The Goodman House in Alexandria
A dream house in a dream town: the Goodman House in Alexandria, Northern Virginia. I found in W. Post its story.
Back in 1952 there was a 100-year-old farmhouse for sale atop a ridge on North Quaker Lane in Alexandria. It sat near the edge of seven acres and, it is said, could boast a view of the Potomac River. Those who looked at buying the old frame dwelling probably thought of two courses of action: Either lovingly restore the simple two-story house or tear it down and use the lot for something new and less modest.
But the buyer turned out to be Charles M. Goodman, well on his way to becoming the hottest modern architect of the period in Washington, and he found a third way: He lived with his family in the farmhouse for a while, then gutted it, preserving the shell, and in 1954 attached a long, modern glass pavilion to it.
Today, the view of the Potomac is long gone, obscured by the past 60 years of development. Six and a half of the seven acres are gone, too, sold to developers years ago. Gone, too, are Goodman, who died in 1992 at 85, and his widow, Dorothy, who sold the house about a decade ago and lives in a nearby condominium.
But the midcentury-modern Goodman House still stands, sheltered by trees, its perimeter marked by about 2,000 square feet of stone patios and walkways that divide the garden areas and offer places for relaxation or entertaining.
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In the living room, a cantilevered concrete fireplace and ledge are anchored in a massive stone wall that rises to meet the ceiling(Photo John McDonnel for W. Post)
(Alexandria)
(Contemporary Art)
Labels: Contemporary Arhitecture
posted by Pierre Radulescu at
12:19 PM
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