The Wolfson House

by · Published · Updated

What Do You Get When A World Famous Architect and a  Vintage Spartan Trailer Get Together? 

Utter Awesomeness!

wolfson house

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wolfson mobile home house exterior

This is a 1948 Spartan Royal Mansion mobile home (although another reference the home as a 1947 model) that has a gorgeous home built right around it! Get this, the very famous architect and designer, Marcel Breuer, kept the Spartan intact and incorporated the mobile home perfectly into the design just as he was asked.

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The owner of the Spartan at the time, artist Sidney Wolfson, had asked Breuer a couple times to design the home around the trailer but Breuer kept turning him down. An interview with the current owner of the home in 1996 in the Hudson Valley Magazine states ” that the architect probably just “didn’t want to deal with a trailer” and then the writer adds:

Or maybe Breuer feared that in head-to-head competition with the trailer, his work would come out second best?“

I think that’s the best line ever! It is hard to beat any Spartan, they are exactly what dreams are made of.

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The article goes on:
“Breuer wound up taking an ingenious approach. He covered the 33-foot-long trailer with a wooden pergola and treated it as one wing — the kitchen and eating area — in his “bi-nuclear” design, this time shaped like an H. (Clad in its original quarter-inch birch plywood, the trailer interior glows nearly as brightly as the outside.)

“A short hallway separates it from the main living area and master bedroom in Breuer’s cedar-clad addition, which parallels the trailer. Cantilevered out from a stone base, this new section soars off the hill.

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wolfson mobile home house kitchen

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Located in Dutchess County, New York, the 10-acre property is an architectural assemblage composed of Marcel Breuer’s Wolfson Trailer House and a separate artist’s studio.

Commissioned and constructed from 1949-1951, the Breuer house surrounds a 1948 Royal Mansion Spartan Trailer. Accenting the Wolfson house is a 1960 artist’s studio by Tip Dorsel, commissioned by the original owner and designed in dialogue with the Breuer structure. Sited among vast acreage of natural landscape, the accumulative and varied structures create an unparalleled composition of architecture and space.

The home was last on the market for $1.48 million.
This is a perfect example of the infinite possibilities that mobile homes have!
 Thanks so much for reading Mobile Home Living!
Sources: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5
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Crystal Adkins

I'm Crystal Adkins, the creator of Mobile Home Living, and I hope you've found the mobile home remodeling ideas, decorating inspiration, and repair help you've been searching for. Please consider letting me feature your remodels, room makeovers, DIY projects, and home improvement projects. There simply isn't enough inspiration available for mobile homeowners and I want to change that. Together, we can show the world that factory-built homes are as beautiful as any other at half the cost per square foot. Thank you!

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8 Responses

  1. avatar of darnelle corbett Darnelle Corbett says:
    March 25, 2015 at 11:56 am

    Are there vintage mobile homes for sale someplace that you can share? I live in California, so one of these would make a perfect guest house.

  2. avatar of patrick Patrick says:
    July 7, 2013 at 6:14 am

    What a fun story. The links are broken. I would really like to see the images.

    • avatar of crystalmhl CrystalMHL says:
      July 10, 2013 at 1:03 pm

      Hi Patrick! Thanks for letting me know about the broken links. I have fixed it so now you can see this awesome home. It is amazing how the architect utilized the Spartan and allowed it to be a feature. Thanks again! I appreciate you!

  3. avatar of crystalmhl CrystalMHL says:
    May 27, 2012 at 5:20 am

    Your welcome! It is a gorgeous and unique home..Thank YOU for reading!

  4. avatar of jerri Jerri says:
    May 26, 2012 at 2:01 pm

    THANK YOU! For the wonderful story. What a beautiful home, and a great inspiration to us all.

  5. avatar of kulwant singh Kulwant Singh says:
    May 24, 2012 at 5:50 pm

    Nice blog and posts .
    Visit my blog LOYFLY

  6. avatar of crystalmhl CrystalMHL says:
    May 24, 2012 at 6:08 pm

    Thank you! I appreciate it very much!