The deteriorating 1949 summer cottage of renowned Hungarian-born modernist architect Marcel Breuer has been given new life through a remarkable restoration effort by the Cape Cod Modern House Trust. The organization successfully purchased and meticulously restored the legendary Bauhaus designer's Wellfleet home, bringing it back to its former glory after decades of neglect. The $2.7 million project represents the first property directly owned by the trust, marking a significant milestone in preserving Cape Cod's modernist architectural heritage.
The rescue of Breuer's house began when Peter McMahon, an architect and founding director of the Cape Cod Modern House Trust, approached Tamas Breuer, the architect's son, with an ambitious proposal. With the property set to be listed for $2 million, McMahon requested one year to raise the necessary funds to purchase the home. Tamas Breuer agreed to the arrangement, giving the trust the opportunity to preserve this important piece of architectural history. Within the designated timeframe, the organization successfully raised the $2 million purchase price in 2024 and secured an additional $700,000 for comprehensive renovations.
Marcel Breuer, who lived from 1901 to 1981, was a prominent member of The Harvard Five, an influential group of Bauhaus architects that included Philip Johnson, John Johansen, Landis Gores, and Eliot Noyes. This collective helped establish a contemporary architectural movement in New Canaan, Connecticut. Breuer gained international recognition for his architectural work, including designing the Whitney Museum of Art in New York, and was equally celebrated for his innovative furniture designs that embodied Bauhaus principles.
The Wellfleet cottage represents one of Breuer's two main architectural prototypes known as the "Long House." Similar to Breuer House I, which he designed for his family in New Canaan, the structure consists of a long wooden box elevated on a masonry base. This design contrasts with his other prototype, the "Binuclear," which features a ground-level house with two distinct wings. The Wellfleet home was specifically inspired by traditional New England-style cottages and oyster houses, resulting in a structure that resembles an elevated wooden cabin.
Situated on more than four unspoiled acres, the house offers stunning frontage on three ponds and is strategically positioned deep in the woods. Despite its secluded location, McMahon notes that it served as "the epicenter of the modernist experimenters" during its heyday. Breuer spent every summer at this retreat until his death in 1981, and his ashes are buried on the property in front of the house. The location also holds historical significance as it sits across from architect Serge Chermayeff's 1954 summer cottage, creating a concentration of important modernist architecture.
When the Cape Cod Modern House Trust acquired the property, the building had suffered from approximately 30 years of neglect and had fallen into what McMahon described as "extreme dilapidation." Parts of the structure were uninsulated, and the overall condition made it difficult to appreciate the architectural genius of the original design. The restoration team faced the challenge of bringing the house up to current building codes while maintaining historical accuracy and preserving Breuer's original vision.
The comprehensive renovation included installing smoke alarms, constructing railings where previously there had been an open platform with a dangerous seven-foot drop, and inserting steel reinforcements into sagging floor sections near the porch. The team completely replaced the siding, windows, plumbing, and electrical systems throughout the house. Special attention was paid to historically accurate materials, with walls made of Homasote—a recycled paper and wax material—being freshly painted white, and the floors being restained black to reflect Japanese design influences that Breuer incorporated into his work.
Remarkably, some original materials could still be sourced for the restoration. The bathroom walls, originally covered in a light grey sheet laminate called Marlite, were restored using the exact same material and color still being manufactured today. This attention to detail ensured that the restored house would authentically represent Breuer's original vision while meeting contemporary safety and building standards.
The architectural brilliance of Breuer's design becomes apparent in the way each section of the house is elevated off the ground with an upward-sloping roof. McMahon explains that this creates a sensation of floating, particularly given the house's position on the edge of a steep drop overlooking treetops and the pond below. The simple yet effective design moves demonstrate Breuer's mastery of creating maximum visual and spatial impact through minimal interventions.
The purchase agreement included many of the house's original contents, creating an invaluable collection of mid-century modernist artifacts. Among the treasures were homemade Brutalist furniture pieces that Breuer specifically designed for the house, an extensive photograph collection by Tamas Breuer, and an impressive art collection featuring works by Paul Klee, Joseph Albers, and other artists whom Breuer had befriended during his time at prestigious art institutions like the Bauhaus and Black Mountain College.
During negotiations, McMahon also secured two particularly significant pieces: an Alexander Calder painting and a self-portrait that Breuer created when he was just 17 years old, which had never before been seen by scholars. However, the art collection presented its own restoration challenges, as most pieces were attached to walls with thumbtacks and had suffered from mold issues and silverfish damage that had eaten through some of the paper artworks.
The Cape Cod Modern House Trust, founded in 2007, has focused on preserving the Outer Cape's impressive collection of modern homes. During the 1940s, the area attracted artists, designers, academics, architects, and other avant-garde thinkers who built or commissioned sleek modernist cottages for summer retreats. These structures now represent valuable pieces of the Cape's architectural design history. Prior to the Breuer house purchase, McMahon had leased and carefully renovated four mid-century houses from the National Park Service, including The Kugel/Gips House, The Hatch House, The Weidlinger House, and The Kohlberg House, all located on Cape Cod National Seashore land.
By summer 2025, the extensive renovations were completed, and the house made its public debut at an open house event in September. Following the trust's philosophy of keeping these architectural treasures alive and accessible rather than turning them into static museums, the Breuer house is now available for rental during summer months and hosts artists in residence during the off-season. The trust also offers guided tours of the cottages several times throughout the year, allowing visitors to experience these important examples of modernist architecture firsthand.
Today, the restored Breuer house appears much as it did during its golden era in the 1950s and 1960s, complete with spare furnishings that reflect modernist principles, floor-to-ceiling windows that blur the boundaries between interior and exterior spaces, original artworks alongside carefully chosen reproductions, and period-appropriate light fixtures. The meticulous restoration has revealed the true genius of Breuer's design, allowing visitors to fully appreciate how he masterfully organized simple geometric shapes along a ridge overlooking ponds and steep terrain to create maximum architectural and emotional impact.
