Midcentury John Black Lee Designed Homes List in New Canaan

Midcentury homes often feature smaller, galley-style kitchens—although prescient in so many ways, that era’s architects couldn’t have imagined today’s preference for the kitchen-as-command-center. A stunning exception is the DeSilver House pictured above, built in 1961 by architect John Black Lee and Harrison DeSilver.

We’ll stop ourselves from swooning all over the glamorous exteriors and picture-perfect furnishings to focus on the kitchen, now offering Miele appliances, Poggenpohl cabinetry, bamboo flooring, the original pantry and a modern-art-museum-worthy wall of sculptural tiles. Glass doors open onto a dining patio, which connects to the landscaped terraces that surround the house. Listed for $1.7 million with Natalie Louw of Made for Modern, it has four bedrooms, including a master suite with a private balcony, sitting area and fireplace.

And John Black Lee fans take note: There’s a second for-sale home designed by the architect sometimes referred to the sixth of the Harvard Five, also in New Canaan. Listed with Christine Williams of William Pitt Sotheby’s International Realty, the circa-1952 Lee House I, as it’s called, is a pristine white structure with loads of glass walls (but a small, galley kitchen). Asking price: $1,350,000.