The Beckstrandt house is ambidextrous in that it manages to face two ways at once and get the most out of each exposure. To the west, the house overlooks the Pacific Ocean and a broad expanse of coast. Since this side faces winds from the sea, the almost continuous glass windows are stationary. On the other side, where the wind is comparatively quiet, the Beckstrandts have a patio and landscaped gardens for outdoor living in the abundant California sunshine.

The large central living room connects with a corner dining room at the north end and with a small sitting room opposite the window wall. The sitting room converts easily, by means of a folding partition, into a guest room, which opens onto the patio. The master suite of bedroom, lounge, dressing room and bath (at the southeastern end of the house) opens onto its own private garden.

The Beckstrandt house has an all-steel skeleton which was prefabricated in Los Angeles, then transported by truck to Palos Verdes and erected on the site.

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source: House and Garden Magazine | Augsut 1946

Mr. and Mrs. Tompkins invited a young couple interested in building to spend a day in their new house. They discovered the good points of this house, its comfort, its easy operation. The young couple was certain a modern house would be stiff as a theater lobby and just as impersonal. When they saw it, they were delighted with its warmth and airiness, surprised by the feeling of ample space on the inside even though the house is actually not large. 

Mr. Breuer says there are four devices which make any room seem larger: 

1) Horizontal window openings which extend interior space to air, sky, deck or garden. 

2) Elimination of unnecessary doors and partitions which cut up space. (In this house, the living room and dining room are separated only by the central fireplace, and even that is open on two sides.) 

3) Interior planes extended to the outdoors carry the eye beyond the enclosed area. 

4) Simple, continuous elements give an impression of greater sweep-one bookcase wall instead of a scattering throughout the room; one large window in place of many little ones.

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source: House and Garden Magazine | Augsut 1947

Mr. and Mrs. Jacques Makowsky of Kings Point, Long Island, like to live at home.

They have four children, many relatives, innumerable friends, and they enjoy seeing them all frequently-at home. They have entertained 50 people at dinner, yet lunch for four in this house is delightfully intimate. It is that kind of house.

With such a philosophy of living, it is necessary to have a large place, but one in which the individual will not feel lost. In this house Edward D. Stone, the architect, has skillfully balanced spaciousness with intimate areas. As a result, the house is comfortable, congenial, relaxing. Only 55 minutes from Mr. Makowsky's New York printing plant, the five-acre property at Kings Point slopes gently to the Sound. Built in a slight hollow which rises to the north, the house is hidden from the road, while on the other side it opens wide to a view of the water. The first floor is built on two levels with most of the rooms overlooking the loggia and living room, five steps down. This lower area is generous in all dimensions; high-ceilinged because of the sunken floor and visually extended to the outdoors through glass walls. The rooms on the higher level are smaller, more secluded, with a view of the garden to the north, and a southerly glimpse of the Sound through the loggia and living room windows. There is nothing static about the living area, one room leads naturally to the next and there are no doors to bar the way. Like a French Baroque garden, it has infinite variety and contrast.

When the Makowskys decided to build a house, they admittedly knew little about architecture, but they were determined to have a house which would be fun to live in, easy to maintain and possess a sense of continuity with the past. They decided to learn about houses. They bought books on the subject, subscribed to magazines, dis- cussed, noted. They "psyched" themselves and their requirements. This was during the war, when home building had virtually stopped. A less determined family would have postponed everything. Instead, they purchased land, drew up plans and built a model to test the design. V-J Day was celebrated by breaking ground for the house.

At every turn there are original ideas, excellent space planning and modern conveniences. Although this is a thoroughly modern house, it has a kinship with the past. There are waxed brick floors, whitewashed brick walls, the warmth and richness of wood paneling and everywhere an abundance of green.

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source: House and Garden Magazine | July 1947

Raymond Loewy is an industrial designer, the stamp of whose taste marks an unbelievably wide range of objects which you buy or use every day of your life (lipstick to locomotives; the new Studebaker, buses, the Lucky Strike cigarette package, refrigerators, ranges, radios). He is, moreover, a man of convictions about both design and living, believing that anyone who works as hard as he does needs relaxation in sharp contrast to his usual life. So, forsaking his Colonial farmhouse on Long Island, he has built a tiny house in Palm Springs, California, packed with ideas, many of them frankly experimental. 

The over-all plan is framing a pool with living wings, each room leading directly to the outdoors. Then the wide use of glass to afford protection and, when curtained, privacy, so that indoors and outdoors are inextricably fused. With this technique, rooms can be compact and easy to care for. They could never be cramped with such wide horizons. Mr. Loewy's use of native materials and colors serves to make his house a part of the desert, as the desert is part of the house. And though desert color is sharply accented, the effect is restful, since it is natural. Here is a house basically simple to maintain, undemanding and easygoing, which makes it perfect for anyone who enjoys relaxing in the country.

Though Raymond Loewy designed this house primarily for leisure, he can never resist trying out his de- sign theories to see if they are practicable. 

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source: House and Garden Magazine | May 1947

Three small boys, the oldest of them seven, are indirectly responsible for the plan of one of the most successful modern houses built since the war. At Lawrence, Long Island, the house which architect Marcel Breuer created for Mr. and Mrs. Bert Geller's family, and most of all for their three children, is a cogent case for the modern approach to design.

This is tomorrow's house built today. It is important because it is brand new thinking, realized in wood and stone. Its architect is a realist. He knows that children are noisy and that parents want quiet, so he has planned a house where two generations can live intimately but not in a heap. He understands that servants are scarce, so he has geared the house to require a minimum of upkeep. Hungarian- born Breuer understands the American passion for the sun, and has at his fingers" ends all the accepted tenets about indoor-outdoor living. He is sensitive to the qualities of materials, knows how simple things like fieldstone and cedar siding. when they are juxtaposed, can set each other off excitingly. He works in restrained, natural colors, interrupting them suddenly, sharply, with flashes of primary reds, yellows and blues.

All of these factors, taken separately, do not in themselves equal an important house. It is the way in which they have been interrelated which is the secret of the success of the Geller house. As if he had used a pair of giant scissors, Marcel Breuer has taken what is at heart a two-story-and-basement house, cut its stories apart and set them in a spreading, wing-like pattern on the soil of Long Island. This is a complete departure from the old-fashioned bungalow, where bedrooms radiated at random from the main living rooms. Here, the living-dining-service floor is in one wing; the family's floor is a separate unit connected by the entry hall; carport, storage room and guest bedrooms are in a building of their own, adjacent to the main house. Mr. Breuer's own, technical description of the plan is that it is "bi-nuclear, composed of two distinct entities, with a satellite building."

On August 1, 1981, at 12:01 a.m. Eastern Time, MTV—Music Television—hit the airwaves. It was a revolution in motion, a brand-new concept: 24 hours of music videos hosted by VJs (video jockeys) who connected audiences to artists in real time.

The first video to ever play was “Video Killed the Radio Star” by The Buggles—a prophetic choice that signaled a cultural shift. Music would no longer be heard alone; it would be seen, styled, and performed for the screen.

From day one, MTV was more than a channel—it was a mood, an attitude, a lifestyle. It fused pop culture, youth identity, and the visual language of music into something entirely new.

In its early years, MTV championed rock and pop acts, helping record labels reach the next generation. Yet it quickly evolved into something bigger—a tastemaker that could catapult unknown artists to stardom. Madonna, Michael Jackson, Prince, and Duran Duran didn’t just thrive on MTV; they became MTV.

Key moments in its rise included:

• 1983: Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” redefined the music video as cinema, complete with narrative, choreography, and spectacle.

• 1984: The first MTV Video Music Awards (VMAs) debuted, with Madonna’s “Like a Virgin” performance shocking and captivating millions.

• 1985: Live Aid united the world for a cause, and MTV’s coverage turned a concert into a global event.

• Late ’80s – early ’90s: The network diversified—Headbanger’s Ball, Yo! MTV Raps, and MTV Unplugged brought in every genre from heavy metal to hip hop to acoustic introspection.

• 1992: The Real World marked MTV’s pivot into reality television, offering raw glimpses of youth culture that felt revolutionary.

• 1998: Total Request Live (TRL) became an after-school ritual—music countdowns, celebrity interviews, and the pulse of teen culture, all in one chaotic hour.

MTV kept reinventing itself, balancing between art and entertainment. Yet, over time, its music roots grew thinner as original shows, reality series, and pop-culture content filled its schedule.

Notable Moments

• The premiere of “Video Killed the Radio Star”—a symbolic birth of a new medium.

• Michael Jackson’s “Thriller”, which broke racial and creative boundaries.

• The unforgettable VMAs: Madonna’s risqué debut, Nirvana’s chaotic performances, and Kanye interrupting Taylor Swift—a timeline of pop history’s most talked-about moments.

• The explosion of reality hits like The Real World and Jersey Shore, reflecting the channel’s growing obsession with unscripted drama.

• MTV Unplugged, which stripped artists to their core and gave us raw, emotional performances—think Nirvana, Eric Clapton, and Lauryn Hill.