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NEW SECTION: Toolkit for Owners of a Modern House
Exhibiting & Visiting Modernist Monuments
Fostering Well-Researched Responsible Design
ICONS AT RISK
Enjoy a virtual visit to the California House and a Q&A with architect Peter Gluck
Exhibition 'Modernism and Refuge'
A Hidden Gem of Postmodernism
November Iconic Houses Month rescheduled to April 2021
New Centre for Historic Houses of India
An Online Chronicle of the Douglas House
SPECIAL – Northern (High)Lights!
SPECIAL - Casas Icónicas en España!
SPECIAL - Vacances en France!
SPECIAL – Iconic Dreams - Sleep in an Iconic House!
SPECIAL – Dutch Delights!
SPECIAL – German Greats!
Villa Henny, geometric style icon in The Netherlands
A Mendini temple in Amsterdam
6th Iconic Houses Conference June 2021
IH-lectures USA & Canada Feb 2020 on Melnikov House
An Afternoon with the Glucks
Danish Moderns – Looking Back at Our Mini-Seminar
Venturo house complements Exhibition Centre WeeGee’s offering
Lecture report: Remembering Richard Neutra
Hôtel Mezzara and the Guimard Museum project
We welcome 13 new members!
BREAKING NEWS: 8 Wright Sites Inscribed on Unesco World Heritage List!
LECTURE 29 August - Raymond Neutra: My Father and Frank Lloyd Wright
Iconic Reads
SPECIAL – Iconic Artist Residencies
Our Badge of Honour
SPECIAL – Women & Iconic Houses
SPECIAL – Iconic Housing
Iconic Houses End Year Message
City-ordered rebuild of landmark house stirs debate: Appropriate or overreach?
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Planned Demolition of Rietveld Homes in Reeuwijk
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An Iconic Saga
Restoring Eileen Gray’s Villa E-1027 and Clarifying the Controversies
Modernism on the East Coast
Iconic Houses in Latin America
House Tours May 2018
Expert Meetings
Terence Riley -KEYNOTE SPEAKER- on Philip Johnson
New era for Villa E-1027 and Cap Moderne
Jorge Liernur -KEYNOTE SPEAKER- on Latin American Modernism(s)
Restoring the past: The Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo Home Studio
Behind the Scenes: Hendrick de Keyser Association
Latin America Special – Focus on Mexico
De Stijl in Drachten
Preserving the Nancarrow House-Studio
Meet the Friends - Nanne de Ru
Latin America Special – Focus on Brazil
Jan de Jong’s House is Latest Hendrick de Keyser Acquisition
Stay in a Belgian Modernist Masterpiece
In Berlin’s Modernist Network
Rietveld-Schröder House Celebrates De Stijl Anniversary
Meet Our New Foundation Board Members
Virtual Tour of a Papaverhof Home in 3D
Getty Grant for Villa E-1027
Iconic Dacha
11 Le Corbusier Homes now on Unesco World Heritage List
At home with Le Corbusier
Wright Plus 2016 Walk
Speaking Volumes: Building the Iconic Houses Library
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Documentary La Ricarda
Rent a house designed by Gerrit Rietveld
Barragán House on Screen
Gesamtkunstwerk – An Icon on the Move
Triennale der Moderne 27 September - 13 October 2013
Prestigious Art Nouveau mansions in Brussels open
September 14 + 15: Heritage Days in Paris
June's New Arrivals: Museum Apartments
Iconic Houses is now on Twitter and Facebook
Corbu’s Cabanon: Reconstruction and Lecture
Projekt Mies In Krefeld: Life-sized model of the Krefeld Clubhouse
New arrivals: Spain special
MAMO: Le Corbu’s ‘Park in the Sky’ open 12 June
Annual Wright Architectural Housewalk: 18 May
Frank Lloyd Wright Homes on Screen
Message from the Editor
Neutra’s House on Screen
Melnikov House on Screen
Iconic Houses in the media
Message from the Editor
Eileen Gray House on Screen
Copy Culture
At Home in the 20th Century
New 20th century Iconic Houses website launches
Janice Lyle, Sunnylands Center and Gardens
Janice Lyle is currently Director of Sunnylands Center & Gardens in Rancho Mirage, California (one of the sites on the Palm Springs tour and one of the sponsors of the Iconic Houses conference in Los Angeles). Prior to joining The Annenberg Foundation Trust at Sunnylands she was the Executive Director of the Palm Springs Art Museum for 13 years and Director of Public Programs for 10 years. She has a PhD in art history from the University of California, Santa Barbara.
Tell us about your own relationship with significant houses
I am currently responsible for the preservation and interpretation of Sunnylands, the winter home built for Walter and Leonore Annenberg by California architect A. Quincy Jones. This mid-century estate is now being used as a high-level retreat centre and is open to the public for tours. In addition, I lived in Frey House II, architect Albert Frey’s second home in Palm Springs, while Executive Director of the Palm Springs Art Museum. I have been involved in mid-century modern preservation efforts in Palm Springs since the 1980s.
Do you have a favourite house?
I must recognize the simplicity and beauty of the house Albert Frey bequeathed to the Palm Springs Art Museum in 1996. As executive director, I had the opportunity to live in the house for more than two years — it was a life-changing experience. This small glass box on the mountain with a boulder adjacent to the bed is completely integrated into the hillside. The restraint required to live in the space is rewarded by the peaceful connection to nature and the visual discoveries that occur in the refined space.
What is the biggest challenge facing Sunnylands right now?
We are trying to balance three important and often conflicting approaches to the management of Sunnylands — the preservation of both the built and planted historic resource, the requirements of adaptive reuse as a retreat centre, and the sustainability issues that affect a water-intensive property in a desert during the California drought. The 200-acre historic estate was originally 180 acres of turf and the experience of the A. Quincy Jones house is tied to the views of its park-like setting. Our challenge is to remain true to that 20th-century vision of an oasis in the desert while managing the landscape responsibly.
What do you expect from the upcoming Iconic Houses conference at the Getty Center in Los Angeles?
I am looking forward to reconnecting with a number of colleagues who have been addressing issues related to significant houses throughout the globe. I attended the Iconic Houses conferences in London in 2013 and in Barcelona in 2014, and I felt privileged to participate in the network of creative people engaged in this work. I believe the conversation regarding new uses of iconic houses is an important part of the preservation effort regarding these homes.
Which 21st-century house in Palm Springs has the potential to become a future Iconic House, and why?
I think it is too early to make that judgment. Architecture at the beginning of the 21st century in Palm Springs has been highly influenced by mid-century style and innovative approaches to sustainable building.
Watch a film about the construction, design and interior of Sunnylands here.
Frey House II, Palm Springs 1963-‘64, photo Dan Chavkin
Publication date 21 January 2016