Built with a steel frame, the Frost House features panels of styrofoam between aluminum sheets for the exterior walls and styrofoam between plywood for the roof and floors. Bold, primary colors accentuate its geometric form.
Shortly after Karen Valentine and Bob Coscarelli purchased the home in 2016, they began to unearth nuggets of information about its pedigree. Their realtor had provided a brochure that identified the prefab as designed by architect Emil Tessin for the now-defunct Alside Homes Corporation based out of Akron, Ohio, which had held a patent for the structure’s aluminum paneling. Their new neighbors provided a stack of Alside Homes sales materials, floor plans of various models, and even a script that had been written for salespeople during home tours. They determined that the Frost House had been a sales model for the company, and that Tessin had been the son of Emil Albert Tessin, the legal guardian of Florence Knoll.
Once immortalized by master architectural photographer Julius Shulman and currently being considered as a historic landmark in Los Angeles County, this four-bedroom, two-bath residence was built in 1954 by builder and craftsman Ken McLeod to be his personal home. In 1964 architect Rufus Turner restored the rear after a fire damaged the living room.
To create a better flow, they took out the wall between the kitchen and dining rooms and added a peninsula where they could put bar stools for people to hang out while they’re cooking. They also moved the range closer to the peninsula to create a better layout for entertaining. Finally, the installed new quartz countertops and cabinets. They salvaged some of the old cabinets and repurposed them in the laundry room downstairs.
Fields of native grasses connect the main residence, situated at the top of the slope, to the new structures scattered below. A pergola extends from the post-and-beam structure that was maintained during the remodel of the midcentury home.
A stony walk and a line of bamboo, original to the property, direct visitors to the entryway of the Pfeiffers’ modest 1956 slice of heaven.
Seeking an escape from bustling city life, a Manhattan couple embarks on a renovation in the verdant Hudson Valley.
The 1,800-square-foot home features a cantilevered design and diagonal cladding similar to that of Breuer’s own 1947 Connecticut residence. Hufft replaced the roof but maintained its flat profile—though finding the correct two-inch metal flashing was a challenge. “These are the details that make the original what I consider a masterpiece,” Hufft says.
Farnham walks the couple’s Vizsla, Kasia, down the sloped alley upon which the
house sits. Hill’s renovation maintains some Victorian character in the decorative eaves
and scaling, but the home is largely an anomaly for San Francisco.
"I think an architect’s job is to celebrate what people really care about and simplify and streamline the rest.” —Page Goolrick
The appliances have been installed, and the