Many major American museums have departments of decorative arts, architecture and design that include holdings of 1950s designs. Some notable examples:
Art Institute of Chicago, 111 South Michigan Avenue, Chicago, Illinois 60603-6404. Website: www.artic.edu
Los Angeles County Museum, 5905 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles, California 90036. Website: www.lacma.org
Museum of Modern Art, 11 West 53rd Street, New York, NY 10019. Website: www.moma.org
The National Building Museum, 401 F Street NW, Washington DC 20001. Website: nbm.org
This museum is running an exhibition called “House and Home” which explores the history of the American Dream of home ownership.
Two of the most famous mid-twentieth-century modernist houses in the United States can be visited:
The Farnsworth House, 14520 River Road, Plano, Illinois 60545. Website: www.farnsworthhouse.org
Designed by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe.
The Philip Johnson Glass House, 199 Elm Street, New Canaan, Connecticut 06840. Website: www.philipjohnsonglasshouse.org
Some examples of how a typical American family lived during the 1950s are featured in the following museums:
Michigan Historical Center, 702 W. Kalamazoo Street, Lansing, Michigan 48915. Website: www.michigan.gov/michiganhistory
Features a 1950s living room, kitchen and bathroom.
Johnson County Museum, 6305 Lackman Road, Shawnee, Kansas 66217. Website: www.jocomuseum.org
Features a five-bedroom ranch-style All Electric House created by Kansas City Power and Light in 1954.
The 1950s Park Forest House Museum, 141 Forest Blvd., Park Forest, Illinois 60466. Website: www.parkforesthistory.org
Known as “America’s original GI town,” Park Forest was an early postwar planned community for returning veterans. The 1950s Park Forest House Museum is furnished for a young veteran and his family.
House in the Garden, Kykuit, 639 Bedford Road, Pocantico Hills, New York 10591. Website: www.hudsonvalley.org
John D. Rockerfeller Jr. purchased Marcel Breuer’s “House in the Garden” from MoMA. He had the house reconstructed on his family estate in Pocantico Hills.
Marcel Breuer’s “House in the Garden” exhibit was purchased and reconstructed by the Rockefeller family on their estate at Kykuit in 1950. The house now belongs to the National Trust for Historical Preservation and has recently undergone restoration to restore it to Breuer’s original design.