“Would you like an adventure now, or would you like to have your tea first?” wrote J. M. Barrie. Now you don’t have to choose.
The Iconic Houses network, home to nearly 200 20th-century-design houses open to the public, proposes overnight or weekly stays in private residences that storied architects made for their own families or notable clients. Dutchwoman Natascha Drabbe, who founded the thriving network and whose own Iconic House—the Van Schijndel House in Utrecht, Netherlands, designed by Mart van Schijndel—was the inspiration for setting it up, deftly manages “the tricky part if you work with homeowners who are not museums.”
Herewith, an international selection.
Casa Salvati, Lake Garda, Italy, 1972
Architect Alberto Salvati’s complex of three family structures set amid an olive grove overlooking the lake is filled with the color for which he became known. With partner Ambrogio Tresoldi, Salvati moved away from strict rationalism to something more spiritual. Their work often appeared in Gio Ponti’s Domus, the design bible, as Milan became the center of a postwar design renaissance. The three-bedroom house was renovated with the original in mind and accommodates five.
Villa Morassutti, Trento, Italy, 1950s
Architect Bruno Morassutti wasn’t sure of his direction when he graduated from school in Padua, so in 1949 he went to the U.S. to study and work for Frank Lloyd Wright at both Taliesin Arizona and Taliesin Wisconsin. When Morassutti returned to Italy, among his first projects was a family lodge incorporating many of Wright’s principles. Designed with his partner, Angelo Mangiarotti, it has space for 11 and is adjacent to the Dolomite ski and hiking terrains.
Bruno Taut’s Home, Berlin, 1920s
In the midst of the UNESCO World Heritage Horseshoe Estate, in Berlin, sits this International Style house with a historically accurate update suitable for up to four guests. Taut was a leading pedagogue and practitioner of the New Objectivity movement, so light, air, and sun—the Bauhaus fundamentals—are abundant. Katrin Lesser, great-granddaughter of Taut collaborator Ludwig Lesser, and her partner, Ben Buschfeld, are now the owners and are experts on the estate and nearby cultural venues. Access to central Berlin is easy.
Haus Schminke, Löbau, Germany, 1933
This house was designed by the German architect Hans Scharoun. Declared a “degenerate” artist during the Nazi era, he was able to complete only a few domestic projects until the postwar, when he helped rebuild Berlin (and later designed the Berliner Philharmonie and the Staatsbibliothek). Born of intense conversations with client Fritz Schminke, who had purchased a nearby pasta factory to introduce the Italian product to the German market, the house sleeps 12 and is among the most distinctive of the Iconics. The Saxony region is an outpost of modernism, and a guide to nearby landmarks by the analogous Topomomo network is available at the house.
Paimio Sanatorium, Paimio, Finland, 1933
Home to some of Scandinavian-design duo Alvar and Aino Aalto’s most expressive interiors and exteriors—and not far from two other Aalto houses, in Helsinki—the Paimio Sanatorium now welcomes overnight guests to seven restored inpatient rooms or to an adjacent nurse’s quarters. Either way, you get to experience the sublime Gesamtkunstwerk—a whole-design concept—from furnishings to gardens. Christmastime is particularly festive.
The Laichter House, Prague, 1910
In the days when living above the store was not often adopted by the upper classes, publisher Jan Laichter hired socially conscious Czech architect Jan Kotěra to build him a modernist structure above the headquarters of his family’s publishing company, in Prague. A couple can now stay in Laichter’s private quarters, surrounded by hundreds of his editions, which survived the Communist-era purge, after a day exploring the city.
Villa Winternitz, Prague, 1932
A night for a couple in this elegant villa, the last important work of celebrated Czech architect Adolf Loos (with Karel Lhota), can be completely yours—including a wander in the inventive house and gardens, a romantic dinner in the private dining room, and breakfast the next morning. The nearby modernist houses Villa Rothmayer and Villa Müller (the latter an Iconic House that doesn’t allow overnight guests) are worth waking up to visit.
Can Lis, Majorca, Spain, 1971
At first glance, this appears far from the polished semicircles of the monumental Sydney Opera House, also designed by the Danish architect Jørn Utzon. Set on a rugged hill overlooking the water, the project removed Utzon from the dramatic controversies that had fueled the fraught, monumental opera-house project. It was precisely the isolation he craved after the bruising battles with civic leaders about the structure and cost overruns. Though it helps to have some kind of connection with the architecture profession, to book a stay for up to six people, we recommend writing a persuasive e-mail!
The Weidlinger House, Wellfleet, Massachusetts, 1953
This is part of the Cape Cod Modern House Trust, an enclave of New England modernist houses by some of the great practitioners of the 20th century. Paul Weidlinger, a pioneering engineer who left Hungary in the pre-war years—his larger-scale projects include the Beinecke Library at Yale—lived across the pond from his friend Marcel Breuer in Wellfleet. His compact house has room for six, and you can visit the other modernist houses nearby.
Case Study House No. 26, San Rafael, California, 1962
This was one of the last houses to enter the signature postwar program (1945 to 1966) begun by Arts and Architecture magazine, which promoted affordable, well-designed homes for the average person. Most were built in the Los Angeles area, but architect Beverley David Thorne, who had already embarked on the design of this house, loved the challenge of the hillside location, and steel was his preferred medium. Totally restored, the light-filled home, near Wright’s Marin County Civic Center, can accommodate six guests and is not far from San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge.
To stay in one of the homes in the Iconic Houses network, visit its Web site
Patricia Zohn has contributed to numerous publications, including Wallpaper, Artnet, the Huffington Post, The New York Times, and the Los Angeles Times
