Marcel Breuer's modernist Wellfleet summer cottage was brought back to life and opened to the public

"For decades, the Wellfleet home of Hungarian-born modernist architect and furniture designer Marcel Breuer (1901-1981) sat empty, its contents and structure falling into disrepair. Peter McMahon, an architect and founding director of the Cape Cod Modern House Trust (CCMHT), found it almost painful to sit idly while a piece of modernist history decayed - and then Breuer's son, Tamas, decided to sell the place."

"McMahon seized his chance to restore the renowned Bauhaus designer's 1949 house to its former glory. He approached Tamas Breuer with a deal: Would he wait one year to put the house on the market so the trust could raise enough money to buy it? Tamas Breuer, who planned to list the property for $2 million, agreed. Within a year, the trust fund-raised the necessary $2 million to acquire the home in 2024, and then borrowed an additional $700,000 to renovate it."

"McMahon has leased four mid-century houses from the National Park Service (The Kugel/Gips House, The Hatch House, The Weidlinger House, and The Kohlberg House) since they sit on the National Park Service's Cape Cod National Seashore land. Though the organization carefully renovated - and maintains - the buildings, the trust had never outright owned any of its homes until this recent purchase."

The Cape Cod Modern House Trust acquired Marcel Breuer's 1949 Wellfleet house after fundraising $2 million and borrowing an additional $700,000 for renovation. The house had sat empty for decades, with contents and structure falling into disrepair. Peter McMahon negotiated a one-year delay with Breuer's son, Tamas, enabling the trust to raise the purchase funds. The CCMHT, founded in 2007 to restore Outer Cape modern homes, had previously leased four mid-century houses on National Park Service land but had not owned any until this purchase. Breuer was a member of The Harvard Five, part of a mid-century modernist movement.

Read at Boston.com