Friday, May 4, 2012

Mid-Century Modern

The fifth annual "Back to the Future: A Mid-Century Modern Home Tour" on 2 June will feature five homes on Indianapolis’ north side.

Owners of the mid-century homes opening from 1 to 6 p.m. are:

*Ken Turchi’s 1954 home at 221 East 70th Street (pictured)
*Gene and Nancy McPherson’s 1960 house by O. C. Winters at 171 East 71st Street
*Jim and Pat LaCrosse’s Williams Creek home at 7915 Morningside Drive, designed in 1958 by Edward Pierre
*Lyle and Jane Messenger’s 1959 house at 7037 Washington Boulevard
*Steve and Rhonda Cohen’s 1957 home at 6461 Sunset Lane.

In ’50s and ’60s America, when the homes featured on this tour were being built, many people considered Victorian architecture dated and ugly. As a result, countless architectural gems were lost to the wrecking ball.

Indiana Landmarks and its Indiana Modern committee are working to protect Modernist buildings from a similar fate and foster appreciation for the style. Proceeds from the "Back to the Future" tour support the organization’s efforts to preserve and promote fine examples of Mid-Century Modern architecture throughout the state.

Ticket holders can take the tour in any order, picking up a program at any house or stopping first at Second Presbyterian Church to catch a shuttle that will circulate among tour homes. Second Presbyterian, designed by McGuire, Shook, Compton, Richey & Associates in 1958, shares the mid-century vintage if not the appearance of the tour homes.

Tickets are $15 per person on the day of the tour at Second Presbyterian Church.

On 31 May, the Indiana Modern committee joins with the Design Arts Society of the Indianapolis Museum of Art to present a free lecture, "Modernism is for Everyone", by California architect, critic and preservationist Alan Hess. Hess led the effort to save the nation's first McDonald's in Downey, California. His books include The Ranch House and Googie Redux: Ultramodern Roadside Architecture. The lecture takes place at 6 p.m. in The Toby at the IMA, 4000 Michigan Road, Indianapolis.

For more information on either event, go online.

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