Atomic Ranch Winter 2023

editor's letter WE MODERNISTS WORK HARD ALL YEAR. Working on our homes, working on supporting preservation, working on educating ourselves about the era we love so much—and then, working on our homes some more. So, for our winter issue, in the spirit of hibernation and rest, I implore you to … pause. This is the season to enjoy our homes! Host! Feast! Decorate without any regard for anything other than that an item makes you happy, reminds you of your childhood or maybe just to have fun and break loose a bit. Settle down with this issue and just enjoy stories of homeowners at the completion phase of their projects. They are folks who’ve hit the lottery on finding unique homes in their search areas, inherited coveted intact original features…

Cool Stuff: A Playlist of Mid-Century Christmas Music Mid-century holiday songs have a way of wrapping you up in nostalgia. We’ve put together a playlist of period-perfect Christmas music to get you in the holiday spirit! Mid-Century Cocktail Recipes for the Holidays We’re serving you five delicious mid-century cocktail recipes for the holidays. Plus, learn some mid-mod mixology trivia that will add life to any party. On Christmas Island: A Tropical Holiday Décor Twist Want a break from the traditionally snowy holiday themes? Find refined tropical holiday-décor inspiration and craft ideas, ranging from Easter Island-inspired ornaments to aloha wrapping paper. Collecting: What You Need to Know About Blenko Glass You may be familiar with handmade glassware, but get the inside scoop on authenticity, care and history of the vibrant, beloved…

You already know that your favorite design era is Mid Century Modern, but do you know how to incorporate it into your home to reflect your own sense of style? Whether it’s your first time working with an interior designer or your 20th, there’s an art to the process of partnering with a design expert to find out which mid-century pieces, palettes and patterns suit you. Palm Springs designer Michael Norpell gently guides his clients through a series of specific questions to ensure they will feel right at home with their MCM décor. Here, he walks us through the steps he walks with them to guide you through the process of planning your own mid-century marvel. The connection of interior and outdoor living areas is very important to…

curb appeal EVEN THOUGH THIS ROCKFORD, MICHIGAN, home was built in 2013, it has the spirit of a mid-century ranch-style house. “The architecture is by Chad Gould Architect LLC, with interior (and exterior) design by Rock Kauffman Design,” says Scott Branc, president of New Urban Home. “Our clients wanted to build a new home in a Mid Century Modern style and approached New Urban because we are regionally known as a builder/renovator of Mid Century Modern style homes. We helped them assemble a design team that worked particularly well with mid-century aesthetics.” It was important to the design team to stay true to the mid-century style and they drew inspiration from the beautiful evergreen scenery surrounding the property. “We put a concentrated effort into choosing design elements that worked not…

HOW WOULD YOU LIKE TO EAT, sleep and lounge on top of a waterfall? For prominent department store magnate Edgar Jonas Kaufmann and his family, Frank Lloyd Wright made it possible. Wright built the home for the Kaufmanns in 1937 in Mill Run, Pennsylvania. Today, the house can be toured by the public. Just as Beethoven straddled the Classical and Romantic era with his music, Frank Lloyd Wright’s seminal house straddled architectural eras. Fallingwater was designed and built in the 1930s, toward the end of the Bauhaus movement. But the home’s sleek, linear and window-filled design speak to a movement that was in its infancy: Mid Century Modern. Further elements of the home, like its use of concrete and steel and its simple color scheme echo the Mid Mod style…

Whether it’s her recent home decor collection featured at Simon’s department store in Quebec or a massive collaborative public art project at the Canadian Museum of Immigration, designer Andrea Tsang Jackson’s crisp, bold work spans a variety of fields, taking traditional forms of art and applying them to a contemporary context with deep purpose and intention. While earning a Master of Architecture from McGill University, Andrea was inspired by Montreal’s dynamic art scene and studied modernist architects like Frank Lloyd Wright and Philip Johnson’s universal principles of functional, clean design. “I’m looking to continually expand my own definitions of what those principles are and how they’re applied to my own work, and then how I see other people’s work,” she says. Andrea’s interest in mid-century aesthetics led her to design…