MA Housing Trust Wants To Save Marcel Breuer's Historic Artist Haven, Home On Cape Cod

WELLFLEET, MA — What would be lost if a downtrodden modern home tucked away in the woods near the Herring River in Wellfleet were to be demolished? More than you'd typically expect, in this case.

The Cape Cod Modern House Trust is currently trying to save the Wellfleet home of Marcel Breuer, the famed — and hugely influential — late architect and furniture maker. Though the home itself is in disrepair, according to the trust, a purchase of the property would include an acquisition of Breuer's collection of art, furniture, books and photographs.

Breuer's Wellfleet home sits on 4.2 acres on a property surrounded by protected park land that abuts three kettle ponds and the headwaters of the Herring River. On its own, the house represents a unique piece of Cape Cod's modern home building. With Breuer's inclusion, it represents a critical piece of Cape Cod's art history.

"Breuer is one the 20th-century’s most important designers, and his house is without a doubt the most significant modernist house on the Cape," the trust wrote in a description of the property.

Trust officials are hoping to raise $1.4 million to purchase the property, which would ensure that the possessions of Breuer would be kept safe and archived, and the property refurbished and used as a place for artists in residency and an archive. The seller of the property has agreed to that arrangement, but wants to close by the Spring of 2024, the trust said.

About Breuer

According to Knoll, Breuer was "a champion of the modern movement" and learned under Bauhaus founder Walter Gropius as both a student and master carpenter in the early 1920s.

"His entire body of work, both architecture and furniture, embodies the driving Bauhaus objective to reconcile art and industry," Knoll wrote in Breuer's artist description.

"While at the Bauhaus, Breuer revolutionized the modern interior with his tubular-steel furniture collection — inspired by bicycle construction and fabricated using the techniques of local plumbers."

His furniture designs, particularly the Cesca chair, have served as a guide for those looking to recreate the style and vibe of the era. As an architect, he's responsible for the Whitney Museum in New York and the UNESCO Headquarters in Paris.

Breuer in New England

As the Housing Trust tells it, Breuer visited Wellfleet in the 1940s to visit architect and friend Serge Chermayeff, who was living near Slough Pond. Breuer, feeling inspired by his visit, bought 24 acres soon after that he planned to build a slew of experimental modern houses on.

He used the home he built for himself as a "laboratory for new ideas," according to the housing trust.

He also used it as a place to keep possessions, pieces of art history and even the ashes of his close family members (and himself.) According to the trust, some of those items include:

"The house’s contents include examples of Breuer’s iconic manufactured furniture, as well as one-of-a-kind tables, couches, and hand woven wool rugs made specifically for the house. There are over 200 books on art and design, many inscribed to Breuer by the authors. The art collection includes works by Calder, Bauhaus alumni Klee, Schawinsky, and Herbert Bayer, and bronze sculptures by Costentino Nivola. Beside the driveway is a stone slab made by sculptor Masayuki Nagare, which Breuer brought back from a visit to Japan. Under the stone lay the ashes of Marcel and his wife Connie Breuer, Connie’s sister, and her husband. "

The home also became a hub for the art community, both for local creators and world-renowned artists and makers.

Alexander Calder, Saul Steinberg, Xanti Schawinsky, Bernad Rudovsky, Florence Knoll and the Saarinen Family are among the people who stayed at the home during the summer months, according to the trust.

Now, with their hopeful purchase of the property, trust officials hope to continue that tradition, ensuring that the modern art community on Cape Cod can feel the same inspiration that Breuer and him contemporaries felt.