Tag Archives: architecture

tiny modern retreat in north georgia

08.20.16
Design, News & Events, Vintage Style

Ellijay_facade

Jennifer Sams is a hunter by trade—an antiques hunter. It makes perfect sense that the owner of City Issue, one of Atlanta’s best sources of pristine midcentury furnishings, should wind down with her partner in a modern weekend cabin outfitted with Danish sconces, tulip chairs, and abstract paintings. Andrea and I spent a couple of days last October photographing, styling, and interviewing at the 500-square-foot cabin in the blue hills of Ellijay, Ga., and the article is finally out in Atlanta magazine’s HOME fall issue. Here’s a peek at the photography, including a couple of outtakes.

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lustrons featured in fallout 4 game

11.09.15
Design, Vintage Style

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I’m no gamer, yet this morning I found myself watching the trailers for Fallout 4 on a loop and snapping screen shots. Why the sudden interest in virtual combat, you ask? I noticed on TV commercials that the latest creation by Bethesda Game Studios, launching Nov. 11, prominently features Lustrons and Lustron-inspired homes in its landscape. Since players’ mission is to shape the fate of a world destroyed by nuclear war, it snaps into place that the designers were inspired by prefabricated homes like mine, manufactured just after World War II.

fallout1fallout3The boxy, steel homes and their midcentury advertisements ooze optimism, normalcy, and domestic peace. So it makes sense that Lustrons are powerful symbols in an animated wasteland. You can watch the Fallout 4 trailers here and catch up on posts about my own Lustron here.

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a wing-roofed home in atlanta for dwell mag

03.15.15
Design, News & Events
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The Sarvis residence designed by Dencity. Photo by Raftermen Photography.

Dwell, a favorite shelter magazine, just published about 200 words by yours truly. I covered a wing-roofed Atlanta home with cantilevered sections that appears ready for flight. You can read the article and see six more photos here. Also, I toured the home in 2013 as part of Modern Atlanta and posted a roundup of my favorite design moments here.

Finally contributing to Dwell feels like closing a circle, because I’ve been a fan since my old roommate PJ gave me my first issue in 2002, when I was writing a craft book. The modern interiors gave me a direction for Abode a la Mode’s “cheap chic” projects, and the magazine has been shaping my personal aesthetic ever since.

modern ‘hood: lavista park, atlanta

02.18.15
Design, Vintage Style

gray ranch with chartreuse door

LaVista Park may have bumped Northcrest as my favorite atomic neighborhood in Atlanta. Why? Location, location, location! While Northcrest has more Brady Bunch-style ranches per block, it’s up in the sleepy suburb of Doraville. LaVista Park, sandwiched between busy Briarcliff and Cheshire Bridge Roads, is a short drive or bike ride to some of the best restaurants, shops, and parks in central Atlanta. Here are 8 midcentury and contemporary abodes that caught my eye on an afternoon drive. All photos were taken by me while standing on public property.

 

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click to see 5 more modern homes!

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portraits of today’s lustron owners

01.31.15
Design, News & Events
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All photos in this post by Chuck Mintz

When you live in a Lustron, you’re part of a story. The tale begins in 1948, when the Lustron Corporation debuted its prefabricated, all-steel homes manufactured in a former airplane plant in Columbus, Ohio. The company imagined an American landscape drenched in seafoam, pink, harvest gold, and the other enamel hues of its mail-order ranches, but it sold only about 2,500 over three years.

Photographer Charles “Chuck” Mintz picks up the Lustron story today, documenting people who are holding onto these quirky, increasingly rare homes. He has traveled the country over the past couple years shooting portraits of more than 100 inhabitants. After the jump, I’ll show you more samples from his series, including his shot of me and Andrea on our patio.

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