Marcel Breuer’s Geller Home I demolished on Lengthy Island with out warning

Docomomo US has shared the news that Geller House I, a widely celebrated and vastly influential early residential project of Marcel Breuer in Lawrence, New York, is gone. It was “demolished overnight,” apparently to make way for new development in a Queens-abutting swath of Long Island “where property values have skyrocketed and the size of newly built houses dwarfs the more modest scale of this early modern home,” according to the stateside arm of the international nonprofit dedicated to the documentation and conservation of modernist architecture and design.

While the destruction of any significant modernist building is saddening, the loss of Breuer’s Geller House I particularly stings. As Docomomo US president Liz Waytkus elaborated in a news item penned just before the structure was razed, the organization had recently formed a coalition with Docomomo US NY/Tri-State, the Preservation League of New York State, Preservation Long Island, and author/advocate Caroline Rob Zaleski to “work for a better preservation outcome” for Geller House I immediately after learning of its potential endangerment late last year. The Breuer-designed home, located at 175 Ocean Avenue in the Village of Lawrence (part of the Town of Hampstead) was, as mentioned, ultimately destroyed to make way for new development, specifically a larger residential project requiring multiple lots.

In an email to AN, Waytkus emphasized the coalition’s frustration and noted that the group had been “working around the clock to stop this from happening.” The demolition of the home, while always a risk, also came as something of a shock. Waytkus relayed that she had recently been in contact with the current owners of the property and that they had referred to Breuer’s work as a “masterpiece” and told her they had “no plan to do anything with the house for the next few years.”

Per Docomomo US, Geller House I was “likely” eligible for inclusion on the eligible on the National Register of Historic Places as a contributing site to the Rockaway Hunt Historic District and was also likely eligible as a local landmark designation within the Town of Hampstead. An application seeking landmark status was submitted to town officials last December and was “enthusiastically received and supported” by the Hempstead Landmarks Preservation Commission.

Designed for Bertram and Phyllis Geller, Geller House I was, upon its completion, an instant darling of architectural journals and shelter magazines of the era, appearing in dedicated spreads and profiles in numerous domestic and international publications including House & Garden. As noted by Docomomo US, the success of the Geller House led the Museum of Modern Art to commission Breuer for The House in the Museum Garden, a 1949 exhibition house placed within the museum’s courtyard. Presenting a radical-at-the-time (yet attainable) reimagining of the typical American family home, the exhibition drew over 70,000 visitors during its several-month run at MoMA.

“It really put him on the map,” Waytkus told AN of Geller House I, which was Breuer’s first residential commission after ending his partnership with his mentor, Walter Gropius. The project also prompted Breuer’s move from Cambridge, Massachusetts, to New York City where he established an independent architectural practice—and the rest is history. The butterfly-roofed Geller House was also Breuer’s first completed “binuclear” house that employs a floor plan in which the public areas and bedrooms are contained within two separate wings divided by a formal entrance hall.

It’s worth mentioning that there is indeed a Geller House II and it’s still very much standing. Completed in 1969, that home is also located in Lawrence and, as Waytkus told AN, has been recently sold to another developer. While the owner of that home has expressed fondness for the Breuer’s design and reportedly has no plans to demolish it, the surprise destruction of Geller House I has placed Waytkus on high alert.

“What is it going to take to save Geller II? I don’t know but we are going to continue to do everything in our power to save that one,” she said.

This is a breaking story and AN will provide further updates and insights as we learn more.