A few judicious moves reclaimed this vintage Marcel Breuer home, whose design was based on a house he exhibited at The Museum of Modern Art in 1949. Architects Sara Segal, LEED AP, and Rafi Segal restored the house for themselves, using archival research as a guide in stripping paint from plywood walls, rebuilding partitions, and restoring window profiles.

The Rockefeller Foundation, which owns the exhibit house, supplied a color analysis keyed to today’s paint colors. “Breuer had a special blue that was a combination of blue, white, and gray,” says Rafi Segal. “The white has a bit of yellow in it, and these nuances make a huge difference.”

“This house could easily have been torn down,” a judge said of the restoration’s rigor. “It’s a good precedent that they kept it.”

principals in charge / project architects: Sara Segal, LEED AP, RMJM, Princeton, N.J., and Rafi Segal, Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates, New York City
general contractors: Chris Brenner, Brenner Painting Associates, Ewing, N.J., and Rob Faucett, R. Faucett Construction, Flemington, N.J.
project size: 3,700 square feet
site size: 3.88 acres
construction cost: Withheld
photography: Jeff Tryon.

product specs
countertops: DuPont (Zodiaq); flooring (carpet): Texstyle; flooring (ceramic tile/stone/concrete): ARDEX Engineered Cements, Dal-Tile Corp.; hardware: Blaine Window Hardware; kitchen fittings: DuPont; kitchen fixtures: Grohe America; paints/stains/wall finishes: The Sherwin-Williams Co.; refrigerator: Viking Range Corp.