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Gropius House (1938)

Experience a revolution (Lincoln, Massachusetts)

Walter Gropius, founder of the German design school known as the Bauhaus, was one of the most influential architects of the twentieth century. He designed Gropius House as his family home when he came to teach architecture at Harvard’s Graduate School of Design. Modest in scale, the house was revolutionary in impact. Gropius House is a National Historic Landmark.

Gropius House combined traditional elements of New England architecture—wood, brick, and fieldstone—with innovative materials including glass block, acoustical plaster, chrome banisters, and the latest technology in fixtures. It features furniture designed by Marcel Breuer and fabricated in Bauhaus workshops. With the family’s possessions still in place, Gropius House has a sense of immediacy and intimacy. In honor of the Bauhaus centennial in 2019, Historic New England launched a Gropius House app featuring photos, videos, and other archival materials related to the family and its social circle.

Plan Your Visit

Location

68 Baker Bridge Road
Lincoln, Mass. 01773

 

EXPLORE DIGITAL TOURS

Days & Hours

May – October
Thursday – Sunday

November – April
Saturdays and Sundays

Tours at 11 AM, 12 PM, 1 PM, 2 PM, 3 PM

Advance tickets recommended.

Closed March 31, May 5, and July 4

Admission

$25 adults
$22 seniors
$15 students

Free for Historic New England members

Accessibility

Tour involves standing, walking, and stairs. Visitors with limited mobility may be able to enjoy a first floor tour of the house and grounds. Visitors can access a virtual tour of the museum from their own digital device onsite. Folding chairs are provided for visitors who would like to use them while on tour. The site is not equipped with ramps, elevators, or lifts. Service animals are welcome. We are happy to work with you to make your visit an enjoyable one and we encourage visitors with questions or requests to call ahead.

Directions

From Route I-95/Route 128, take Route 2 West 4.5 miles to Route 126 South past Walden Pond. Take the second left on Baker Bridge Road. Gropius House is 0.5 miles on the right.

Baker Bridge Road is a narrow curving road with hills and blind spots through a residential neighborhood. Please obey speed limits and slow down for bicycles and pedestrians.

Parking

On-site parking is available in the upper and lower parking lots adjacent to Gropius House and the visitor center.

Visitors with mobility concerns or other special needs may park in the upper lot nearest to the house in the designated parking area.

Public Transportation

MBTA Commuter Rail on the Fitchburg Line to the Lincoln stop, 2.5 miles from Gropius House. Please note this line had been undergoing weekend maintenance so please check the schedule.

Contact Information

A New England Home

Before building the house, the Gropiuses traveled around New England studying its vernacular architecture. Photos in this gallery by Eric Roth.

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  • A New England Home

    Before building the house, the Gropiuses traveled around New England studying its vernacular architecture. Photos in this gallery by Eric Roth.

  • First Floor Hallway

    This space illustrates Gropius’s adaptation of traditional New England forms and ideas. The traditional central stair is curved away from the entry.

  • Study

    Gropius designed the study to accommodate the Marcel Breuer double desk that fits perfectly under the north-facing ribbon window.

  • Living Room

    Large windows frame the landscape, expand the interior spaces, and are positioned for maximum light and heat.

  • Dining Room

    The living room and dining room appear as one coherent space but may be separated by a curtain. The Gropiuses entertained often.

  • Master Bedroom Suite

    A glass wall separates dressing room from sleeping area, creating the illusion of a larger space while solving a practical design problem.

Gropius Images from ScrapbookBauhaus to Harvard

Gropius House was built in 1938 by German architect Walter Gropius (1883-1969). He was thirty-five years old when he was appointed director of the Academy of Fine Arts in Weimar, Germany. One of his first decisions was to combine the Academy of Fine Arts with the School of Crafts and rename the new institution the Bauhaus. Bauhaus is taken from two German words: bauen (to build) and haus (house), and translated means “House of Building,” an idea Gropius took from medieval craft guilds. Gropius was director of the Bauhaus from its founding in 1919 until 1928.

Financial woes and political opposition forced the school to move from Weimar to Dessau in 1925. The school entered its most creative phase in Dessau, where Gropius brought together a faculty of celebrated artists and craftspeople that included Josef Albers, Wassily Kandinsky, Paul Klee, Laszlo Moholy-Nagy, Herbert Bayer, Anni Albers, Marianne Brandt, Alexander Schawinsky, and Marcel Breuer, among others.

The attitude of the Bauhaus toward design was all-embracing, encouraging collaboration and taking into consideration not only the individual object or building but also the larger context, the community, and the environment. Training required students to study the fine arts, to learn the skills of a craft, to understand the properties of materials, and to be familiar with technology and factory production. The Bauhaus embraced new materials and technology and sought to create a new aesthetic, unencumbered by historical tradition. Students were taught that beauty was to be found in the economy of form, in the expressive use of materials, and in solutions that were suitable, economical, practical, and therefore inherently elegant.

The political situation in Germany at the time was rapidly changing with the rise of the Nazi party. The government closed the Bauhaus in 1933 and Gropius, who had left the school in 1928 to open a private practice in Berlin, fell into disfavor with the Third Reich, who described his work as “Communist.” Gropius submitted designs for government-funded projects that were consistently rejected. There was little work in Germany for anyone not closely aligned with the government.

In 1934 the German government granted Gropius’s request to work temporarily in London. The dean of Harvard’s Graduate School of Design, Joseph Hudnut, visited Gropius in London and offered him a teaching position at the university. Harvard pursued Gropius, anxious to revitalize the teaching of architecture and change their curriculum from the Beaux-Arts tradition. Only when Harvard agreed to allow him to build a private architectural practice in America – in addition to his teaching – did Gropius accept the offer.

Walter Gropius accepted the appointment as professor and subsequently chairman of the Harvard Graduate School of Design in Architecture in 1937. However, first Gropius had to persuade the German government to allow him to transfer to the United States. The government reluctantly agreed and allowed Gropius to return to Nazi Germany to collect his personal belongings, but the regime did not allow him to take any cash assets out of the country. In return, the Propaganda Ministry advertised that Harvard had appointed a German citizen, for the first time, to a traditional professorship. They were convinced that in such a role he would serve Germany as an exemplary model of its greatness.

Walter and Ise Gropius arrived in the United States in the spring of 1937 with little more than their furniture made in the workshops of the Bauhaus, their books, and office files. Their daughter Ati, twelve years old at the time, remained behind in England to finish the school year. They immediately fell in love with the New England countryside and admired the landscape outside Cambridge and Boston and, in contrast to their apartments in Berlin and London, decided to live in more rural surroundings. They found a Colonial-style house to rent on Sandy Pond in Lincoln, Massachusetts, but the house did not suit their functional or aesthetic needs. Ise later wrote, “Our Bauhaus furniture looked indeed strange in the small rooms of this prim little house of Colonial style.”

Walter Gropius playing ping pong, Gropius House, Lincoln, Mass.A Family Home in Lincoln

New social connections brought an extraordinary opportunity. Henry Shepley, an architect friend, approached philanthropist and patron of the arts Helen Storrow, informing her that “the new German professor” at the Harvard School of Design was “desperate” to build a house for himself but was not in the financial position to do so. He suggested that she offer him a piece of land on her large estate in Lincoln, Massachusetts, finance the house, and rent it to him so that they could “see what he might do.” Mrs. Storrow, who was known to support many individuals and organizations, agreed almost immediately. Mrs. Storrow thought that newly arrived immigrants should always be given a chance, so she offered Gropius a building site and the financial resources to build his house, because as she put it, “if it is good, it will take root.” Gropius chose four acres on a small hill surrounded by Mrs. Storrow’s apple orchard.

Working with local Concord, Massachusetts, builder Casper J. Jenney and approximately $20,000, the Gropiuses wanted their home to reflect its surroundings and traveled around New England studying vernacular architecture. In designing the house, Gropius combined traditional elements of New England architecture such as clapboard, brick, and fieldstone with new, innovative materials, some of them industrial, such as glass block, acoustical plaster, and chromed banisters, along with the latest technology in fixtures. The design of Gropius House is consistent with Bauhaus philosophies of simplicity, functionality, economy, geometry, and aesthetic beauty determined by materials rather than applied ornamentation.

Gropius used traditional New England building materials and architectural elements in intriguing ways, like the vertical clapboard walls of the front hall which are not only functional but beautiful. Gropius used their vertical orientation to create the illusion of height as well as a practical surface for hanging an ever-changing collection of artwork; wood is an easy surface to nail, patch, and paint. The entrance is an example of how Gropius interpreted a center entrance Colonial with a Bauhaus twist. This portico is on a diagonal that leads the visitor to the front door according to the natural approach. A glass block wall protects from wind and rain, yet allows light to permeate the entry passage as well as the interior hall. Mrs. Gropius noted that repairs were “kept to a minimum because the house was remarkably well built.” After weathering criticism and bewilderment about the house’s unusual design and materials from fellows in the local lumber yard, builder Casper Jenney of Concord was vindicated in the eyes of his colleagues after the house survived the devastating hurricane of 1938 with minimal damage.

Many of the fixtures in Gropius House were sourced from non-traditional commercial catalogues. For example, the hall sconces were ordered from hotel catalogues. On each side of the bathroom mirrors, half-chrome light bulbs redirect light to the sides and reflect light back to the mirrors. This creates flattering light, while simultaneously eliminating the need for any additional lighting shade or cover. The towel rack was installed on the hot water radiator to warm the towels, which in 1938 was an idea ahead of its time. Gropius House has four bathrooms, two on the first floor and two on the second floor; they are all plumbed on one main stack for efficiency and economy. All four bathrooms were located in the less prominent northwest corner of the house, where solar gain and views were not important.

Above the Marcel Breuer-designed white Formica dining room table is a ceiling light fixture that was a type used by museums to highlight a piece of artwork. It has a particular adjustable aperture so that it illuminates only to the perimeter of the table. This dramatic lighting effect was used by the Gropiuses as part of their entertaining repertoire of sparkling dishes, floral arrangements, cast shadows, and flattering light.

Gropius experimented with non-traditional materials such as the California acoustic plaster found throughout the living and dining room walls and ceilings as well as elsewhere in the house. A very porous substance that unfortunately has “greyed” over time from its original white color, it was applied with a spray gun over the lath. Its sound-absorbing characteristics still function effectively.

Almost all of the furniture in the house was handmade in the Bauhaus workshops in Dessau before the family left Germany. There are a few notable exceptions, including the Saarinen womb chair and the Sori Yanagi butterfly footstools in the living room. Ise purchased the two-seat TECTA sofa in the living room in 1975 from Germany.

Guests to the Gropiuses’ home and dinner table included their Bauhaus friends and fellow émigrés as well as other notables of the twentieth century. Alexander Calder, Joan Miro, Igor Stravinsky, Henry Moore, Demetri Hadzi, and Frank Lloyd Wright are a few names in the Gropius guestbook.

In several ways, Gropius incorporated the philosophy of living in harmony with nature. The large plate glass windows have a dual purpose: they visually bring the outdoors in, but also permit passive solar gain. Another strategy he used was to allow the flat roof rainwater and snow melt to drain through a center pipe to a dry well. Over time, Mrs. Gropius designed her gardens to become low-water, low-maintenance, and incorporated indigenous plants. They did not have air conditioning, but used passive ventilation.

Walter Gropius believed that the relationship of a house to its landscape was of paramount importance, and he designed the grounds of the home as carefully as the structure itself. In 1938 the Gropiuses enjoyed sweeping views because the house stood alone on top of the hill unobstructed by trees and woods. The grassy plinth on which the house sits is defined by stone walls. This “civilized area” around the house included a lawn extending roughly twenty feet around the house and a perennial garden that continued the thrust of the south-facing screen porch. Beyond the well-tended ring, the apple orchard and meadow were left to grow naturally. For new trees, the Gropiuses selected Scotch pine, white pine, elm, oak, and American beech.

Wooden trellises reaching from the east and west sides of the house and covered with roses and vines offered privacy and protection from the road. Vines such as bittersweet, Concord grape, and trumpet vine were planted to link the house to the landscape. The Gropiuses’ goal was to create a New England landscape, complete with mature trees, rambling stone walls, and rescued boulders as focal points.

The Japanese-inspired garden in the back of the house was installed by Mrs. Gropius in 1957 after a trip to Asia. It was her intention to create a low-horizon profile in the garden with azaleas, cotoneasters, candytuft, and junipers, and to use a red maple as the focal point under the arch.

Walter and Ise Gropius considered the screened porch to be among the best practical New England responses to the environment. However, they noted, porches usually darkened interior living spaces and were often placed at the front or side of a house. In past decades a porch overlooking the road would be quite pleasant, with neighbors and infrequent slow-moving vehicles passing by. However, modern living dictated that a porch should not force the occupants of the house to endure the noise of the street. Gropius adapted the basic idea, placing the porch perpendicular to the house to capture every available breeze, provide total privacy from the road, and darken only a service room. The screened porch room permitted outdoor living year round. Mr. Gropius played ping pong there in the winter months, as the south and west-facing sun would warm it in winter, and the breezes would cool it in summer.

On the advice of Mrs. Storrow, the garage was placed at the foot of the driveway to the left of the entrance. This was a distance from the house, but convenient for minimizing snow shoveling in winter. It also provided an unobstructed view of the main structure. After Mrs. Storrow’s death in 1945, the Gropiuses bought the house from her son, and added one and a half acres to the original four acres.

Ise Gropius sitting in a Womb Chair in the living room at Gropius HouseGropius’s Intent

Walter Gropius died in 1969, leaving Mrs. Gropius a two-sentence will. In the will he states that he loves her and trusts her with his legacy. Mrs. Gropius acted on her husband’s intent by establishing the Walter Gropius Archives at Harvard, donating his Bauhaus and Harvard materials to those archives respectively, as well as donating pieces of art to the Busch-Reisinger Museum and to the Bauhaus Archiv in Berlin.

Walter and Ise Gropius promoted Modern architecture and Bauhaus principles of design by using their family home as a teaching tool. Gropius believed that his house, although built in 1938, embodied the qualities of simplicity, functionality, economy, geometry, and aesthetic beauty that could transcend time and could be applied to the architecture of today. Mrs. Gropius was determined to carry this educational opportunity forward by turning her home into a museum.

Ise chose to give the property to Historic New England, in 1979, but continued to live in the house until her death in 1983. She recognized that Gropius House was, and continues to be, a New England house and an important part of the New England architectural continuum. It was “a happy amalgam” of the New England vernacular and the Bauhaus spirit. In a charming anecdote, Mrs. Gropius was always amused to think of Gropius House as a New England “antiquity” as years before it had been barely tolerated as a curiosity, or worse, an abomination. The stewardship of Historic New England insured that the Gropiuses’ vision of preservation and education would carry on into the future.

Ati Gropius sitting at the dining table at the Gropius House, set with dishes and a bouquet of Gerber daisies..Becoming a Museum

Two years after Mrs. Gropius’s death in 1983, Gropius House opened as a historic house museum. The Gropius’s daughter, Ati, who was twelve years old when the house was built, worked with Historic New England curators and educators to shape the story that we now share with the public. Ati also led the effort to bring the house back to its appearance at the time her father was alive in the late 1960s. She presented workshops for the museum staff to help them understand the living philosophy behind the Modern Movement. She donated textiles and ceramics from her own home to replace ones that were needed for the house museum. She was the voice for her parents and made sure we got it right. For more than 25 years, Ati worked with Historic New England staff to shape the appearance of Gropius House, touching every aspect of the site from fine-tuning the arrangement of jewelry and perfumes on her mother’s dressing table to helping develop a landscape plan to ensure her parents’ vision for the grounds would be preserved for the future. Over the years, staff recorded hours of conversations with Ati that chronicled the story of the house and the life within it. It is due to Ati Gropius that the house today feels less like a museum and more like a home where the occupants just stepped out of sight.

Collections on Display

"Stable Tools"

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Landscape History

Walter Gropius believed that the relationship of a house to its landscape was of peak importance. He designed the grounds of the home he built for his family in 1938 as carefully as the structure itself. He sited the house on a grassy plinth defined by stone retaining walls. A “civilized area” around the house included a lawn extending roughly twenty feet around the house and a perennial garden that continued the thrust of the south-facing porch.

In fall 1937, before the house design was completed, Gropius moved mature trees from nearby woods and planted them around the site. Digging of the foundation began in April 1938. The earliest surviving photographs of the construction site show the frame of the house with mature, wrapped, and wired trees already in place. For their new trees, the Gropiuses selected Scotch pine, white pine, elm, oak, and American beech. Vines such as bittersweet, trumpet vine, and Concord grape were planted to link the house with the landscape.

Wooden trellises reaching from the east and west sides of the house, and covered with pink climbing roses on the east and grapevines on the west, provided privacy. The Gropiuses aimed to create a New England landscape complete with mature trees, rambling stone walls, and boulders used as focal points for gardens. While Walter Gropius gained great pleasure from the gardens, his wife, Ise, was the principal landscaper. Around 1957, after a summer trip to Japan, she redesigned the perennial bed in imitation of a Japanese garden.

Property FAQs

Find out about dog walking, photography policy, and more.

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  • How long is the tour?

    The Gropius House tour lasts one hour.

  • Do I need to take a tour or can I just look around?

    All visitors to the house receive a guided tour.

  • Are there other Modern buildings in the neighborhood?

    Yes, nearby Woods End Road is a local historic district because it has three other Modern buildings designed by Walter Gropius, Marcel Breuer, and Walter Bogner. Lincoln, Massachusetts, has more than sixty mid-century Modern structures within the town.

  • Is the Breuer house open to the public?

    The Breuer house is privately owned and occupied, as are all the homes on Woods End Road. We ask that you respect the property and privacy of our neighbors.

  • How much land does the Gropius House property comprise?

    Historic New England owns five and a half acres of land surrounding Gropius House.

  • What is the sculpture in front of the house?

    The outdoor sculpture, titled Winter Pine, was created by Lexington artist Richard Filipowski (1932-2008) and installed by the artist and Walter Gropius in the 1950s.

  • How was the landscape designed?

    Like the house, the landscape was planned for maximum efficiency and simplicity of design. The property’s five and a half acres include modest lawns at the front, a formal Japanese garden to the rear, and an apple orchard rolling down to the juncture of Baker Bridge and Woods End Roads.

  • Can we visit the landscape and picnic?

    Yes, we encourage visitors to enjoy the Gropius House landscape every day from dawn to dusk. There are lots of places to picnic or enjoy the view. Gropius House is close to the Town of Lincoln’s conservation trails.

  • Can I take photographs at Gropius House?

    Interior and exterior photography for personal use is allowed at Historic New England properties. For the safety and comfort of our visitors and the protection of our collections and house museums, we ask that you be aware of your surroundings and stay with your guide. Video, camera bags, tripods, and selfie sticks are not permitted. Professional/commercial photographers and members of the media should visit the press room for more information.

  • Are dogs allowed on the property?

    Historic New England welcomes responsible pet owners to enjoy our grounds. Dogs must be on a leash and under control at all times. Dog waste must be picked up and properly disposed of, off the property.

  • How do I become a Historic New England member and get more involved?

    Join Historic New England now and help preserve the region’s heritage. Call 617-994-5910 or join online.

  • Do you provide admission discounts for EBT cardholders?

    EBT cardholders from all fifty states can show their card for $2 admission to house tours for up to four guests per card.

Related to this Property

Visit the nearby Codman Estate.

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Explore the Gropius House web app.

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Become a member and tour for free.

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