One of my favourite areas for mid-century modern eye candy is the Beaverbrook neighbourhood of Kanata. The architecture of this area is a perfect example of a Canadian take on the mid-century modern style. The very first houses built in Beaverbrook were in 1965, and they were townhouses. Since there are so many fabulous designs in the area, which warrant multiple blog postings, this particular post will be on the townhouses of Beaverbrook. This particular complex won a 1967 Canadian Housing Design Council Award.  The original design was praised for its use of wood, cedar shingle and aged bricks to give the warmth of natural materials. Sadly, recent renovations of these townhouses replaced the wood and cedar shingles with siding and asphalt shingle roofs. While they may now be easier to maintain, the houses no longer blend in with the natural environment as they once did. Below is what the houses look like now. These houses hav...

This is a re-post from last year...but I wanted to share it again. It is Summer, so hopefully you have some time off where you can sit back and relax poolside or on the beach with a good book! If you are into MCM design and love to read (like me!), then here is list of suggested reading. I have read all of these books and thoroughly enjoyed them all. And if your time by the pool or on the beach is rained out, most of these books have been made into movies. The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit, by Sloan Wilson, 1955. The book offers insight into the postwar American Dream and the burgeoning material culture of the 1950s.  It was also made into a movie in 1956 starring Gregory Peck. The movie is just as good as the book. Revolutionary Road by Richard Yates, 1961. Perhaps not the most positive view of the suburbs on the 1960s - but certainly captures the time period. In 2008, it was made into a movie. While the movie does differ from the book, it is succe...