midcentury

Also known as Still Bend, Schwartz House was designed as part of a LIFE Magazine competition in 1938, in which the publication commissioned eight architects to design a "dream house" for four typical American families. The design became reality when Bernard Schwartz commissioned the architect to build the home for his family in Two Rivers, Wisconsin. Modified for the site, the 1940 house boasts classic Wright touches like red tidewater cypress board, huge windows, and interiors in harmony with the natural surroundings.

By scouring shops, sales, and auctions, George Marrone amassed a giant trove of postwar furniture. He and his partner, Michael Nocera, applied that same work ethic to a 1959 home in Wilmington, Delaware, which they patched up over two years. The couple’s bulldogs stand guard at the flagstone entrance. The door, still with its Space Age knobs, is painted Flaming Torch by Behr. The brass wallhanging above the landing is by C. Jeré.

Knob Modern, helmed by Amy Beaumont, renovated this 1964 cookie-cutter home in Tempe with an eye toward making the two-bedroom, two-bath home "stand out from the rest.