Projects by Name

In 1950, John Englund commissioned a house for his family in Pleasantville, NY. Breuer designed a two-story, flat-roofed house clad in vertical wooden siding set into an incline. Part of the first floor was supported by the stone basement while the other half was supported by pilotis. The upper story was offset with the cantilevered portion also supported by pilotis. It contained a bedroom and second living room and kitchen. The southern façade featured floor-to-ceiling windows, and the roof of the lower story served as a roof deck accessible from the upper living room. After the house was completed, the client wrote a number of letters complaining about the quality of workmanship and the lack of supervision by Breuer's office. He refused to pay the full amount of the architect's fees. Breuer defended his work on the house, and the dispute proceeded to arbitration. The house was partly destroyed by a storm soon after it was completed. According to the Englunds' son, the house burned down in 1960.