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Beacheroct09.Pdf THE TM 911 Franklin Street Weekly Newspaper Michigan City, IN 46360 Volume 24, Number 40 Thursday, October 9, 2008 The House of Tomorrow… Its Fabulous Past by Barbara Stodola BEVERLY SHORES, IN – Once the star of the show, the House of Tomorrow today stands boarded-up and fenced-in – a sorry disappointment to those who hoped to see signs of progress at the annual tour of homes – but a ripe opportunity for an ardent preser- vationist with $1.3 million to spend. “We are accepting applications from per- sons interested in working with us,” said Todd Zeiger, regional director of Historic Landmarks Foundation of Indiana, the agency which leases the World’s Fair homes from the National Park Service and subleas- es them to qualifi ed applicants. “We want to see the house looking the way the architect, George Fred Keck, originally designed it,” he said, allowing that some concessions will be made for renovating the interior. The House of Tomorrow as it stands today, boarded up, in Beverly Shores, Ind. This year’s tour, on October 11 and 12, marks the 75th anniversary of Chicago’s Cen- tury of Progress Exhibition, where the futur- istic House of Tomorrow made its debut. It is one of fi ve World’s Fair houses shipped to Beverly Shores after the fair closed – and the only one still searching for a rescue party. Mary Miller-Luxen, the last private owner of the house, moved to Cali- fornia almost 10 years ago, after her lease-back agree- ment with the National Park Service expired. Friends re- member the ups and downs of Mary’s 40 years in the House of Tomorrow – the fabulous parties she hosted for political candidates, and the constant Mary Miller-Luxen haggling with the national parks over such issues as who was going to repair the roof. (In the end, Historic Landmarks Foundation replaced it.) The House of Tomorrow at the 1933 World’s Fair, with sun-decks and plate-glass window-walls on second and third levels. House of Tomorrow Continued on Page 2 THE Page 2 October 9, 2008 THE 911 Franklin Street • Michigan City, IN 46360 219/879-0088 • FAX 219/879-8070 In Case Of Emergency, Dial e-mail: News/Articles - sallym@thebeacher.com email: Classifieds - classads@thebeacher.com http://www.thebeacher.com/ PRINTED WITH Published and Printed by TM Trademark of American Soybean Association THE BEACHER BUSINESS PRINTERS Delivered weekly, free of charge to Birch Tree Farms, Duneland Beach, Grand Beach, Hidden 911 Shores, Long Beach, Michiana Shores, Michiana MI and Shoreland Hills. The Beacher is also Subscription Rates delivered to public places in Michigan City, New Buffalo, LaPorte and Sheridan Beach. 1 year $38 6 months $21 3 months $13 1 month $6.50 House of Tomorrow Continued from Page 1 Keck was one of few midwestern architects who “The roof always leaked,” recalls Bobbe Gull, espoused the sleek International style that Le Cor- the interior designer Mary contacted in the 1980s busier had pioneered in France. But Keck incorpo- to give her house a glamorous Art Deco look. Occu- rated spectacular features: an airplane hangar, at- pants of the four other World’s Fair houses had the tached garage, central air conditioning, labor-saving same experience – leaky roofs that caused no end devices in the kitchen. His house proved to be one of of damage – but they acknowledge that the houses the fair’s major attractions. More than 1.5 million were only built to showcase modern materials and visitors paid an extra 10 cents to see it. construction techniques, and were never expected Keck himself designed much of the furniture to last for 75 years. shown at the fair’s opening in 1933: clean-lined, tu- bular chrome and glass pieces, the very essence of modernism. An “original chair” from the World’s Fair, which the Millers kept on their porch. Mary Miller-Luxen (right) photographed during the 1980s with interior designer Bobbe Gull, whom Mary had contacted after Bobbe did the Art Deco interior of Tangerine restaurant in La Porte, Ind. When George Fred Keck drew up his plan for the House of Tomorrow, he had a novel concept – a three-story, 12-sided house supported by a steel frame, with fl oor-to-ceiling windows all around. Steel-frame construction of House of Tomorrow, House of Tomorrow as it was furnished in 1933, with fl oors radiating from a central core. with modernist tubular furniture and Venetian blinds. THE October 9, 2008 Page 3 But by the 1934 season, designing women had al- When the World’s Fair closed, with no plans made ready begun to alter his scheme. Interior designer for the housing exhibits, developer Robert Bartlett Mabel Schamberg explained: “Because of the ex- was able to purchase the House of Tomorrow for posed constructions – like the ‘X-Ray’ – revealing $2,500. He intended to use it as a promotion piece Bones! – I decided that the skeleton structure need- for his vacation community, Beverly Shores, and ar- ed to be garbed in as restful a mode as possible… I ranged for a barge to ship it across Lake Michigan. used ‘grays’ in order to soften and subtilize the steel But a rough winter interfered with the house be- beams.” ing unloaded at the specially-built dock. Historian Schamberg also replaced the Venetian blinds Carl Reed says the House of Tomorrow waited out with glass curtains to achieve “wistful, delightful, the storms in the harbor of Trail Creek, courtesy of softening effects” and covered the plate-glass win- Edward Lutz fi sheries. It arrived in two pieces, the dows with draperies, so as to be “cozily hidden from third-fl oor solarium being shipped separately. the outside world.” Bartlett bought fi ve other World’s Fair homes, but the House of Tomorrow was the only one he man- aged to sell. The new owners, Charles and Catherine McCarty, bought the building in 1938 and briefl y operated a tea-room there. In 1940 they sold it to Ruth Gallagher. The house changed hands again in 1945, when interior designer Helen Lewis acquired it for her summer home. She lived year-round in the Drake Hotel and had a clientele on Chicago’s north shore. According to Mary Miller-Luxen, Lewis used Chippendale furnishings in the House of Tomor- row. In 1958, James and Mary Miller became the new owners, after having rented the fi rst-level apart- ment for awhile. The airplane hangar was convert- ed into bedrooms, and a screened porch was built on the second level to accommodate the activities of six children – Jim, Jeff, Joel, Joan, Jeani and Jay. In House of Tomorrow as it was furnished in 1934, later years, Mary spent winters in California. She with fl oor-to-ceiling draperies. was preceded in death by both husbands, James E. Keck’s revolutionary fl oor-plan – with pie-shaped Miller and Raymond Luxen. rooms radiating from a central core – had left the Mary Miller-Luxen was dining area open to the living room. Schamberg a gregarious, fun-loving fi xed that with a decorative screen, dividing the two individual, a political ac- spaces. On the lower level, she replaced the “man’s tivist with a large circle of workroom” with a cocktail room, a socially accept- friends. In the turbulent able space after the repeal of Prohibition. political atmosphere of the 1960s, with controversies raging between Beverly Shores homeowners and proponents of the national park, the Democratic par- Mary Miller Luxen is pictured ty won the election – and (right) at an Art Center costume Mary was elected town party with Augusta Weir (center) clerk. She attended rallies and Beverly Shores artist and conventions, and of- Aldona Marek. ten opened her house for fund-raising events. Visiting architects and student groups were fre- quent visitors. Jim Zanzi, who teaches at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, said, “I remember Mary Miller-Luxen with great affection and have the highest regard for her custodianship of the House of Tomorrow.” She often pointed out such original fea- tures as the non-functioning dishwasher, which she kept in place because, she said, “It was the fi rst one ever made.” A decorative screen separating living and dining areas. House of Tomorrow Continued on Page 4 THE Page 4 October 9, 2008 House of Tomorrow Continued from Page 3 According to Mary’s lease-back agreement with the National Parks, she was expected to move out in 1998. Jim Morrow, a preservationist from Ches- terton, had plans to restore the House of Tomorrow and to live in it. But he became exasperated with the differing regulations of state and federal authorities – and with Mary’s reluctance to leave. He decided to buy a different house. Another would-be reno- vator took over, but the agreement terms were not observed (among other things, the exterior copper cladding was removed and found in the dumpster), and Historic Landmarks Foundation terminated the lease. Mary Miller-Luxen left Beverly Shores; she moved to La Jolla, California, where she died just one year ago – on October 11, 2007. Determined to personalize her home, Mary covered the front hall with oyster shells – brought home each night from the Red Lantern restaurant, where she worked as a hostess. End-grain wood paneling, shown here on a wall, was also used on some fl oors. Mary’s preference for geometric fabrics is shown in her 1990s redecorating of the lower level. Cypress House on Tour The Cypress Log Cabin, a rustic beach house demonstrating the functional beauty of tidewater red cypress, will be open to visitors Saturday and Sunday, October 11 and 12, at the annual house tour sponsored by Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore.
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