With its proximity to the cultural hub of New York City and its quieter suburban and rural landscapes, Connecticut was fertile ground for artists and writers in the period of Modernist movements between 1913 and 1979. Many of these cultural figures are well known through biographical and critical studies. Creative Places seeks to show how place played a significant role in creative work, and how in turn the artists and writers influenced communities in Connecticut.
68 Orchard Road, Woodbridge
_320_213.jpg "Vincent J. & Susannah K. Scully house, south elevation; Bob Gregson photographer.")
- Vincent J. & Susannah K. Scully house
- Vincent J. Scully
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Scully resided at 68 Orchard Road during the early part of his career when he first gained a national reputation based on his teaching, his publications, and his role as an eloquent theorist for and critic of contemporary architecture. During this period, he kept books at the house and sometimes worked from it, although his office and classrooms at Yale were his primary workplaces. This house is the only surviving one where Scully himself was a designer, and its features along with alterations he also designed reflect many of the themes that characterize his evolving thinking.
- Description of Significance/Historical Narrative
- From the 2025 NR nomination by Chris Wigren, architectural historian: Designed and built in 1950 by its owner, the Scully house is a significant interpretation of a mid-century modern box house with the openness of the one-room concept for public areas. However, "the Scully house differed from all but the Glass House [by Philip Johnson in New Canaan] in extending radical openness to the private areas, where movable cupboards originally provided the only separation for sleeping spaces. However, this proved undesirable for family living, and permanent partitions were later added to enclose bedrooms. This alteration, as well as other modifications made to the Scully house during the period of significance reflect the development of Scully’s architectural ideas as well as adaptations to daily living and have not radically changed the house’s basic appearance or character." "The house also resembles other Modernist residences of the period in its relationship to its setting and the treatment of its landscape. Large areas of glass and wide sliding doors provide easy visual and physical connections between indoors and outdoors, and lighting fixtures mounted on the exterior illuminate the landscape at night so that it can be seen rather than the glass reflecting the lighted interior. The house is sited to minimize disturbing the natural topography and provide views to the rock outcrop to one side and the brook on the other. Beyond the house, the site is largely left in its natural state... The circular pool and allée are atypical elements, derived from Scully’s architectural history research." Susannah (Nancy) Scully remained in the house after she and Vincent divorced in 1965. "Having been an active participant in the process of designing the house, she too appreciated its Modernist lines and spaces and did virtually nothing to modify them."
- Date of Construction
- 1950
- Historic Designation(s)