Iconic Marcel Breuer House Featuring Calder Mural Could Be Yours for $3 Million

The Stillman House. Photo: Wright.

The Stillman House, one of star architect Marcel Breuer‘s most celebrated homes, will go to auction on November 19 with Wright auction house in Chicago. If you have about $3 million to spare, the elegant, glass-paneled structure could be yours.

Built in 1950, the Litchfield, Connecticut home is not just an architectural masterpiece, but it’s also decked out with modernist murals by Alexander Calder and Xanti Schawinsky.

The 2,359 square-foot house sits on 2.78 acres, and is the result of three commissions by Rufus and Leslie Stillman that occurred between 1950 and 1953: the main house, a studio, and a pool and porch redesign. It was during the last commission that Breuer tapped friends Calder and Schawinsky to contribute artworks.

The Stillman House. Photo: Wright.

The Stillman House.
Photo: Courtesy of Wright.

It remained with the Stillman family until 2009, when it was sold to the current owner. It is estimated at between $2 million and $3 million, and consists of four bedrooms, two baths, two large living areas, a fireplace, a dining area, and an outdoor swimming pool.

The Stillman House. Photo: Wright.

The Stillman House.
Photo: Courtesy of Wright.

It sits adjacent to the Huvelle House, the second modernist structure to crop up in Litchfield, which was designed by Breuer’s student John. M. Johansen and owned by the Huvelle family, who commissioned the house after the Stillmans decided to split their six-acre property in two.

Today, the borough of Litchfield has placed restrictions on the further use of similarly modern design in an effort to protect the town’s historic Colonial and Greek Revival architecture.

The Stillman House will go to auction as part of the “Design Masterworks” sale at Wright on November 19, 2015. 


Follow Artnet News on Facebook:


Want to stay ahead of the art world? Subscribe to our newsletter to get the breaking news, eye-opening interviews, and incisive critical takes that drive the conversation forward.