We saw this news over a year ago, but HUH reports that the iconic house from “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off” is still for sale. The 4 bedroom, 5,300 sq. ft. landmark was designed by A. James Speyer and David Haid in 1953. The price is now reduced to $1,650,000. Not bad for a historic landmark of modernism just outside Chicago.

As a refresher, have a look at the scenes from the movie that featured the building, and the incredible 1961 Ferrari 250 GTO California that lived in the separate garage.

Via Motorator

Stella Artois consistently produces amusing, cinematic ads and their latest combines two of my loves: wood panels and control panels. Wes Anderson and Roman Coppola co-directed this spot in which the set is the star.

Can anyone ID that table? It’s got a base like a Nelson, but not quite.

Via my pal Leila and AgencySpy.

The home of Bob and Helen Parr in “The Incredibles” is one of the finest examples of mid-century modernism in all of animated cinema. Thanks to Pixar’s skilled artists and miraculous CGI, every detail in the architecture to the furniture to the decor can be an idealized depiction of an American suburban residence in the ’60s. Cheers to production designer Lou Romano and art director Ralph Eggleston for giving fans of this style so much eye candy.

Update Thanks to Robert Corr for pointing me to this gallery of large snaps featuring chairs from the film.

It only plays a small role, but Violet’s junior high school isn’t bad either.

Edna’s ultra-chic, expansive lair represents the colder, starker side of ’60s modernism as opposed to the Parr’s cozy abode.

The second half of the movie is saturated with retrofuturistic spy movie sets like James Bond and “Sleeper” (see last image).

If you still haven’t had enough, “The Art of The Incredibles” offers an in-depth look at the art and process behind these scenes.

See also: commentary on the production design from Jessica Helfand at Design Observer.

On Flickr, I recently came across Filip and his tastefully appointed residence beautifully shot by the owner himself. His home is a real-world gallery of the classics: a Florence Knoll sofa, Eames lounge, and Noguchi table in the living room, a Nelson bench and Bertoia chair in the hall. But there are less expected pieces too, like his extensive collection of Artemide lighting, including a Tizio, Tolomeo, and the avant garde Boalum which coils like a luminescent snake on the floor.

The Rosendahl monkey with the prankster’s look and the light colored belly has transformed kids’ rooms into jungles and sparked dreams of far-away places since 1951 when it was designed by Kay Bojesen. On Danish television it has a permanent place as a mascot in wildlife programs, and as a prize in quiz shows. The melamine dinnerware on the right is Vignelli’s classic design for Heller.

Designed in 1970 by Livio Castiglioni and Gianfranco Frattin, the Boalum is a table, floor, or wall lamp with reinforced flexible white plastic and resin terminals. Up to 4 individual sections may be connected to each other in series to make a lamp of 8 meters which may be wound into any shape.

Shorpy.com posted a couple of classic 1950s interior shots by celebrated architecture photographer Julius Shulman. Above: Recreation Pavilion. Mirman Residence, Arcadia, California, 1959. Architects: Buff, Straub & Hensman. Some amusing commentary at Shorpy’s, including:

Please do not move cushions more than one-quarter inch from designated positions on the Recreation Pavilion Fun Grid. The Herman Miller benches will not be moved more than 21 bricks away from decking. Tennis racquets allowed on pillows only if propped at an appropriately informal angle, 35 degrees to the horizontal. Thank you.

1950. Cocktail hour at the Spencer residence in Santa Monica. A commenter says:

High ceilings, simple, sparse furnishings, even the fashions look contemporary. Usually there would be a grey brick fireplace and evidence of robin egg blue palette or chrome and blond furniture around for the fifties. This could be 2009 decor.

Exactly. We’re definitely returning to this aesthetic. That’s what I’m getting at when I say mid-century modernism is “both a historical milestone and a living, breathing ideal, reflected in much of today’s best design and architecture.”

Thanks for the tip, JLT!

Update: Daily Icon reminds us of this other Shulman masterpiece, which was recently seen in the Oakland Museum of California’s “Birth of the Cool” exhibition.

I’ve been following Maxime Clair’s Flickr stream for several weeks as gorgeous pieces of European design flow by. Today came shots of his apartment interior. It’s a well-considered mix of homey warmth and crisp modernism. The kind of home I want mine to be. And he’s been so kind as to identify the pieces in each room. Pictured here (names in French):

• Chair on left: Fauteuil Diamant, Harry Bertoia, Knoll, 1952
• Eames Segmented table et DSX chairs
• Chair in rear on left: Chaise Anthony, Jean Prouvé, Atelier Jean Prouvé, 1948 – Vitra, 2000
• Black pendant: ferruccio laviani, FL/Y Lamp
• Table lamp: Lampe Nesso, Gruppo Architetti Urbanista Citta Nuova, Artemide, 1965
• Sculpture on mantle: Bougeoirs Nagel, Allemagne, Circa 1970

Update 1/6/09

Remember when I said that a reflecting pool is what takes a beautiful home exterior shot to another level of beauty? Well, Richard Powers has mastered that art. His architectural photography is exquisite. Much of it captures exceptional homes with water features, and all of it is wall art worthy.

Thanks to Junesix for the tip.

A reader tipped us off to this series of beautiful interior shots from the years when he read Playboy “for the furniture”. Surrounded by the plush blue rug, brick fireplace, and wall unit shelving is Delores Wells, playmate of the month for June 1960.

Please pardon my censorship (thanks to Picnik for the shapes — yes, that’s a Grizzly hanging out on the coffee table), but I thought it would be hasty to assume all my readers are appreciative of nudity, however tasteful. Those who want to enjoy the original, untarnished images can visit the source: Undead Film Critic. See the censored photos above at full size on Flickr.

The man behind the camera is Don Bronstein, the first staff photographer for Playboy, but best known for his later work on LP album covers, as I learned here:

Bronstein was the man behind the lens on the pics gracing many of the LP covers (as well as doing the layout art/design on numerous other LPs) on Chess/Checker/ Argo/Cadet Concept records.

His intimate and stylish photographs of Bluesmen and Jazz cats imbue them with a dignity and nobility that these artists are more than worthy of. Out of all his work, it is probably his portraiture of many artists in the Chess label stable he is best known for.

That well known photo of Chuck Berry in a white zoot suit doing the duckwalk is among the more famous of his works. Also very well known is his cover photo for B.B. King’s classic “Live At The Regal” LP.

He has done covers for LPs by artists ranging from Etta James, Howling Wolf, Bo Diddley, Kenny Burrell, Muddy Waters, The Ramsey Lewis Trio, Sonny Boy Williamson, Ahmad Jamal, Cannonball Adderley, John Lee Hooker, Nina Simone, Little Walter, Buddy Guy and many others up to and including Bill Cosby and even that most vile spawn of satan hizself: Barbara Streisand.

Beyond that and worth mentioning are all the Ohio Players LP covers replete with S&M overtones (Joel Brodsky-Photographer) and all of those Funkadelic cartoon LP covers done by cartoonist Pedro Bell.

Fellow mid-century modernist Anna Weiss is a newcomer on the blog scene and her site promises to be a daily stop. Today she shares the brilliant remaking of the living room in her St. Louis, Missouri home.

Any house is a work in progress, but the big ticket items are complete — floors, walls, roof, electrical, and most appliances. The house has a very open floor plan, so the living room opens to the sitting room which is also the dining area.

Don’t miss her kitchen and nursery rehabs too.

This stuff comes from the period before modernism matured, but these illustrations from magazines like Better Homes & Gardens and Good Housekeeping at See Saw are too charming to ignore.

Also:

Update, Nov. 3, 2008 — A real, live example of this style can be found in Stanard Design’s studio. The graphic design firm carefully repainted the kitchen cabinets to their original sea green.