Andrew Geller - Solo Career

Solo Career

Geller became known for a number of homes in New England that he designed while moonlighting at Loewy/Snaith, with the encouragement of Loewy and Snaith. The houses each had an abstract sculptural quality; a 1999 New York Times article called the homes "eccentrically free-form and eye-grabbing." Another article called the homes "ingenious wooden spacecrafts." Another described the houses as "quirky, tiny, site-specific." Geller himself gave the houses nicknames such as the Butterfly, the Box Kite, Milk Carton and Grasshopper.

Geller's work met a varied reception. Mark Lamster, writing for Design Observer, described Geller's Long Island house designs as "inexpensive and modest homes with playful shapes that radiated a sense of post-war optimism." His 1966 design for the Elkin House in Sagaponack, New York, which he called Reclining Picasso was described as "an angular mess" in a 2001 New York Times book review.

See: Andrew Geller design sketch

See: Andrew Geller design sketch

Examples of Geller's idiosyncratic home designs include the 1955 Reese House for Elizabeth Reese in Sagaponack, New York — an A-Frame house that popularized the construction method after it was featured appeared on the cover of the New York Times as well as in the newspaper's real estate section of the May 5, 1957 edition. Reese, the client, was at the time the director of public relations at Loewy's office, and she publicized Geller's work — with John Callahan of the New York Times writing several articles on his work.

The Pearlroth House in Westhampton, of 1959, consists of a pair of diamond-shaped structures. When the 600square foot Pearlroth home was slated for demolition in 2006, it was called an "icon of Modernism." The house — which featured two boxes rotated 45 degrees in a distinctive shape — was eventually relocated to be restored as a public museum. Architectural historian Alastair Gordon said the house "is one of the most important examples of experimental design built during the postwar period – not just on Long Island but anywhere in the United States. It is witty, bold and inventive."

In 1958, Geller designed a beach house for bachelors. The Esquire Weekend House could be delivered to any location to be constructed on stilts. Alastair Gordan, architectural historian, called the one-room house a "reducto ad absurdum version of the post-war weekend aesthetic."

See: The Esquire Weekend House, rendering by Andrew Geller