Very excited to speak via email to James Leasure, co-founder of the popular Modern Homes Tour in anticipation of this year’s Seattle tour on Saturday, April 27. (James has been good enough to set up a discount for readers here to get $5 off tickets for Saturday’s Seattle event - enter REVISIONWORKS.)
What’s the one thing you want people to get out of each Modern Homes Tour?
One thing (the only important thing really) is that we want people to find their Tour day to be interesting. We want people to learn about their communities and to understand how these new foundations (pardon the pun) of architecture and design can integrate, improve, and diversify the neighborhoods where they appear. To be honest, I know this can be controversial - especially when modern homes are built in established neighborhoods - there can be a period of adjustment and acceptance, but it’s my belief that quality design by a thoughtful architect can help a neighborhood progress without being disrespectful of what came before. The Roy St. House on the 2019 Seattle Tour is, I think, a good example of this. A more modern facade fronts a classic Victorian, but the approach really works and respects the original dwelling.
Coming into each tour, what’s the biggest misconception people have about modern architecture/design that you have seen the tour dispel?
The biggest misconception is that “modern” has to equal “cold” or “impersonal.” Of course, our mid-century fans already understand this, but for people whose impression of modern is a stark concrete cube in the brutalist tradition or a series of blindingly white forms stacked upon one another, the livability of a well done modern home can come as a pleasant surprise!
New city you’d like to do?
That’s easy: Honolulu! I have a great love for the South Pacific, and like the modernism found in New Mexico, the Polynesian tradition is long on history and regional style, so modern interpretations that integrate that style have a feeling very unlike most other places. I’d also like to go back to Santa Fe in the near future. Being a small, private city, the inventory of modern homes willing to open their doors to the public can create a challenge, but we always find interesting and creative homes to show off in that region.
Something specific about the upcoming Seattle tour you're excited about?
The range of design is always refreshing in Seattle (and Portland as well, to be fair). The combination of high-income homeowners with a technological leaning, the geography, and the wide range of basic housing styles in the city lead to some of the most creative homes we see anywhere. This year, tour-goers have a particularly informative chance to “compare and contrast.” One architect has two very different homes on the Tour (Eric Cobb’s firm is presenting both the updated Victorian AND a minimalist, ultramodern lakefront retreat), and another Tour stop is a three-home development in which each similar space was crafted by a different architect. I’m really looking forward to seeing how they each interpreted the spaces.
What’s a design trend you’re sick of? Want to see more of?
I’ve seen a LOT of the aforementioned brutalist concrete boxes and minimalist stacked forms ;). Fortunately, more and more I see talented architects taking that basic language and doing great things with them that don’t “hide” those conventions, per se, but take them and use them for a touchstone or a focus while getting much more creative with transitions, spatial segmentation, and personality.
Favorite detail from last year's tour and why?
Let me tell you about a favorite detail from several years ago instead because it’s sort of funny. (Now. It wasn’t then!) Each city that we create a Tour for is unique, and it’s always a learning experience. The second or third year of our Seattle Tour (this is year eight!), we accidentally scheduled the event for the same weekend as the first weekend for boating. So all the bridges were opening and closing all day (when they were closing at all!), and we were dealing with some very strange traffic patterns. As a result some homes got all the traffic, and some got almost none. Ever since then we’ve really concentrated on not just visiting a city, but LEARNING a city, and thinking like residents do. I think this helps us not only logistically but also in terms of creating a locally relevant Tour. So in a roundabout way, what I'm saying is that I’m proud of how we’re able to show a variety of neighborhoods year after year, and I hope our passion for the city of Seattle shows through.
What’s the future for growing the MHT (if that’s a goal)?
Thanks for asking! Our plans are for more Tours, and Tours that concentrate on a few more specific aspects of architecture and design for people that want to really “dig in” to one thing or another. But perhaps even more exciting is the fact that we’ve recently been asked to consult with a number of architects and builders on their marketing and public faces. Over the past ten years of doing these Tours, we’ve learned quite about about the target market for these homes and how to reach them, so we’re using that knowledge to help architects, designers, and even realtors and adjacent industries tap into this hyper-targeted audience.
How do you choose the houses? Or do they choose you at this point?
We have a standard submission process, and we also work with local curators, partners and experts to sample the best of local architecture and design. In fact, we have an upcoming interview with Brian Libby, our Portland Tour curator, on the schedule in a few weeks to discuss this exact issue. Look for it!
