Hooper House II

Marcel Breuer – Hooper House II, Baltimore, Maryland, USA, 1958-1959

Located in Baltimore, Maryland, the Hooper House II is a long, low mid-century modern home designed by Marcel Breuer and Herbert Beckhard and completed in 1959.
It is a visually striking yet practical home, made of exquisitely laid fieldstone and large expanses of glass.
The floor plan features the “binuclear” concept of a central courtyard separating public and private areas.
Hooper II is the application of Bauhaus concepts in a rigorous manner; a masterly delineation of tense spaces and open spaces using local natural materials.

What is particularly special about this modern house is the courtyard, which is located in the center of the house and divides the house into two separate wings. When you enter the front door, you can see past the glass walls, through the courtyard, past an opening in the stone wall, to an unobstructed view of Lake Roland.

Each wing has separate functions. The north wing of the house contains the bedrooms, bathroom, and children's playroom; while the south wing of the house contains the living room, dining room, and kitchen. As Breuer noted, "You want to live with the children, but you also want to be free from them, and they want to be free from you." The thick stone walls even have an impressive noise management system, so that adults can entertain guests in the south wing without disturbing the children in the north wing.

The exterior is mostly stone and metal, but nearly every room has an entire wall of floor-to-ceiling sliding glass doors. Built in the early days of insulated glass, the doors are made of 1/4-inch flat glass and remain clean and clear even after 50 years. Overall, the house blends in perfectly with the surrounding forest.