Meanwhile, in the USA: A Landmark Modernist House Heads to Auction

It is interesting to observe how other countries manage and respond to the sale of significant Modernist houses. This New York Times article makes several interesting comments and observations about the sale of Richard Neutra's Kaufmann House (1946), including reference to a trend that purchasers are viewing the acquisition of such properties in the same light that they view the purchase of art. Accordingly, the house is being sold through the world's leading art business, Christie's, in New York. The article also mentions that some American architectural historians view the sale to private hands, as opposed to the (North American) National Trust for Historic Preservation as a loss to the general public (sound familiar?). Unlike our own National Trust, the Americans have have put their money where their mouth is and value Modernism: they have already acquired Mies van der Rohe's Farnsworth House (1945-51).

Speaking of acquisitions, if you are in the market for a beautiful slice of Victorian Modernist history, check out McGlashan and Everist's Guss House, now up for sale, in Kew.