Program for Sunday October 13, 2019

Starting in the late 1930s, in the back woods of Wellfleet and Truro, a group of self-taught American designers collaborated with some of Europe’s most influential avant-garde architects to create the outer Cape’s unique modern houses. This illustrated lecture by Peter McMahon will discuss the vibrant community that developed there – which included Walter Gropius, Florence and Hans Knoll, Eero Saarinen and Saul Steinberg – and the distinctive architectural style that emerged. Join us to explore this story and current efforts by the Cape Cod Modern House Trust to save a group of important abandoned houses, and to re-purpose them as a platform for new creative work.

Peter McMahon is the Founding Director of the Cape Cod Modern House Trust, incorporated in 2007 to archive, restore and celebrate the Outer Cape’s outstanding modern architecture and the creative culture that surrounded it.  He is co-author, along with Christine Cipriani, of Cape Cod Modern. Mid-Century Architecture and Community on the Outer Cape, (2014, Metropolis Books), winner of the 2015 Historic New England Book Prize. His design practice in South Wellfleet, MA, focuses on sustainable, modern architecture and restoration of mid-20th century buildings. His summer house in Wellfleet has been featured in House Beautiful and Outside Architecture.