The Pond-Front Rental: The Cape Cod Modern House Trust

Designed by prolific Cape Cod architect Charles Zehnder in 1970, the Kugel Gips House–once slated for demolition–is the first in a series of restoration projects by the Cape Cod Modern House Trust, a group dedicated to documenting and preserving Bauhaus-era houses on Cape Cod by architectural luminaries such as Marcel Breuer, Nathaniel Saltonstall, and Eero Saarinen.

The house, which overlooks Northeast Pond, is available for rent during the summer months (a portion is tax-deductible); in the autumn and spring, artists and scholars can apply for a residency program.

Above: The Kugel Gips House is a reflection of Zehnder’s interest in the work of Frank Lloyd Wright and his time spent with the architect during his years at the University of Virginia.

Above: The structure is surrounded by a series of long cantilevered decks and roof overhangs.

Above: The living room features a minimalist brick hearth. Photograph by Yorgos Efthymiadis.

Above: A view of the modest kitchen partitioned by a shingled wall. Photograph by Yorgos Efthymiadis.

Above: The kitchen is sectioned off by a long island with a cooktop. Photograph via CCMHT.

Above: The living room overlooks Northeast Pond, one of Wellfleet’s many freshwater kettle ponds.

Above: The study offers workspace for two. Photograph by Yorgos Efthymiadis.

Above: The modest sleeping quarters have concrete brick walls–according to the Cape Cod Modern House Trust, Zehnder was influenced by the geometric concrete bunker formations in Normandy.

Above: Concrete walls continue into the bathroom.

Above: The deck overlooks a forest of scrub pine and the Northeast Pond.

Above: The clear waters of Northeast Pond. Visit Cape Cod Modern House Trust for booking information about the Kugel Gips House and two more CCMHT rentals.

Above: Well worth a read: Cape Cod Modern: Midcentury Architecture and Community on the Outer Cape ($32 from Amazon) by Peter McMahon and Christine Cipriani, with photographs by Raimund Koch. And worth watching: our friend Malachi Connolly’s feature-length documentary, Built on Narrow Land, the story behind the Outer Cape’s modern architecture of the 1960s and 70s.

To learn about the Hatch Cottage, another Cape Cod Modern House Trust property that’s available for rent, check out The Outermost House: Modest Modernism in Wellfleet. And in the New York Times, Penelope Green captured the vibe of my own Cape Cod childhood in A Childhood Home, and Poets’ Muse.

N.B.: This post is an update; the original story ran August 9, 2010, as part of our Cape Cod Modern issue.