Krisel's Modern Motel: The Imperial '400' Motel

As folks began to venture forth across America during the mid-century years of the fifties, the need for accommodations grew also.  The nation's burgeoning highway system, now expanding rapidly with Eisenhower's nascent interstate network, saw the need for affordable lodging.

According to historian John Crosse, "companies such as Howard Johnson's, TraveLodge and Los Angeles-based Imperial '400' Motels saw an opportunity to fill that void and went on a nation-wide building spree."  Mr. Crosse documents the rise of the Imperial '400' Motel on his Southern California Architectural History blog.  He notes that the "Imperial '400' took note of the award-winning and extremely popular tract housing designed by Southern California architects Palmer & Krisel and in 1959 commissioned them to design a prototype motel and the rights to build using their design on four other sites."

Rendering for the prototype for the Imperial '400' Motel chain, Palmer & Krisel, 1959 (courtesy of the William Krisel Archive, Getty Research Institute)

William Krisel's signature butterfly roof design figured prominently in the architecture of the Imperial '400' Motel.  Crosse points out that this "design concept proved so wildly successful that Imperial immediately launched it's franchise campaign and began building motels with virtually the same design all across the United States."    


I am fortunate to live near one of these mid-century modern motels in State College, Pennsylvania.  Originally built in the '60s, the following Imperial '400' Motel still carries the '400' signage.  I snapped the following photos after briefly discussing the motel's history with the current owners.

Source, Mark Henderson

Source, Mark Henderson

You can find more Imperial '400' Motel photos and information at Agility Nut's Roadside Architecture, and Crosse's Southern California Architectural History blog.  Enjoy!

Hollin Hills House and Garden Tour 2010

Hollin Hills is a unique and verdant mid-century modern neighborhood located between Washington DC and George Washington's Mount Vernon plantation in Fairfax County, Virginia.  Hollin Hills was the idea of developer Robert Davenport during the 40's to create a different type of community; a "community of vision."  Architect Charles Goodman, who designed the National Airport Terminal, set about creating modern home designs which formed a symbiotic relationship with the natural surroundings and terrain.  The concept of merging nature with these modern homes was given to three landscapers which included famed landscape architect Dan Kiley.  Hollin Hills over the years has received many awards.

The Civic Association of Hollin Hills (CAHH) has been actively pursuing National Register Designation for Hollin Hills and hopes to have it completed soon.  Hopefully this request will be heeded quickly, thus preserving these modernist homes for future generations to enjoy and study.

Each year the CAHH holds the highly anticipated Hollin Hills House and Garden Tour.  Please enjoy some of the photographs I was able to capture during my own visit.

You can view the rest of my photographs by visiting the Modernesia Facebook Group.

Las Vegas Modern

When I think of Las Vegas, I visualize many things such as, Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, and the rest of the Rat Pack, Wayne Newton, extravagant casinos with equally outrageous shows, the Mob, mid-century modern structures and Googie signage.  Unfortunately, much of the mid-century modern and Googie-themed architecture in and around Vegas is disappearing to make way for a new generation of bigger architecture (most of which is bland in my opinion).  Architects like William Krisel, Paul Revere Williams, Welton Beckett, Dan Palmer and others helped make Las Vegas architecturally distinctive during the 50's and 60's.

If you are fortunate enough to be passing through "Sin City," and want a break from its vices then you should stop by the Mid-Century Modern in Las Vegas exhibit currently on display at the Nevada State Museum.  The museum is open from 9:00am until 5:00pm, Wednesday through Saturday and is located at 700 Twin Lakes Drive in Las Vegas.  At $4.00 for non-member adults, the admission is much better than gambling in the casinos.  Among the exhibit highlights are photographs by Jay Florian Mitchell who photographed the futuristic terminal pictured above at McCarran International Airport.

Mid-Century Modernism on Film

For those of you lucky enough to have traveled to Palm Springs for the annual Modernism Week, congratulations!  Since I was trapped by snow and work, I could only wish that I could have been there.  Perhaps, next year!  In the meantime I eagerly anticipate the following Design Onscreen films titled Desert Utopia: Mid-Century Architecture in Palm Springs, and William Krisel, Architect  when both are available for viewing in a theater nearby and on DVD.


Desert Utopia: Mid-Century Architecture in Palm Springs from Design Onscreen on Vimeo.


William Krisel, Architect from Design Onscreen on Vimeo.

Design Onscreen premiered various films during the annual celebration.  Visit Design Onscreen for more information on their films.

Special Exhibition Highlighting Eichlers of Orange County

Image copyrighted by Crussell Fine Arts

Joseph Eichler was a real-estate developer and not an architect, yet the cool houses he built  throughout California during the late fifties and sixties stand the test of time.  These "atomic ranch" homes epitomize the mid-century modern aesthetic that many often refer to as "California Modern."  Originally designed and built for the common man using newly discovered processes and materials developed during the second world war, Eichler designed and built cool neighborhoods in Northern and Southern California.

Artist Jeffrey Crussell has a beautiful online gallery celebrating the homes Eichler built in Orange, California.  A special exhibition, beginning February 20 and running until March 20, 2010, "will consist of 50 pencil drawings available as archival pigment prints in small editions and displayed in a 1964 Eichler designed by the architectural firm of Claude Oakland."  Please visit the Eichler page at Crussell's Fine Arts page for more information.


Enjoy!

"The Sixties turn 50"

It's hard to believe, but the sixties will be turning 50 beginning next year. The Los Angeles Conservancy is already celebrating the modern architecture of this important, but endangered, mid-century era with "the Sixties turn 50" campaign.

Modern architects around the world were building structures that epitomized the prosperity, hope and future of humankind during the sixties. Perhaps, nowhere did the combination of business, government, and residential architecture exemplify the lure of the modern world than in Los Angeles.

Some events have already come and passed such as, the October 10, 2008 "Evolving Skyline Tour," but there is still plenty of fun on the horizon. For example, there is the "Fall Tour: It's a Mod, Mod, Mod, Mod City" on November 8, 2009."

These activities are only the beginning stages of a timeline than extends into 2010. Even if you are miles away from Los Angeles, you owe it to yourself to visit "the Sixties turn 50" site and enjoy the information and images. Maybe, you can become involved with the LA Conservancy effort.