The Idea House Project of the Walker Art Center, 1941–47

By Jill Vuchetich

Walker Publishing Filed to Design · Part of Houses of Ideas

Contest winners Helen Tully, Dorothy Vine and Lois Miller demonstrate the peekaboo window by passing a vase from the Idea House II primary bedroom to the living room, 1947. Photo by Rolphe Dauphin. Courtesy Walker Art Center.

Shortly after the Walker Art Center opened to the public in 1940, an innovative design program featuring full-scale, single-family homes for public exhibition debuted: Idea House I (1941) and Idea House II (1947). They were presented as part of a movement that encouraged consumers to find modern design in everyday living. “A man’s house is his art,” proclaimed Walker Director Daniel S. Defenbacher. He wrote, “. . . a good house is an artistic creation in which all other factors are controlled and molded into an esthetic entity.” (Everyday Art Quarterly, no. 5, 1947) In that spirit, neither house was a model to be replicated; in fact, requests for blueprints were refused. As the name implied, they were houses of ideas with many components of modern architecture and design. The premise behind the Idea House Project was to encourage people to think creatively about their living spaces, and to feel empowered to work with an architect to make their own unique, well-designed home.

Idea House I (1941)

Idea House I was built next to the Walker Art Center, off Bryant Avenue South. Designed by architects and Walker staff Malcolm and Miriam (Bend) Lien, the home was a small single-story structure about the size of a traditional Cape Cod house, a style popular at that time. It featured a large picture window facing Bryant and a rooftop porch. The interior included an open living/dining space, a small kitchen, and a primary bedroom suite. The open spaces could be divided into smaller rooms using retractable leather screens. The central feature in the living space was the built-in fireplace with a mural by artist Mac Le Sueur. While the furnishings were traditional—a sofa, overstuffed chairs, and simple tables and dining chairs—the color scheme was vibrant. The living room couch was a deep blue, the club chairs a bright red, while the mural’s base color was aquamarine and featured outlines of horses in bold black strokes.

The house’s construction generated much curiosity, in part because it was built in the winter and for its location next to the Walker. Local newspapers included weekly progress reports on the construction. Once it was completed in late spring, a large audience was eager to see it.

Idea House I opened to the public June 1, 1941. By the time it closed in late October, 56,000 people had toured it. Visitors received a packet with information on the building materials, suppliers, manufacturers, and retailers. People were intrigued by the floor-to-ceiling stainless-steel kitchen with all electric appliances, a central telephone with plug-ins for additional phones in different rooms, and the utility room on the main floor, as the house lacked a basement. After the exhibition period, the house became home of several Walker staff, including the family of Don Borrman, financial director, who lived there in the 1950s.

Building on the modern design movement, Walker opened the Everyday Art Gallery in 1946 accompanied by the Everyday Art Quarterly. The gallery and magazine delved into well-designed products, including dinnerware, lighting, chairs, and other useful items.

Idea House II (1947)

In 1947, Walker opened the second Idea House next to the first one up the hill on Bryant Avenue. Idea House II’s principal designer, Hilde Reiss, received her training at the Bauhaus School in Germany. After arriving in the United States during the 1930s, Reiss met her future partner, William Friedman, and together they designed housing for various projects around the country. By 1945, they both worked at the Walker Art Center—Friedman as the head of exhibitions and Reiss as the curator of everyday art.

For Idea House II, Reiss and Friedman designed an open split-level home to accommodate a family of four. The home had a galley kitchen with a counter that opened into the dining/living space. The open main floor featured an enormous floor-to-ceiling window wall, plenty of shelving, and a fireplace. The upper level included the primary bedroom, children’s bedroom, and a playroom. Like Idea House I, Reiss and Friedman used collapsible dividers to create temporary privacy in the open spaces.

The interior furnishings comprised a catalogue of works by mid-century modern designers, including an Isamu Noguchi coffee table, George Nelson storage units, Charles and Ray Eames furniture, and Eva Zeisel’s Town and Country dinnerware from Red Wing Pottery. The home also included such innovations as state-of-the-art gas appliances and a combination sink/tub in the bathroom.

While the furnishings generated much praise, some of the design features were questioned. For example, the house included a carport instead of a garage, a not-very-practical feature in Minnesota. And visitors rejected the peekaboo window between the upper-level bedroom and the living room.

Just like Idea House I, when the exhibition period concluded, Walker staff occupied the house. In the 1950s, Walker Director H. Harvard Arnason, his wife, and two children lived in the house. They often entertained artists in the home.

In keeping with the interest in modern housing, due in part to the housing shortage in the United States, the Walker commissioned plans for Idea Houses III thru VIII. Drawings and models were shown in the exhibition Designs for Idea Houses III through VIII, September 30–November 16, 1947. Local architects designed them based on a profile of a family unit, including:

• Gerhard Brandhorst of Enghauser & Brandhorst: Brandhorst’s mock client was a professional couple without children. Each spouse would have separate sleeping and office spaces. No formal entertaining space was needed, but provisions would need to be made for frequent large buffet dinners. A garage was required. Price range: $12,000–$15,000.

• Robert Cerny of Long & Thorshov: Cerny was assigned an older couple. The house would need space for extended visits by married children and grandchildren, a maid’s room, interior and exterior gardens, a workshop, and a garage. Price range: $15,000–$20,000.

• Elizabeth Scheu Close of Close Associates: Close was assigned a couple with two children and a mother-in-law. Gardening was the family’s hobby, a guest room and a garage were required. Price range: $15,000–$20,000.

• Collis Hardenbergh of Humphrey and Hardenbergh: Hardenbergh was assigned a young couple, designated as “skilled or white-collar,” with one infant. The house was to be expandable to accommodate two children, no garage necessary. Price: $8,000.

The final house in the Idea Houses III-VIII exhibition was a collaborative project given to 20 advanced students at the University of Minnesota School of Architecture. Harlan McClure, head of the U’s School of Architecture, supervised the student design entry but provided a design himself. The assignment was for a young couple with a boy and a girl, under 10, but would need to accommodate the children through high school. A garage was needed. Price range: $10,000–$12,000.

After reviewing the submitted designs, architecture student Donald Panushka became the lead architect for  Idea House VIII with James Sisterman and Willis Walling as associates.

Idea Houses III through VIII were to be built in Tyrol Hills, a subdivision of Golden Valley, Minnesota. Although the homes were never built, for reasons we do not know, the architects did build similar modern homes in the Minnehaha Creek neighborhood of south Minneapolis and University Grove, near the University of Minnesota’s St. Paul campus.

By the 1960s, the everyday arts moment had passed. The Everyday Art Quarterly and Gallery became the Design Quarterly and Gallery. In 1961, Idea House I was razed to make way for the Guthrie Theater, which opened adjacent to the Walker Art Center in 1963. From 1963 to 1968, Idea House II was the theater’s administrative office. In 1969, Idea House II was torn down to make way for the backstage expansion of the Guthrie Theater.

While the everyday era ended, the Walker’s interest in design did not. Design Quarterly became a leading journal of its time until publication ceased in 1996. Today, the Walker continues to program design shows and feature contemporary designers. Design has from the very beginning been at the core of the Walker Art Center.▪︎

Experience the newest incarnation of this legacy, Idea House 3, located within the Walker Art Center. Open during regular museum hours, by appointment, or anytime on shop.walkerart.org.

Want to learn more about Idea House and the designer's involved? Discover the rest of the series Houses of Ideas on the Walker Reader.