Tag Archives: Cubism

Modernism Shocks the Berkshires of the 1930’s

A 1943 Town and Country article introduced an article on the beautiful summer home of George Morris and Suzy Frelinghuysen with the headline “Mutiny in the Berkshires.”

First Modernist House in New England

The Studio, Built in 1930, Designed by George Sanderson of Boston
The Studio, Built in 1930, Designed by George Sanderson of Boston

After building the studio in 1930, George and Suzy had the house, designed by John Butler Swann of Stockbridge, built in 1940-1942.  It was inspired by Le Corbusier at which George had studied in Paris.

exterior house 3

The Modernism it exemplified was wildly at odds with the gracefully (sometimes not so gracefully) decaying Lenox mansions from the Gilded Age.  However it was consistent with the couple’s immersion in abstract art. Continue reading Modernism Shocks the Berkshires of the 1930’s