Gilbert Tompkins, an artists' agent and friend of Edward Fischer, commissioned a house from Breuer in the spring of 1945. Tompkins received priority for private building from the Federal Housing Authority in July, allowing him to proceed with the two-story, offset design proposed by Breuer. The house resembled the unbuilt design for the competition sponsored by "Pencil Points" and the Pittsburgh Plate Glass Company in the same year. The ground floor volume, with panels of brightly colored stucco alternating with glass on the garden façade contained the public spaces of the house such as the living and dining rooms. The roof of the lower volume served as a terrace for the cantilevered upper story, while the overhang of the upper story supported by pilotis formed the roof of the carport on the entrance façade. The decorative metal railing of the roof terrace seemed to float at the edge of the roof. Until Breuer was licensed to practice in New York, an associate, Charles Burchard, was listed as the official architect for the job.