Bio

 
CRAIG WAKEFIELD

After first being excited by the openness and indoor outdoor connection of a mid-century modern home many years ago, I have lived in and continue to seek out modern homes.   Many have an understated simplicity, and feeling that the perimeter of the living space is beyond the actual walls of the home.

I enjoy biking, history, architecture, and have been a dentist for 20 years in Philadelphia.  I also paint, Click here to view my painting website

Please contact me if you are interested in mid-century homes of the Philadelphia area. I have current listings on the real estate page. Let me know if you would like to have your home included on this site or if you are looking to buy or sell a mid-century home.

 

photos of my current home in the Chestnut Hill section of Philadelphia

 

In the space below I am including photos taken on recent trips.

I took a summer trip to see the Russel Wright Home and studio in the Hudson Valley.

  

 

at the Glass House, Philip Johnson 1949
 

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Farnsworth House in Plano Il,  Mies van der Rohe 1950



 

 

 

I recently visited the Walter Gropius House in Lincoln Mass

 

 In Oct 2012 DOCOMOMO NYC had an open house at the Eero Saarinen JFK terminal 5 (former TWA terminal).  It was opened in 1962 and has recently been fully restored.

In February 2009 I spent a week in southern California.  Prior to my vacation I searched on line for the locations of the well know modern homes. The mid-century homes of southern CA have been beautifully photographed in many books such as the recent 'L.A. Modern' by Tim Street-Porter, but I have included some photos from my hunt.  I am thankful for websites such as http://www.you-are-here.com/modern/index.html and of course mapquest.  The homes included are grouped by architect

Richard Neutra

1929 Lovell Health House    (4616 Dundee Dr.)
   

VDL (Van der Leeuw)  Research House   Richard Neutra's residence and studio this home was rebuilt in the 1960's, design by Richard and his son Dion, after fire burned the original home.


1950 office of Richard Neutra
 

1962 Akai House  Neutra Place Silver Lake


additional homes in Silver lake by Neutra
 

1946 Kaufmann House  Palm Springs


1936 Grace Lewis Miller House   Palm Springs


Rudolph Schindler

1934 Buck House 8th and Genese Ave    Schindler
 

1936 Fitzpatrick House  Hollywood Hills



1940 Droste House    Schindler


1935-39 Wilson House     Schindler


1935-1936 Walker House  Schindler



Frank Lloyd Wright

1920 Hollyhock House for Aline Barnsdall
Because of this commission Wright brought Schindler to L.A. who stayed on and induced Richard Neutra to follow  visit the Hollyhock House

representation of the hollyhock    front entrance
               

1923-24 Textile Block Houses Wright with Schindler involved

Ennis Brown House
 
Freeman House                    John Storer House
   

1939 Sturges House  (This  home has similar materials and look to the Suntop Usonian Homes by Wright in Ardmore, also built the same year)  441 Skyewiay Rd Brentwood
 

1959-1960 Case Study #22 Stahl House   Pierre Koenig Hollywood Hills
 

more hillside homes
 

1960 Leonard Malin House   John Lautner   Torreyson Dr 


1951 Schrage Hallauer House   Raphael Soriano   Loz Feliz (L.A.)


1963 Frey House II  Palm Springs  Albert Frey
     

1949 Case Study House #8 Charles and Ray Eames
Visit the Eames House



1945-1949 Case Study House #9 Entenza House   Charles Eames and Eero Saarinen  Santa Monica  (next to the Eames)
 


This Second group of photos were taken in Nov 2008 on a trip to Sarasota Fl.  The primary source for the  locations of the homes was a tour Martie Lieberman has put together and included on her website http://www.sarasotamodern.com/  Much has been written of the modern architecture of the area.  I have drawn additional background information from the book 'Sarasota Modern' by Andrew Weaving


 

 

    

 

Ludwig Mies van der Rohe Barcelona Pavilion

Origanally built 1929

Phots from a 2011 trip to Barcelona

 

The Creator's Words

"Right from the beginning I had a clear idea of what to do with that pavilion. But nothing was fixed yet, it was still a bit hazy. But then when I visited the showrooms of a marble firm at Hamburg, I said: "Tell me, haven't you got something else, something really beautiful?" I thought of that freestanding wall I had, and so they said: "Well, we have a big block of onyx. But that block is sold—to the North German Lloyd." They want to make big vases from it for the dining room in a new steamer. So I said: 'Listen, let me see it, ' and they at once shouted: 'No, no, no, that can't be done, for Heaven's sake you mustn't touch that marvellous piece." But I said: "Just give me a hammer, will you, and I'll show you how we used to do that at home." So reluctantly they brought a hammer, and they were curious whether I would want to chip away a corner. But no, I hit the block hard just once right in the middle, and off came a thin slab the size of my hand. 'Now go and polish it at once so that I can see it." And so we decided to use onyx. We fixed the quantities and brought the stone."

— David Spaeth "Mies van der Rohe", p62

"For me working in Barcelona was a brilliant moment in my life."

— Mies van der Rohe. from Frank Russell, ed. Mies van der Rohe: European Works. p20.

"Artistic expression is a manifestation of the unity of design and mateial. This once again underlines the necessity fo incorporating works of sculpture (or painting) creatively into the interior setting from the outset. In the great epochs of cultural history this was done by architects as a matter of course and, no doubt, without conscious reflection."

— Mies van der Rohe. from Mies van der Rohe. Less is More. p146.

      

 
The following series of photos were taken on a recent trip to Lima Peru