Kugel/Gips Modernist Home Available for Summer Rental

Interior, Kugel/Gips House (c) k. schoenfelder 2009

Kugel Gips House Viewed from the Pond

Designed by Charlie Zehnder in 1970, the newly restored Kugel/Gips house is available for weekly rental during the summer 2010 season. Secluded in the privacy of the Cape Cod National Seashore, this significant example of the Outer Cape's modernist architecture is nestled in the pine woods, hovering above the private, Northeast Pond. The three bedroom, two bathroom house has a large fireplace, two decks with sunset views and is furnished with mid-century designer furniture. A short walk from Wellfleet's ocean beaches and a restaurant / bar, the house provides an ideal private spot for reflection and recreation.

Charlie Zehnder

Designer, Charlie Zehnder came to the Cape in 1957 to help a friend build his house in Truro. Settling into Wellfleet, he bought some land on the bayside and started an architectural practice that ultimately produced over forty-five, immediately identifiable houses. Zehnder creatively cross-pollinated with the European modernists who had settled in area before him while maintaining his own idiosyncratic approach to residential design. His restless experimentation with geometries and materials led to a body of work remarkable for its intimate relationship with the Cape’s terrain, climate and lifestyle of informal creativity. The Kugel / Gips House reflects Zehnder’s fascination with the work of Frank Lloyd Wright. Its corners dematerialize through butt-glazed windows, horizontal planes are emphasized, and long cantilevered decks and roof overhangs project the living spaces out into the landscape. The design demonstrates Zehnder’s great skill for inhabiting a site without overwhelming it.

Rentals

The total cost of renting this property is $5,000 per week – three thousand of which is a tax-deductible donation to the Cape Cod Modern House Trust. Rentals support the Cape Cod Modern House Trust's programs including archiving, restorations and our artist / scholar residencies in the house in the spring and fall. For more information about the Cape Cod Modern House Trust, visit www.ccmht.org. If you have questions, or wish to find out rental availability, e-mail info@ccmht.org or call 508-349-3022.

Photographer Katherine Schoenfelder

Hall House Addition (c) k. schoenfelder 2009

The Trust would like to thank Katherine Schoenfelder for the many volunteer hours she has donated to the CCMHT. Her photographs have been used in much of the recent publicity celebrating the restoration of the Kugel/Gips House, and we appreciate the time, effort, and skill that went into these photos.

When I attempt to photograph the space people say, "Oh, the place looks nice." When I e-mailed Katherine's photo, I received responses like, "My God! Does the house really look that great?!" Proving, again, that there is a vast difference between the quality of the work of an amateur and that of a professional.

In addition to being an excellent commercial photographer, Katherine is also skilled as a designer and a fine artist. More about Katherine can be found at http://www.eigenimages.com

Thank you again, Katherine.

Furniture, Parties, Modernism Magazine, Hatch Cottage

CCMHT has partnered with Reside, the wonderful modern furniture store in Cambridge MA, to furnish the Kugel/Gips house. A consignment store with reasonable prices, Reside has generously offered their time and resources to get the right furniture for the house. It includes pieces by Bertoia, Saarinen and Bellini. Many thanks, Reside.

We've had a series of parties in December for volunteers and trades people, staff of the National Seashore and members of Wellfleet town board s who worked on the Kugel/Gips restoration. Our snowed-out open house will be rescheduled for the early Spring.

There is a write up on Outer Cape Modernism and CCMHT in the current issue of Modernism Magazine. Here is a link to a teaser. http://www.modernismmagazine.com/feature_02.html You need to buy the magazine to see the entire story. Its author, Christine Cipriani, wrote the article in Dwell in 2009 on Marianne Strengell and her years spent on the Outer Cape.

On Dec. 16th Wellfleet's Community Preservation Committee enthusiastically approved CCMHT's application for $100,000 to restore the Hatch Cottage. For the project to move forward we must come to an agreement with the National Seashore for a second lease and have the application approved by Wellfleet's town meeting in April.

OPEN HOUSE CANCELLED TODAY

We are sorry to say the Open House at the Kugel/Gips house is cancelled due to an impassable road and weather related safety issues. We will be having another one some time in the new year.
See you in 2010.

Open House, Sunday, December 20

The Cape Cod Modern House Trust invites you to an Open House celebrating the completed renovation (well....very close) of the Kugel/Gips House.

Sunday, December 20 from 10am - 4pm at the Kugel/Gips House in Wellfleet.

Directions:

From Orleans -

Take a right on Lecount Hollow Road just past the South Wellfleet General Store and South Wellfleet Post Office. Bear left onto Ocean View Drive. Go about a mile and take a left on Long Pond Road. Take the first dirt road on the left. Look for a sign that says K/G.

From Provincetown -

Take a right at the light onto Main Street in Wellfleet (just before PJ's). Take a right on Long Pond Road. Go past the public beach for the pond. Take the first dirt road after Wiles Lane on the right. Look for a sign that says K/G.

Parking -

There is limited parking at the K/G House. If the lot is full, you can drop off passengers, then take Long Pond Road to Ocean View Drive. Make a right on Ocean View, then a left into the Cahoon Hollow/Beachcomber parking lot. A shuttle will run from there to the house every 15 minutes.

Put CCMHT On Your Holiday List

By now you may have received CCMHT's first fundraising letter in the mail. Work completed thus far, including the restoration of the Kugel/Gips house, has been completed without directly soliciting funds from private individuals. The project's budget was supplemented with countless hours of volunteer labor and many donated materials.

The next building CCMHT's hopes to preserve is the Hatch Cottage on Bound Brook Island. Once a gathering place for many of the artists, writers, and political thinkers who helped establish Wellfleet's creative and intellectual reputation, the Hatch Cottage is currently vacant and deteriorating. If you have not seen the Hatch Cottage, please contact the Trust to arrange for a visit to experience the building and site first hand.

We need your help with this project and to continue our mission and programming. In addition to the physical preservation of the houses, the CCMHT is curating a comprehensive database of resources on modern architecture on the Outer Cape, and is planning more educational programming including tours, a lecture by renowned British architect John Pawson, and artist/scholar in residence programs.

Your tax-deductible donation to the Cape Cod Modern House Trust will not only help physically preserve our heritage of modern architecture, but also help develop Wellfleet as a cultural destination, and diversify our off season economy.

Donations can be mailed to the Cape Cod Modern House Trust, PO Box 1191, S. Wellfleet, MA 02663.

Thank you.

Kugel/Gips Project in NYTimes

The Kugel/Gips house restoration made it to the front page of the NYTimes Home Section on August 27th-- and in the letters page a week later.

We also appeared twice in the Design Within Reach, Design Notes in the last week.