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Home / The Museum of Mid Century Material Culture / historic preservation

Julia Baum captures the “vibrant display of personality” in cookie-cutter tract houses — 50 years later

pam kueber - Updated: November 5, 2020

Retro Renovation stopped publishing in 2021; these stories remain for historical information, as potential continued resources, and for archival purposes.

julia-baum-houses

Take a neighborhood full of cookie-cutter tract houses …  let their owners fuss with them … and 50 years later photographer Julia Baum finds that they have been “transformed from modest white cubes into a vibrant display of personality and present a rebellion against conformity….human individuality cannot be contained. Inevitably it shines through even the most average facade.” I love her study, which demonstrates again that their is so much to love about our jewel box mid-century homes. No matter how small, the opportunity is there to make them our own.  Read more about Julia’s project and see her slide show of 13 same-yet-different homes here.

CATEGORIES:
historic preservation

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  1. Joselle says

    October 11, 2011 at 9:40 pm

    That’s the same model as my 1950 tract house in Sherman Oaks. They are early Trousdale homes! It’s a delight to walk around the ‘hood and see the different takes on a theme. Nice work, Julia!

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