Mid-Mods For People Who Like Living In Glass Houses

It’s always disheartening when you hear about a slice of architectural history that is slated for the demolition crew as looks to be the case with the Alice Ball House in New Canaan, Conn, designed by Philip Johnson in 1953 (pictured above).

The house is on the market but nobody wants to buy it — most likely because it’s a 1,773 sq ft home in a community that is known for its mega-mansions. As the New York Times’ Andy Newman so astutely put it:

“For $3.1 million in New Canaan, you can get a middling, multi-humped colonial colossus of no great distinction but sufficient grandeur to assuage your distress at not living quite as well as your hedge-fund-managing neighbors who paid twice as much. Or you could get a house by Philip Johnson, the most celebrated American architect of the last half-century.”

For those of us who are drawn to the mid-century aesthetic, there are several on the market in our backyard. They may not come with the Johnson cachet, but they do offer a good deal more space, ranging from 2,000 to 3,300 sq ft:

3300 Burdeck Drive: 3/4 mid-mod with Asian details, a family room, views and a pool in Montclair. Price: $1,049,000 (25 days on Redfin “seller wants an offer”).

6265 Shawnee Court: 4/3 mid-mod also featuring Japanese-style aesthetics and landscaped gardens on a cul-de-sac in Oakland’s Hillcrest Highlands. Price: $1,375,000 (53 days on Redfin).

901 Arlington Avenue (pictured above): 4/2 mid-mod designed in 1952 by architect Floyd Comstock with views and interior courtyard/patio. Price: $1,095,000.

[Photo credit of Philip Glass house: Rob Bennett for the New York Times.]