Some homes make history. Others help define it. Nearly 80 years after architect Landis Gores completed the New Canaan residence he designed for himself and his family, the modernist masterpiece is being offered for sale for the very first time.
Listed for $3 million, the 3,096-square-foot, four bedroom, three bathroom home has remained in the Gores family since its completion in 1948—a remarkable legacy for a residence created by one of the influential Harvard Five. Alongside Philip Johnson, Marcel Breuer, John Johansen, and Eliot Noyes, Gores helped make New Canaan into one of the country’s most celebrated centers of modern architecture. And, this was one of the first modernist homes to be built in the Colonial-era town.
Designed as both a family home and a personal architectural statement, the single-story treasure balances the clean and expansive glass walls of the International Style with organic elements like natural stone, skylights for added sunshine, and an indoor pond. Original exterior lighting by renowned designer Richard Kelly remains intact, while a rear terrace Gores added in the 1980s introduces circular gathering spaces and an oval swimming pool that complement the surrounding landscape.
Added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2002 and protected through a preservation easement with the National Trust for Historic Preservation, the home is more than just a rare real estate listing—it’s an opportunity to become a steward of the Harvard Five’s extraordinary architectural legacy. Gores won a AIA Gold Medal in his lifetime, but this may have been his most prized possession.
Inger Stringfellow and Becky Walsh of William Pitt Sotheby’s International Realty represents the offering.
