news
Inside Iconic Houses - 28 April: Tour of Maison Cazenave
Inside Iconic Houses - Online Tour Program
Welcome Atelier Volten!
Inside Iconic Houses Tours Vizcaya Museum & Gardens in Miami
Casa Masó Celebrates 10 Year Anniversary
Inside Iconic Houses tours Roland Reisley's Usonian Frank Lloyd Wright House
Rietveld’s Experimental Housing in Reeuwijk Saved
Serralves Villa after restoration
Watch Pioneers of the Dutch Modern House Now On Demand
Portraits of the Architect - Interview with Gennaro Postiglione
Test Labs for New Ideas - Interview with Natascha Drabbe
Inside Iconic Houses - Isokon Building
Inside Iconic Houses - 16 December: Sunnylands with Janice Lyle
BCN-BXL Coderch-De Koninck - Beyond Time
New Chairman Architect Nanne de Ru on The Perfect Platform
Health and Home - Interview with Beatriz Colomina
A Life Less Ordinary – Interview with Valentijn Carbo
Invisible Women - Interview with Alice T. Friedman
Winy Maas on the Green Dip
Anita Blom on Experimental Housing of the 1970s
Women’s Worlds - Interview with Natalie Dubois
The Culture of Living - Interview with Robert von der Nahmer
Hetty Berens: A Fresh Take on Modernism
Niek Smit on Supporting Modern Heritage
Alice Roegholt on Amsterdam’s Working-Class Palaces
July is Iconic Houses Month
Save Maison Zilveli - Sign the Petition!
How a Building Tells a Story - Recorded Event
Toolkit for Owners of a Modern House
13 Aalto Sites Nominated for UNESCO World Heritage
Villa Beer At Risk - Sign the Petition!
Business Cards of Stone, Timber and Concrete in the Brussels Region 1830-1970
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
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
SPECIAL – Northern (High)Lights!
Welcome to another travel special in our summer series designed to help you to make the most of a week(end) away. If you missed our previous instalments on Spain, France, Germany, the Netherlands, and Houses to Stay in, you can find them on our homepage.
Meanwhile we continue our journey in the Nordic countries where a variety of wonderful modern house museums are ready to welcome you in Norway, Denmark, Finland and Estonia! Among the 20th-century gems to explore there are several Aalto houses, the futuristic Futuro in Helsinki, or take a trip to Arne Korsmo's magnum opus in Oslo and make some fascinating discoveries. We’ve arranged the houses from youngest to oldest. Even if you decided to have a staycation this year, you can still travel the houses from home. Enjoy!
Note: Plan your visit(s) well in advance, as house museums can have irregular visiting times and coronavirus guidelines often require online reservation.
Villa Kokkonen, Alvar Aalto, Järvenpää, Finland, 1969
Villa Kokkonen aims to connect nature and human everyday life with two forms of art: music and architecture. The 250 square meter building was composer Joonas Kokkonen´s home and atelier for 27 years. The courtyard is dominated by a pergola covered in creeper, a swimming pool with the shape of a grand piano and a sauna made of logs.
Futuro House, Matti Suuronen, Espoo, Finland, 1968
The Futuro is an elliptical plastic house designed by architect Matti Suuronen. It captures the experimental forms, new materials and optimistic ideas of the space-age architecture and design of the late 1960s. The WeeGee Exhibition Centre in Finand has acquired the first ever mass-produced Futuro, restored it and opens it to the public in Summer.
Didrichsen House, Viljo Revell, Helsinki, Finland, 1956
The Didrichsen Art Museum was founded by art collectors Marie-Louise and Gunnar Didrichsen in conjunction to their home. Didrichsen was a Danish businessman who settled in Finland in 1927 and married Marie-Louise Granfelt in 1939. Viljo Revell first designed a villa for the family and later on a museum wing to house the growing art collection.
Studio Aalto, Alvar Aalto, Helsinki, Finland, 1955
The studio was completed for use by Alvar Aalto’s architect’s office in 1955, within walking distance of Aalto’s home. 'You can’t create architecture in an office environment', is how Aalto described working in an architect’s office. The building curves around a stepped, amphitheatre-style courtyard sheltered from the wind.
Muuratsalo Experimental House, Alvar Aalto, Säynätsalo (Jyväskylä), Finland, 1954
Alvar and Elissa Aalto designed their Experimental House including a separate smoke sauna on the island of Muuratsalo. It served both as a leisure home and as a test site. On the walls of the courtyard, Aalto tested ceramic materials, brick types and sizes and the effect of different surfaces.
Arne Jacobsen's House in Klampenborg, Denmark 1951
The house is part of the Søholm estate built 1945-1953 in three stages and with three types of houses all designed by Arne Jacobsen. The house was built as the architect's private house and studio. He moved here from his previous home in Charlottenlund and lived here until the time of his death in 1971. For information about guided tours, please contact info@realdaniabyogbyg.dk.
Munch's House, Åsgårdstrand, Norway 1947
Of all the places where Munch lived and worked as an artist, he perhaps left most traces of himself at Åsgårdstrand. Munch's House, is the only one of his several homes that remains intact, and the landscape remains much as it was in Munch's day. Over a period of more than 20 years he painted some of his best works here.
Finn Juhl's House, Charlottenlund, Denmark, 1942
Finn Juhl's House was opened to the public in 2008 as a part of Ordrupgaard Museum. The house is one of the finest examples of modernism in Denmark and was designed and decorated by the architect and furniture designer himself. The house is temporarily closed, while a new extension of Ordrupgaard is being built, designed by the Norwegian architects Snøhetta. They expect to reopen by New Year 2020-2021.
Villa Mairea, Alvar Aalto, Noormarkku, Finland, 1939
Villa Mairea was the residence of the progressive industrialist Harry Gullichsen and his wife Maire. It marks Aalto’s transition from mainstream modernism towards his own unique synthesis of the traditional and modern, organic and technological, structural and aesthetic, emotional and rational. It's a groundbreaking masterpiece.
Villa Stenersen, Arne Korsmo, Oslo, Norway 1939
Villa Stenersen is one of the icons of Norwegian Modernist architecture, designed by the internationally oriented Arne Korsmo as a private home/gallery for the stockbroker, art collector, and author Rolf E. Stenersen and his family. In 1974 Stenersen donated the house to the Norwegian government. Since 2000 the house has been open to the public.
The Aalto House, Alvar Aalto, Helsinki, Finland, 1936
The Aalto House at Riihitie 20 was completed as Aino and Alvar Aalto’s home and studio. Aalto’s architect’s office was in this building until 1955. Designing their own home gave them an opportunity to make various structural and material experiments. Pay special attention to the use of wood, brick and natural stone.
Villa Tammekan, Alvar Aalto, Tartu, Estonia, 1932
It is possible to stay overnight at the Villa Tammekann in Estonia and thus experience the unique environment of this building by Alvar Aalto. Although staying at the house is primarily intended for university staff on work visits, special groups interested in architecture are also welcomed. Accommodation includes breakfast and use of the sauna :-)
The Vigeland Apartment, Oslo, Norway 1930
In 1921, sculptor Gustav Vigeland signed an agreement with the City of Oslo. In return for promising the City his extensive collection after his death, he was given a large studio with an apartment. The studio would later and up to serve as the Vigeland Museum to celebrate his work. The artist wanted to put his personal touch on the interior.
Arne Jacobsen's House in Charlottenlund, Denmark, 1929
The villa was built in 1929 by the architect Arne Jacobsen as his private residence. An extension was added in 1931 to house a private studio. The house is Jacobsen's first example of a building that takes inspiration from international functionalism. For information about guided tours, please contact info@realdaniabyogbyg.dk.
Gallen-Kallela Museum, Akseli Gallen-Kallela, Espoo, Finland 1913
Painter Akseli Gallen-Kallela is best known for his illustrations of the Kalevala, the Finnish national epic. His work was considered very important for the Finnish national identity. His explorer’s soul took him to East Africa and the United States. He designed and built his studio and house about 10 km northwest of the centre of Helsinki.
Hvitträsk, Eliel Saarinen e.a., Luoma, Kirkkonummi, Finland, 1903
Hvitträsk was built by Herman Gesellius, Armas Lindgren and Eliel Saarinen. The main building, in National Romantic style, built of logs and natural stone, served as an architectural office and a home for Eliel Saarinen and Armas Lindgren. It's is also the boyhood home of architect Eero Saarinen, who made his reputation primarily in the US.
Posted 27 August 2020