The Landis Gores House is a historic house on Cross Ridge Road in
New Canaan, Connecticut
New Canaan () is a town in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 20,622 according to the 2020 census.
About an hour from Manhattan by train, the town is considered part of Connecticut's Gold Coast. The town is bounde ...
. It is a
"Wrightian" house that was designed by architect
Landis Gores
Landis Gores (August 31, 1919 – March 18, 1991) was an American architect, born in Cincinnati, Ohio. Landis was known for his modernist Gores Pavilion, the Gores Family House, and the House for All Seasons.
Early life
After growing ...
and built by John C. Smith for the Gores family's use. The design represents an innovative fusion of American Wrightian modern architecture and the more International style of the
Bauhaus
The Staatliches Bauhaus (), commonly known as the Bauhaus (), was a German art school operational from 1919 to 1933 that combined crafts and the fine arts.Oxford Dictionary of Art and Artists (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 4th edn., 200 ...
in which Gores was trained. The house was listed on the
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...
in 2002.
[
]
Description and history
The Landis Gores House stands in a rural residential setting in northern New Canaan, on the east side of Cross Ridge Road north of North Wilton Road. It is a single-story wood-frame structure with a flat roof and is long, set well back from the road on a lot. It has austere glass walls, with rough wood and stone elements separating them. A central section has a raised ) ceiling, and houses the main living and dining area. A breezeway connects the house to the garage, designed by Gores and using similar materials to the main house. The pool area behind the house was also designed by Gores.Second World War
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
by Gores and other modern architects. Gores was one of the Harvard Five
The Harvard Five was a group of architects that settled in New Canaan, Connecticut in the 1940s: John M. Johansen, Marcel Breuer, Landis Gores, Philip Johnson and Eliot Noyes. Marcel Breuer was an instructor at the Harvard Graduate School of Desig ...
, architects who had studied under Walter Gropius
Walter Adolph Georg Gropius (18 May 1883 – 5 July 1969) was a German-American architect
An architect is a person who plans, designs and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in conne ...
at Harvard. Gores collaborated with Philip Johnson
Philip Cortelyou Johnson (July 8, 1906 – January 25, 2005) was an American architect best known for his works of modern and postmodern architecture. Among his best-known designs are his modernist Glass House in New Canaan, Connecticut; the pos ...
on his famous Glass House
The Glass House, or Johnson house, is a historic house museum on Ponus Ridge Road in New Canaan, Connecticut built in 1948–49. It was designed by architect Philip Johnson as his own residence. It has been called his "signature work".
The Glas ...
. When this house was built it was a somewhat striking departure from even the Bauhaus origins of his formal training, merging the more naturalistic styles of Wright into a modern design.[ and ] As of 219, the Gores family still owns the house.
See also
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References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gores, Landis, House
Houses in New Canaan, Connecticut
Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Connecticut
Houses completed in 1948
National Register of Historic Places in Fairfield County, Connecticut
Modernist architecture in Connecticut