The Bra. The Box Kite. The Cat. The Milk Carton. The Reclining Picasso. These are the playful names given to the eccentric beach houses of Andrew Geller. Built in the 1950s and 1960s, these whimsical vacation homes reflected the idea of summer leisure for a generation more concerned with fun on the beach than ostentatious display. For clients in the Hamptons, the Jersey shore, and in New England, Geller built dozens of houses, most of wood and most on modest budgets. Geller, who worked with Raymond Loewy and directed the design of such modernist landmarks as the Lever House in New York, combined a modern interest in light, breeze, and functional living with playful form-making. These spirited houses, many shown here for the first time through vintage photographs and drawings, still delight today and will inspire anyone interested in beach house living.
Alastair Gordon (http://alastairgordonwalltowall.com/ ) is an author and award-winning critic who likes to explore urban and ex-urban spaces, especially marginal places like airports, beach houses, geodesic domes, and isolation chambers. He was born in Scotland and travels extensively, but has lived most of his life in or near New York City. He's published numerous books including "Weekend Utopia," "Spaced Out," "Naked Airport," "Beach Houses: Andrew Geller," "Romantic Modernist: The Life and Work of Norman Jaffe, Architect," "Long Island Modern," "Convergence: The Hamptons After Pollock," as well as the recently released "Wendell Castle: Wandering Forms," and "Qualities of Duration: The Architecture of Philip Smith & Douglas Thompson." He has been a feature writer and contributing editor for many different newspapers and magazines including WSJ., the Wall Street Journal Magazine, the New York Times, T Magazine, Architectural Digest, Town & Country, Le Monde, Dwell, Interior Design, Metropolis, House & Garden, the International Herald Tribune, Newsday and the New York Observer. Alastair is currently working on a book about Buckminster Fuller and serving as editorial director of Gordon de Vries Studio (gordondevriesstudio.com,) a publishing imprint that he founded and runs with his wife and partner Barbara de Vries. Read more at: http://alastairgordonwalltowall.com/
