This July the Cape Cod Modern House Trust (CCMHT) announced the successful acquisition of Marcel Breuer’s Long House in Wellfleet, Massachusetts. The early prototype that would go on to become a blueprint for the designer’s serial Long Houses was at the epicenter of an artistic community that flourished on the Cape during the mid-20th century—Breuer’s home hosted luminaries from his faculty at Harvard, visiting artists, and fellow expats from Europe. He spent every summer at the house with his family until his death. After his passing, and that of his wife, the home fell into the hands of his son, Tom.
The house was a living monument, still occupied by Breuer’s son until neighbors urged Tom to renovate, or sell, the property. The wooden home is in recognizably poor shape, with a sagging porch, molded and rotting finishes, and deteriorating stairs and railings. The interior was also not well maintained, nor its contents.
Peter McMahon, director of CCMHT and author of Cape Cod Modern: Midcentury Architecture and Community on the Outer Cape, has built his nonprofit on the mission of preserving the modern heritage of Cape Cod as it becomes increasingly well-heeled and the risk of culture heritage loss looms. Focusing first on properties located on “the Park,” or the National Seashore that were seized by imminent domain at the formation of the park, this is the first major purchase made by the nonprofit.
McMahon and Breuer agreed to a $2 million sum—essentially the value of the land the house sits on—and CCMHT had only one year to raise the funds. After bringing the precarity of Breuer’s legacy to the attention of architects and designers around the world, a grassroots campaign has now proven successful.
From Breuer’s collection of never-before-seen art by friends like Paul Klee and Alexander Calder, a collection of Hungarian architectural publications, and his world-renowned furniture (many prototypes which stayed within the house for daily use) CCMHT is committed to cataloguing, preserving, and making available for study the extensive living collection of the design icon.
The future of the house in terms of its publicness is still under debate. CCMHT shared restoration work will begin immediately. Most of CCMHT’s holdings are rented out to design enthusiasts or host visiting artists participating in the residency program, but it’s still unclear if Breuer’s house will have the same program. An on-site archive building is also a possibility, which would ensure that the ephemera, art, and library of the house is securely and safely maintained on the property, versus being given to an institutional collection.
AN visited the house in Wellfleet and offered an in-depth look at the Breuer House Project in our June issue.
