Got some nice press today from the Oregonian in regards to the MCM League driving tour tomorrow!
By Janet Eastman | jeastman@oregonian.com
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on October 10, 2013 at 4:59 AM, updated October 10, 2013 at 4:23 PM
If Don Draper had abandoned his “Mad Men” life for Portland, he probably would have retired handsomely in a Birkemeier home with its built-in basement bar and reflecting walls of glass.
Or so imagines some of the volunteers with the Mid-century Modern League of Portland, a group of architectural enthusiast who are hosting a self-driving tour on Saturday, Oct. 12, of mid-century modern homes hidden in Northeast Portland.
After viewing the custom homes using the league’s map, ticket holders ($10) will then gather at a reception from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. at John Storrs’ 1963 Manchester House, clink imaginary cocktail glasses and talk about Space Age design (maps are available year round for $5).
Alyssa Starelli, a real estate agent whose business card exclaims “Atomic Houses for Atomic People,” organized the first of the league’s driving tours last year.
Before she founded the league, she seemed continually behind the wheel of her car, escorting people to these stunning dwellings that were installed through the 1960s on challenging and long-ignored lots.
The futuristic structures were wedged between older bungalows, craftsman, English Tudor and storybook homes.
By bringing attention to mid-century houses and the neighborhoods that have protected them, the league “hopes to educate the public as to the cultural and historical value of this architecture, and thereby deter razing or remodeling,” says Starelli.
The mid-century moderns and more modest ranch houses on the tour capture the era’s exuberance and interest in art, design and groundbreaking technology.
Some of the more secluded moderns represent a builder’s dream of designing tracts of two to 20 houses with extreme facades, open-floor plans and indoor-outdoor living.
“Vaulted ceilings, highly functional kitchens and even cozy rumpus rooms are precursors to the aspects we demand out of today’s architecture,” says Starelli. “But mostly, they’re cool. Very cool. And people want to know where they are.”
— Janet Eastman
