White Gates Site Visit

Designed in 1957 by legendary architect Alfred Beadle, believed to be his first design for his personal residence to accomodate his expanding family. It may be worth while to note: Mr. Alfred Beadle had no formal training yet has been recognized as a legend in Mid-Century Modern architecture and is admired in our office for his many contributions.

This unassuming neighborhood had us initially scratching our heads wondering if we had the right address. Once turning onto White Gates Dr, instantly we knew we were in the right spot. Perhaps it was due to our understanding and ideas behind Beadle's work, but something felt different arriving on the property than we've felt at other MCM homes. When standing across the street and taking in the overall view, it's breathe taking. The home gives the illusion that it's floating, nestled perfectly against the Phoenix high desert backdrop of Camelback Mountain with a outward view of the city.

When looking in from the street, the home has a warm and inviting feel. ModernPhoenix.Net poetically stated the home "stands strong against it's surroundings, presenting a bold rectangular block of vivid color and brilliant white. The symmetry of the facade with it's rhythm of regularly spaced openings and pierced concrete establishes an ordered formality at the outset."

in 2014, the White Gates Residence is sadly in a state of despair and in need of a major restoration. The current owners are working with the city of Phoenix to bring it back to its original beauty. 

Although much work is needed, our minds instantly began racing with visions of natural desert landscaping and intricate interior pieces to compliment such a home. Walking around to the back of the home, there was no patio area as commonly found among other homes in the valley but we imagine the contractor and architect hired to restore "White Gates" will construct something complimentary, blending the homes clean lines with rough asymmetrical shapes of Camelback Mountain draping over the homes back drop.

After taking plenty of photos, we left out of respect for the owners to not overstay our welcome. We had accomplished what we set out for.

It's places like the White Gates home that hits the inner most parts of our passions and why we started MidModerns. We want to bring awareness to these amazing MCM homes around the country and help consumers make a new and unique choice when looking to purchase their home. Instead of getting into one of those cookie cutter cheaply built homes from builders that produce quantity in place of quality, we hope to see more people get into unique one of a kind purpose built homes.

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