This house satisfies the great American urge to enjoy the outdoors as much as possible. A wide sun deck on the upper level of the house faces a spectacular view of Seattle across Lake Union. The deck is partly covered, partly open for sheltered meals and sun bathing. For outdoor dining there is a direct pass-through from kitchen to sun deck. The outdoors can also be enjoyed indoors. The deck is, in fact, an extension of the living-dining room because only floor-to-ceiling glass walls separate it from this room. Living-dining room and deck can be used as one big room when the weather is fine.

All living areas in this two story house have the benefit of a view and privacy from the street. There are window-walls in living-dining room and kitchen on the upper level of the house and in the bed- rooms on the lower level. The entrance, on the opposite side, looks out on a secluded court set back from the road. For complete privacy the front wall of the house, facing road, is windowless.

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source: House and Garden Magazine | September 1955

Today you can be immune to weather's vagaries; you can have a house with a pleasant climate built into it. This air conditioned house in Fort Worth, Texas, is a good example of weather-wise planning. It may be warmed or cooled automatically to its owner's content, but at the same time it has big glass window-walls on south and east sides for full light and air; overhangs keep out the overhead summer sun. On the north and west sides windows are cut down to a narrow band at ceiling height to minimize the effect in the house of the cold north winds of winter and the hot western sun of summer.

All families must cope with the fact that two generations have two different ideas about the good life. Parents are inclined to relative peace and quiet, while children are dedicated to noise. How best to satisfy these opposing points of view? The obvious solution is a house that permits plenty of freedom for both generations. This house goes a step further: it combines all of the advantages of two separate, one-story houses under one roof. It also makes the most of its site, which slopes sharply to the south. You enter the house on the upper level and you find a complete one-floor house. 

Downstairs is another floor for living: a big family room, with a cooking-barbecue area that opens to the terrace; a hobby room, one bathroom, and provision for two future bedrooms and an extra bath. Result: two-level living, 2,300 square feet of living space on each floor, opened to the sun and view by great window-walls along back of the house.

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source: House and Garden Magazine | August 1955

To take full advantage of a far view of rolling hills, this jaunty little house was built 8 feet up in the air; and to tie it solidly to the ground, carport walls were built of native fieldstone, like the old dry stone walls of surrounding countryside. Glass window-walls open living room to view on two sides; and a broad sun-deck extends beyond, on south side. Roof has top surface of white gravel to reflect heat of sun's rays, and broad overhangs to shade house from high summer sun; surrounding trees also keep house cool. Walls are mahogany, stained natural.

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source: House and Garden Magazine | July 1955

Here is a completely unconventional house, the only one of its kind, but it solves problems common to most families. It was built as an experimental house by California designer Cliff May, and it has passed the crucial test of family life. Mr. May and his wife and three young children have lived in it for a year, and found the experience exhilarating and comfortable. It has no fixed floor plan, rooms can be arranged and rearranged as easily as the living room furniture. It has a skylight that opens automatically when the weather is warm and closes when it is cold. What Mr. May originally set out to do was to build a better house at a lower cost than ever before. To cut labor costs to a minimum, he practically did away with interior partitions. The house is actually one big room (1,600 square feet), with only the kitchen and two bathrooms partitioned off. The other inside walls are 7'-high storage cabinets on rollers which can be arranged to make as many or as big rooms as are needed at any given time: for example, an extra bedroom when a new baby arrives, or one less bedroom when a son or daughter goes off to college. As shown here, the May family has divided it into three bedrooms, a dining-family room, and a big living room that opens to a concrete-paved living terrace. Natural daylighting, the other big idea in this little house, comes in through a 22' x 8' skylight in the center of the roof. Its sliding glass panels are controlled by a thermostat; they close when the temperature drops, open when it rises; and canvas skyshades can be drawn across for protection against hot mid-day sun. But California weather permits the skylight to be open much of the time. As a result, the dining-family room below it is also a kind of indoor garden where a variety of plants flourish, and the whole house is bathed in daylight, moonlight and good fresh air. The only man-made glamour touch is spotlighting in the trees that tower above the skylight; any night, you can look up and see bright light filtering down through the branches.

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source: House and Garden Magazine | May 1955

This house is as pretty outside as it is inside, a happy state of affairs that comes as a result of careful attention to details. Its owners, Mr. and Mrs. Richard A. Winter, first chose a wooded plot just under an acre, in Lake Forest, Illinois, and then worked out, with their archi- tect, a plan that would suit them both now and in the future. Outside, it is shrimp-pink brick, with blue-gray doors and shutters, and white wrought iron trim, and looks larger than it is because the garage ex- tends it in an L. Inside it has 2,425 square feet of space, without the second floor; there, two bedrooms and bath will be finished later.

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source: House and Garden Magazine | March 1953