Projects by Name

In November 1944, Bertram and Phyllis Geller commissioned a house in Lawrence, Long Island. Breuer characterized the house as a model prefabricated house, thereby allowing him to circumvent wartime restrictions on construction and cost. He designed a binuclear house with a butterfly roof. The exterior was clad in vertical cedar siding, relieved by large expanses of floor to ceiling windows and fieldstone walls. A long, thin rectangle contained the living and dining rooms, along with the kitchen, utility and maid's room. Another wing housed the bedrooms and children's playrooms. An entrance hall opening onto a porch bridged the two volumes. Breuer also built a separate garage with a guest house and designed the furniture for the house. He created custom built-in cabinets, tables and three basic chair types for the Gellers, including a lounge chair, a dining chair and a stacking chair. The chairs were constructed from laminated plywood by Theodore Schwamb Company, who also manufactured the tables. Irving and Casson built some of the cabinets. The Geller House received very favorable press attention and was the winning design in a competition sponsored by "Progressive Architecture." Breuer built a second house for the couple two decades later.