Projects by Name

In 1942, Breuer developed a prefabricated, de-mountable housing unit inspired by assembly line production. The houses were one-story, flat-roofed bungalows with porches and could be erected as stand-alone structures or as row houses. Breuer designed one-, two- or three-bedroom versions. All possessed plywood interiors and sliding windows of Breuer’s own design. The wood frame construction featured a flexible wall joint that accommodated slight variations in the prefabricated pieces. Lexington Lumber Company, a wood-milling company owned by the father of George Lewis, who along with Edward Larabee Barns and Charles Burchard was working in Breuer’s office at the time, agreed to produce the prefabricated sections which would be assembled by Custance Brothers, the contractors who had built Breuer’s own house in Lincoln, MA. Custance Brothers sent drawings to the National Housing Agency but did not succeed in interesting them in the designs. Breuer also submitted a variation with a butterfly roof for defense workers’ housing in Wethersfield, CT. that was never built.