern Movement
  • Identity of Building/Site

Stillman House

Credit

Brad Stein and Joseph Mazzaferro

Site overview

Rufus and Leslie Stillman commissioned a house from Breuer after visiting the House in the Museum Garden at MoMA. The couple would become lifelong friends of Breuer, and he would design a number of houses for them. Their patronage also led to several schools in Litchfield and nine buildings for the Torin Corporation, where Rufus Stillman was vice-president. Breuer designed a two-story, flat-roofed rectangular building with two projecting porches. The lower, partially submerged level contained the children's bedrooms and playroom. A massive, white-painted brick fireplace separated the open plan living and dining rooms on the upper floor, which also contained the master bedroom. The upper floor was clad in vertical cypress siding and colorful panels painted in blue, red and yellow.

 

Other distinctive features included the entrance canopy, suspended by marine rigging from piers that extended above the roof of the house, and the Alexander Calder mural painted on a brick wall at the end of the swimming pool. Breuer added a garage and studio in 1951, and the clients lived in the house until 1964. The Stillmans commissioned two more houses from Breuer, but moved back to their original house in the 1990s. (Marcel Breuer Digital Archive, Syracuse University)

Awards

Design

Citation of Merit

Residential

2014

The jury awards a Citation of Merit to Joseph Mazzaferro and Ken Sena for their historically correct restoration of the two homes that introduced modernism to Litchfield, Connecticut: Stillman House I designed by Marcel Breuer in 1950 and The Huvelle House designed by John Johansen in 1953.

The jury notes that in addition to repairing structural damage, the owners removed later additions to the Stillman House and returned a removed floating porch and staircase to a Breuer-designed swimming pool. For the Huvelle House, a cantilevered porch and corresponding sun-louver above were also reconstructed following their removal years ago. For both houses, all glass was replaced, interior volumes were returned to scale where changed, and all original design detailing was closely observed.

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Client

Joseph Mazzaferro and Kenneth Sena

Restoration Team

Joseph Mazzaferro and Kenneth Sena

How to Visit

Private residence

Location

63 Beecher Lane
Litchfield, CT, 06759

Country

US

Case Study House No. 21

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Credit:

Brad Stein and Joseph Mazzaferro

Related News

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Newsletter, Breuer, Art, Architecture, Sculpture, nivola

March 23, 2017

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Travel & Leisure, Book Excerpt

August 19, 2021

Marcel Breuer's first binuclear house is demolished

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January 26, 2022
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