For the progeny of Cleeve and Jean Horne, this spectacular modernist home in a picturesque valley in Pickering, Ontario, is a seldom-used summer place, an after thought that has been allowed to slide into disrepair, if not disrepute. The house is tucked away behind the main residence and barn on a 200-acre family property and as one of the Horne’s adult grandchildren told me yesterday during Doors Open Pickering, it’s a challenge to hold onto the place in the face of rising taxes and land values.
Seeing the state of the interior, I couldn’t help thinking that this architectural gem might be better off in the hands of someone more invested in honouring its uniqueness. Designed by architects Michael Clifford and Kenneth Lewis in 1957, the hyperbolic paraboloid structure brings to mind a giant stingray. The freestanding roof was constructed a year before any of the walls or windows were added and few of the interior walls actually go all the way up to the ceiling. There’s an expansive feeling of openness to the place, a connectedness between rooms as well as between the indoors and out.
Most of the furniture and all of the appliances are original to the house, which you’d think would be a good thing except the spaces have a sorry, neglected feeling about them, the house is dingy and tired, not the spectacular showpiece it deserves to be. There’s an original, Saarinen Womb Chair shrouded in an old sheet (above), a pair of funky mid-century recliners sun-bleached and sad, and a coffee table jacked up on concrete cinder blocks.
I completely understand why the house is in the state it’s in; this is no one’s full-time residence and I expect that the families invest in their own domiciles rather than in this place that they’ve been coming to forever and probably don’t even really “see” anymore. It’s just grandma and grandpa’s house, an architectural oddity that they take for granted.
I especially loved the sunken living room and master bedroom, such a marvellous throwback to mid-century living.
In fact, upon entering the front door, I had something of a deja vu, the place feels a lot like Frank Lloyd Wright’s Fallingwater even if architecturally it’s a completely different beast.
Cleeve Horne House is like a mid-century time capsule without the glamour, a taste of what was without the realization of what could be. In the right hands this home could be sensational.
Special thanks to my friend Cora Golden, co-author of Design in Canada, for bringing this house tour to my attention.
AND as a little afterthought, in honour of Desire to Inspire‘s occasional feature about Pets on Furniture, here’s a shot I took of one of the Horne’s great granchildren reclining on a pet AS furniture. Mom says she leaves the baby this way all the time and the dog seems to love it.
October 3rd, 2011 at 6:04 am
Good morning, isn’t that the coolest place. Lots of work needed to update but like you say in the right hands…Lois of even tho’ Pickering isn’t my ideal location
October 3rd, 2011 at 8:42 am
Having toured the house 8 years ago for my husband Dave’s Globe & Mail column, I feel exactly as you do, Chris. It is an architectural gem with amazing details, but needs someone who will appreciate it as more than just “the grandparent’s cottage”. A quick note, the coffee table was a slab door painted by York Wilson, who was most well known as the artist of the Seven Lively Arts mural at the O’keefe Centre. York and his wife Lela were very good friends of the Hornes, and the door/coffee table was a gift from them, I think.
Here’s a link to Dave’s column on the house.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/home-and-garden/real-estate/article410472.ece
October 3rd, 2011 at 10:13 am
Amazing house!
And love the background story on it.
Thanks for the add on Shauntelle.
October 3rd, 2011 at 12:52 pm
Vintage pics here:
http://www.pada.ca/search/results/?txt_a=cleeve+horne+house
…the west elevation shot is killer
October 3rd, 2011 at 1:25 pm
I would love to have that home… That roof!!!
October 3rd, 2011 at 3:56 pm
WOW a real Gem, thanks Gus for linking us to the before photo’s, my imagination is working over time of what it could be again.
October 4th, 2011 at 2:53 pm
what a place!! if they ever have an estate sale, I am there! love all the original mid century modern pieces! and that roof line!! Wow, maybe I won’t be there just for the estate sale afterall.
Thanks for sharing this fantastic place with us.
October 6th, 2011 at 11:37 am
Thank you for the tour of this mid century gem! I also see the influence of Frank Lloyd Wright, especially in the expansive overhang of the roof which shades the interior, the glass exterier walls and interior walls which don’t extend to the ceiling The floor plan is also somewhat similar to Wright’s “Seth Peterson Cottage” http://www.SethPeterson.org
October 6th, 2011 at 12:17 pm
Faded glory, indeed. But still a marvel to behold.
October 6th, 2011 at 5:24 pm
Have been admiring the photos of this amazing home, and then looked at the Seth Peterson Cottage. It’s funny because I had the thought the other day that with a minor facelift this cottage would make a great rental for small functions, or weekend escapes. Also the extra income could help the family with the upkeep and taxes.
October 12th, 2011 at 8:02 pm
Hi Chris, Thank you for the deserved coverage of the Seth Peterson Cottage. Do you have any information or know who I could contact regarding potentially purchasing the cottage to restore it?
Much appreciated,
Michael Dolan
October 13th, 2011 at 10:45 pm
Amazing.
November 2nd, 2011 at 5:20 pm
Glad you like the house, but your statements are presumptuous and offensive.
You have no idea what is going on behind closed doors and what the family is TRYING to do for this house. No one in the family has forgotten it and are in talks about how they all can sustain this wonderful property. If at all possible, I am certain they would above all want the property to stay with the family forever.
To do work on this property is difficult as it is a heritage home and only certain companies/people can do work on it, for example paint this house. Otherwise the integrity of the house cannot be maintained, and The Ontario Heritage Trust may reject the house as a heritage building. So it can be difficult to find reasonable contractors to do the work and to get any kind of work done at all.
The blanket “shrouded” across the old womb chair was there to protect it from kids, dogs and people with grubby hands. I do however agree it should have been out for all its glory, as it’s a beautiful chair and so lovely on it’s own. The other bleached furniture is there as they are memories and personal attachments to the late Cleeve and Jean Horne. It is hard to let items go that hold so many memories of growing up and what memories the family have had and are still having there. Jean and Cleeve are held so dear to their hearts that it still feels to them, as it was yesterday that they were lost.
As for the table, that is the way Jean wanted this table not with sick like legs but with square classic blocks and has been like that since a close friend of theirs painted the tabletop. If it was not for those types of legs you would have noticed the table and in fact you did not know that it was painted by a famous painter York Wilson who did the mural at the original O’keefe centre.
The house gets “lived’ in by friends renting and family members who come into town from overseas. So it does see love and admiring from many people that come and go. This is always the way this house was used!
I know the family is VERY insulted by your statement “It’s just grandma and grandpa’s house, an architectural oddity that they take for granted.”
No one in this family take this property for granted! They love it and are fighting to keep in the family.
In conclusion if you dislike the house, the furniture or the décor, you are entitled to your opinion, but your assumptions on the family attitude or sentiment are downright insulting and show your complete lack of professionalism as a writer. If you are an expert on interior design, or architecture please stick to those topics and spare everyone your babble on the psychology of the family of Cleeve Horne.
June 8th, 2012 at 2:28 pm
Sadly, Michael Clifford passed away last year at the age of 83. He had been a good friend of mine for many years and he will be sadly missed by all who loved and respected him. He was not only a visionary architect but also a lover of art, music and all things beautiful. I do not recognize the name Kenneth Lewis. Could he perhaps have in fact been Kenneth Lawrie who was Michael’s partner in architecture during those early years?