6. Edward Durell Stone House features modernist latticed layering
Located at 130 E. 63 Street, The Edward Durell Stone House was transformed from an 1878 brownstone into an inventive modernist building. MoMA’s architect Edward Stone added a skylight, took out interior walls, and added latticed layering that covers the front of the building. Stone retained the interior staircase, which features white spindles and mahogany railings. The ground level has a guest bedroom suite with access to a garden. The third floor is particularly noteworthy, containing two original fireplaces within the master suite and library.
A red plaque by the entrance outlines the landmark status of the home. The sign reads: “Stone later rejected the austerity of modernism and sought to create a warmer, more decorative modern architecture in projects such as the US. Embassy in New Delhi, India, the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington D.C., the Gallery of Modern Art on Columbus Circle (now the Museum of Arts and Design, following controversial renovations), the General Motors building on Fifth Avenue, and this townhouse, which he renovated in 1956, and where he lived until 1964.”