news
NEW SECTION: Toolkit for Owners of a Modern House
13 Aalto Sites Nominated for UNESCO World Heritage
Pioneers of the Dutch Modern House
Business Cards of Stone, Timber and Concrete in the Brussels Region 1830-1970
Villa Beer At Risk
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
July - Iconic Houses Month
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
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?
Kohlberg House Restoration in Progress
Planned Demolition of Rietveld Homes in Reeuwijk
Renovation Gili House in Crisis
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
Follow us!
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
Katherine Malone-France on Moving with the Times
Katherine Malone-France is the Vice President for Historic Sites at the National Trust for Historic Preservation, which has a portfolio of 27 historic sites around the USA - including four Modern houses. She lives in Washington, DC. Katherine was a speaker at the Fifth International Iconic Houses Conference in New Canaan. Her lecture can be watched in the (below) link.
Moving with the Times |
Where does your personal interest in heritage come from?
I grew up in old places - my parents were restoring a historic house when I was little. We visited historic sites and house museums often. When I graduated from college with a history degree, I knew that I wanted to be actively engaged with history, so I gravitated toward historic preservation and creating greater engagement between people and heritage.
How do you see the role of your organization?
The U.S. Congress chartered the National Trust in 1949 to own properties significant in American history and involve the American public in the preservation of our heritage. In many ways, this continues to be our core mission. We own a national portfolio of sites and also engage the public through a variety of advocacy campaigns and other initiatives.
How is the role of the National Trust evolving?
One of the most important ways is in how we preserve, operate, and interpret our historic sites. Preservation has become more pragmatic and results-oriented. We are experimenting with operating models beyond the traditional house museum, and we are using these places to tell fuller, more diverse American stories.
What’s the best thing about your job?
Seeing the many different ways that people find enjoyment and meaning in our historic sites.
What particular challenges and opportunities do Modern house museums face?
They are challenged by the perception that they are static places that have been frozen in a particular period in time. Yet some of them show that there are tremendous opportunities when you move beyond a narrow period of significance to become a place that is lively, relevant, and inspiring. You do that by continuing to engage with contemporary art, design, and storytelling.
Will you acquire more Modern houses?
We already have Frank Lloyd Wright’s Pope-Leighey (Alexandria, VA), Philip Johnson’s Glass House (New Canaan, CT), the Marcel Breuer House at Pocantico (Pocantico Hills, NY), and the Farnsworth House (Plano, IL). We are open to acquiring more and are working with our board now to determine what the current criteria would be.
How do we protect the ‘younger’ heritage that falls outside the protected zone?
The best way to preserve something is to use it; so finding ways to keep these places in active use is critical.
What can the National Trust do for Modern Houses?
Model best practices in preservation, use, and interpretation, and share that through our own network and those of others, like Iconic Houses.
Katherine recommends watching a short video of Gerard and Kelly’s Modern Living at the Glass House. "It shows this gorgeous work of choreography layered over the buildings and landscape of the Glass House and an installation by Yayoi Kusama. A perfect illustration of how Modernist buildings continue to inspire and interact with contemporary art in many different ways, sometimes at the same time."
Jane Szita
Photo: Katherine with the Farnsworth House, by Mies van der Rohe (Plano Il, USA), another house museum managed by the National Trust for Historic Preservation, in the background.
Publication date 15 March 2018