A Life Well Lived

A LIFE WELL LIVED

Stillman 1, originally known as Stillman House, was designed by Marcel Breuer for Rufus Stillman in 1950.

It is often said that you are the custodian of a special thing. Tending to it and, of course, enjoying it while it is in your possession, but not truly owning it, as it's likely to live on long after your time together. Such is the case with Stillman 1, says Sarah Dalton-Morris, whose pieces from the famed Breuer building GEORGE is pleased to present.

Stillman 1 archival and collection imagery — The floor plan for Stillman 1 in 1951. The house was revised by Breuer three times between 1950 and 1953 to add a studio, pool, porch, and mural by artist and friend Alexander Calder.

Stillman 1 was, and still is, a very special thing. One of a handful of houses by Marcel Breuer that can be found in and around Litchfield, CT. Sarah moved there in 1965 with her parents, June and Peter, an English architect who came to America to assist Robert Carroll May, who himself was once an assistant to Frank Lloyd Wright.

For years, her parents admired the house from afar as they explored the Litchfield hills and its mid-century marvels, befriending artists, artisans, and architects, who introduced them to other artists, artisans, and architects (including Breuer).

But still the house eluded them. It wasn’t until they were about to purchase a farm, and the realtor asked if they could stop off to check on a property he was selling at the end of a nondescript tree-lined lane, that they literally stumbled upon it.

As Sarah’s parents came from modest means, and living in a house like Stillman 1 was their dream, furnishing it was a practical endeavor. English antiques, which they brought with them, were mixed with pieces that complemented the house’s clean lines.

Knoll, whom her father regularly worked with, featured heavily. An extendable walnut table by Florence Knoll was surrounded by Split Seat Chairs by Richard Schultz. Bertoia Side Chairs were selected for the outdoor slate table, which Breuer based on one he had built for himself in Wellfleet, Massachusetts. And a pair of Barcelona stools lived on a white alpaca rug in the living room.

As did items made by the friends that they had made over the years, including the master potter Harry Holl, whom her parents purchased a set of crockery from, as well as pieces picked up from the Litchfield Arts and Crafts Fair, which June co-founded.

It was all loved, says Sarah, and, importantly, it was all used daily. Well, until my mother broke one of Harry’s plates, and then they went onto a shelf for special occasions.

It’s also why Sarah’s decided to part with them after all these years.

My parents sold the house back to Rufus Stillman in 1985, she says. They lived and loved living in it for 20 years, but they wanted to build something of their own. The pieces they bought came with them, and over the years, have slowly come to me. I’ve loved living with them in my own way, but special things like these deserve a life beyond your own.

Sarah’s selection of pieces from Stillman 1, including the extendable walnut table, Richard Schultz chairs, outdoor slate table, Bertoia Side Chairs, the drop-leaf table, Barcelona stools, Florence Knoll marble occasional table, large bowl by Bob Parrott, and several other antiques, will be available either in-store today.

We are incredibly honored to be entrusted with finding them a new home, especially as our own fascination with Breuer’s Litchfield buildings is akin to Sarah’s parents; we too spent our first few years seeking out the area's various Modernist masterpieces.

Ten years, many visits, and much digital rabbit-holing—Breuer’s Bohemia, which can be found on Vimeo and features Sarah’s mother, is an essential watch—later, the radical nature of these buildings on the New England Landscape is not lost on us, which we’d like to think is a fraction of what the Dalton-Morris family felt over six decades ago.