Celebrating Mid Century in a Traditional Town

Alarm bells sounded in my head on Sunday afternoon – and no, it had nothing to do with the realization that my glorious mini-vacation was coming to an end. I had just spotted an article in the New York Times describing the plight of a modest little house in Connecticut with a design pedigree that belies its size. Designed by Philip Johnson, "the most celebrated architect of the last half-century," according to the Times’ Andy Newman, the house has been languishing on the market for a year at $3.1 million. Its owner, reluctant to lower the price, is now considering tearing it down, much to the horror of mid-century architecture enthusiasts.

The DC area is home to many modern residences with similar historical and artistic significance. Could such a thing happen in our neck of the woods? My fears were assuaged by Mike Shapiro, the mid-century modern maven behind Modern Capital, an excellent blog that focuses on residential modernism in the DC area. Shapiro’s blog attempts to dispel the “false perception” that the DC area has virtually no modern homes or communities. His site has seen a rise in traffic to nearly 5,000 visits per month after two years, which indicates the presence of a “growing niche” of people who love modernism, he says. Keep reading for a list of his favorite mid-century modern communities.