As any collector of Modernism knows all too well, the hardest piece to add to one's collection is a Modernist house. The ones by great architects are priced beyond reason, the ones by quality builders like Joseph Eichler are extremely expensive, and the rest are usually quirkily designed or rather ordinary.
On a quiet street in Houston, lighting consultant Michael John Smith and his partner, Malcolm Perry, have achieved the impossible- they have found, purchased, and restored a Modernist gem.
The house is known as "Steelwood", and its history is redolent of the time when Modernism was mainstream. Originally built as an exhibit for the 1969 National Home Builders Show, "Steelwood" is one of three International Style townhouses designed by Talbott Wilson and Hal Weatherford of Wilson Morris Crain and Anderson Architects of Houston. Although the Home Builders Show was mainly housed at the Astrodome, the townhouses were built by the American Iron and Steel Institute, General Electric, and Houston Light & Power to showcase modern steel-framed, total electric living to the public.
The May, 1969 issue of "Architectural Record" covered the houses in detail, calling them "unusually effective and elegant examples of the spaciousness and livability that can be achieved on a small urban lot." It was true; architects Wilson and Weatherford had given each townhouse privacy from its neighbors, while still giving each unit beautiful views of a system of courtyards dotting the property. The usual pitfall of Modernist group housing- living in full view of other residents- had been neatly avoided.
The show was a success; crowds flocked by special bus from the Astrodome to see the units, which were dubbed the 'Style in Steel Townhouses" for the occasion. Visitors marveled at the steel-framed houses with their glass walls, stroked the Knoll furniture lent for the exhibit, dreamed their dreams, and were bussed back to the Astrodome to see all the other wonders available to any homeowner with a few dollars down.
"Steelwood" is even more dramatic by night than by day, thanks to the outdoor lighting plan
devised by Michael John Smith, AIA, LC, IES, IALD.
A travertine fountain sits outside the Living Room; original custom twelve-foot sliding glass doors
make the fountain seem a part of the room itself.
Knoll Barcelona chairs were in the Living Room when "Steelwood" was a show house; this new pair is grouped with a Metropolitan Varius sofa. The PPG New Eggplant on the fireplace facing will soon give way to a restoration of the original walnut veneer underneath. Interior design by Malcolm McKinney Perry.
