Booth House (Bedford, New York)

Booth House
House information
Location Bedford, New York
Built 1946
Architect Philip Johnson
Architectural style Modernist
Size 1,440 square feet (134 m2)

The Booth House is a single-story modernist house in Bedford, New York. Built in 1946, the house was American architect Philip Johnson's first residential commission,[1] and is a stylistic precursor to Johnson's better-known 1949 Glass House in New Canaan, Connecticut.[2]

The house's concrete block and plate glass exterior is supported by steel beams and columns, and its interior features a large masonry fireplace.[3] Its design was influenced by Johnson's mentors. Landis Gores described the house as a "cross-breed in concrete block between [Johnson's] Lincoln project for [Professor] Bogner and [Le Corbusier's] De Mandrot house from which it had taken its origin: a raised podium."[4]

Johnson designed the house for Richard and Olga Booth, a young couple who wanted a weekend house near Manhattan.[5] Architectural photographer Robert Damora and architect Sirkka Damora purchased the house in 1955 for $23,500 and lived there for 55 years.[3] In 2010, the widowed Sirkka Damora put the 1,440-square-foot (134 m2) house, an 800-square-foot (74 m2) studio building, and their 1.92-acre (0.78 ha) lot up for sale, with an asking price of $2 million.[6]

References

  1. ^ Harrison, Ivy (October 29, 2010). "It Started With the Booth House". Metropolis. http://www.metropolismag.com/pov/20101029/it-started-with-the-booth-house. Retrieved November 6, 2010. 
  2. ^ Pope-Chappell, Maya (June 1, 2010). "Philip Johnson's First House on Market". The Wall Street Journal. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704875604575280783775972208.html. Retrieved November 6, 2010. 
  3. ^ a b Britton, Karla Cavarra (March 2010). "Philip Johnson's First Foray". Modern Magazine. http://www.idealmodern.com/2010/03/philip-johnsons-first-foray.html. Retrieved November 6, 2010. 
  4. ^ Schulze, Franz (1996). Philip Johnson: Life and Work. University of Chicago Press. p. 186. ISBN 9780226740584. http://www.press.uchicago.edu/presssite/metadata.epl?mode=synopsis&bookkey=3640523. 
  5. ^ Montebello, Joseph (November-December 2010). "Modernist Hideaway". TownVibe (Ridgefield, Connecticut). http://www.townvibe.com/Bedford/November-December-2010/Modernist-Hideaway/. Retrieved November 8, 2010. 
  6. ^ Ardino, Anthony. "Signature Mid-Century Modern: Philip Johnson's First House, Bedford, NY 10506". William Raveis Real Estate. http://www.philipjohnsonsboothhouse.com/. Retrieved December 2, 2011.