Architecture

Be still my heart: The Stillman House.

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Photo by Jeffrey Boucher, courtesy of Wright.

Designed by Marcel Breuer for Rufus and Leslie Stillman in 1950, this stunning Litchfield, Connecticut, home is for sale. Set on 2.8 acres, the property includes a four-bedroom home, a studio and a pool with floating staircase – all three designed by Breuer. Adjacent to the pool is a 22-foot-wide mural by Alexander Calder, who was a personal friend of the Stillmans and a frequent houseguest. Inside the home, there’s also a mural by Bauhaus member Xanti Schawinsky.

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Photo by Brad Stein, courtesy of Wright.
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Photo by Jeremy Bitterman, courtesy of Wright.

A master of modernism, Breuer studied and taught at the Bauhaus, and his many influential works include New York’s Whitney Museum (recently renamed The Met Breuer) and countless residences, as well as the Wassily Chair, one of the most widely recognized and coveted chairs produced by Knoll.

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Photo by Jeremy Bitterman, courtesy of Wright.
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Photo by Brad Stein, courtesy of Wright.
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Photo by Jeremy Bitterman, courtesy of Wright.

The Stillman House is listed with Klemm Real Estate and has been chosen for Wright’s Design Masterworks auction in November.

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Photo by Brad Stein, courtesy of Wright.
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Photo by Brad Stein, courtesy of Wright.
  • Murlimews

    The Stillman House stairway is simply beautiful! The charcoal grey of the irregular curvaceous stone (slate?) entryway is beautifully juxtaposed with the straight beams of the pecan colored wood of the steps. Both are set off perfectly by the brick wall, painted a crisp white.

    I’m reminded of the Benedictine sister’s Annunciation Priory’ chapel, near Bismarck, North Dakota, designed by Marcel Breuer in the late 1950s.

    http://carolwsbooksandflicks.blogspot.com/2014/07/jewel-on-prairie-by-carol-wallwork.html

    Built around the same time, was St. John’s Abbey church, for the Benedictine monks in Collegeville, Minnesota. The walls of the Abbey church were left natural stone grey. But Annunciation Priory’s chapel of local field stone walls, he had painted white. He defended his choice by saying, “Form follows function, but not always.” He thought the bold stone color was too ‘masculine,’ for the sisters’ chapel. I agree. If you’re ever near either place, I encourage you to visit. They are both marvelous, both made even grander by their beautiful natural settings, one near a fine lake, the other, overlooking the Missouri River, with the sweeping virgin prairie all around.