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General Electric Demonstration House

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1935, Lester L. Jones. c. 1952, addition, Victor Hornbein. 450 Race St.

General Electric, in collaboration with Architectural Record and Time magazine, staged a heavily publicized nationwide design contest during the 1930s to promote modern residences that accommodated GE appliances. This brick house, built to showcase new electric marvels, is self-consciously Modernist in its composition of cubes juxtaposed with a cylinder in the manner of Le Corbusier. Victor Hornbein's addition extends the brick walls and multipaned windows while protecting design integrity. Hornbein added projecting eaves and wooden sunscreens and joined the two parts with a pergola that wraps the original chimney. The landscaping for the difficult, pie-shaped lot was designed by Jane Silverstein Ries, who softened the lines and created privacy.

Writing Credits

Author: 
Thomas J. Noel
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Citation

Thomas J. Noel, "General Electric Demonstration House", [Denver, Colorado], SAH Archipedia, eds. Gabrielle Esperdy and Karen Kingsley, Charlottesville: UVaP, 2012—, http://sah-archipedia.org/buildings/CO-01-DV126.

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