Wednesday, March 27, 2024
A rare mid-century modern home with ties to the 1964 World's Fair hits the SLC market
Urban Living
Posted By Babs De Lay on March 27, 2024, 4:00 AM
World's Fairs in the United States used to be a thing. They were huge events held to showcase the newest technology, trends and fads in everything from science and industry, farming and homemaking. Since the mid-19th century, more than 100 of them have been held around the world (called "Expositions"), with the last U.S.-hosted one held in New Orleans in 1984.
The only one I attended was in 1964 in Flushing Meadows (Queens), New York, as a child, where I got separated from my parents in the crowd and had the police find them for me. The site back then was just over 600 acres with 140 pavilions and 110 restaurants representing 80 nations. The theme, "Peace Through Understanding," was dedicated to "Man's Achievement on a Shrinking Globe in an Expanding Universe," symbolized by a 12-stories-high stainless-steel model of the Earth called the Unisphere (which is still there in the permanent public park).
It was very much like today's Epcot Center in Florida. It was a showcase of mid-century modern America and highlighted the new space age and NASA. General Motors featured mock-ups of sleek space-aged car designs in a groovy mid-mod building designed for the event.
Attendees had their first look ever at computers, teletype machines and punch cards. Formica, the plastic used on countertops and cabinet faces, had been invented in the early 1900's but was used primarily to coat car parts and then bomb parts and airplane propellers in WWII. After the war, Formica laminates popped up all over the country on top of dinette tables and throughout homes. The company built a "Formica House" on the only hill at the fair and more than 10 million visitors came to see how Formica could be used in a home.
Unfortunately, the company used the product on the exterior of the home, which didn't stand up to the elements and hasn't been used since except on the interior surfaces of homes and commercial properties.
Once the Fair was over, 10 homes were licensed by Formica to be built in the country and one of them is now on the market in Salt Lake City in "Pill Hill" (the upper Avenues) at 731 E. 17th Avenue. Jim Christopher, the local architect who passed in 2016, was the lucky one to design this home and his emphasis on interior natural lighting could give some local modern architects a few lessons in design.
The home is very plain on the outside but wonderfully practical on the inside. There are five bedrooms and three baths, a large kitchen with floor-to-ceiling windows to the rear yard plus a main floor rec room. Downstairs is a walk-out basement with a kitchen and what we call a "forever home" because people can live on the main floor where the laundry is and never go downstairs. It's currently open for showings on Saturdays from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. if you're a fan of Mid-Mod. Stop by!
About The Author
Babs De Lay
A full-time broker/owner of Urban Utah Homes and Estates, Babs De Lay serves on the Salt Lake City Historic Landmark Commission. A writer and golfer, you'll find them working as a staff guardian at the Temple at Burning Man each year.
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