Unique Homes MA

Mid-Century Modern Homes in Massachusetts

MA's mid-century modernist enclaves — Six Moon Hill, Five Fields, Peacock Farm, Conantum — are among the most important post-war architectural communities in America. Plus scattered Compass Homes, Tech-Built, and Garrison-influenced contemporaries.

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MA's mid-century modernist enclaves — Six Moon Hill, Five Fields, Peacock Farm, Conantum — are among the most important post-war architectural communities in America. Plus scattered Compass Homes, Tech-Built, and Garrison-influenced contemporaries.
Photo: The original uploader was Daderot at English Wikipedia. · Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 3.0
A Compass Homes contemporary in Turning Mill, Lexington
A Compass Homes contemporary in Turning Mill, Lexington Photo: Oeoi · Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0

What is a mid-century modern home?

A mid-century modern is the post-war house that looks like the future people imagined in the 1950s. Most were built between 1945 and 1970, when young families left the city for the wooded suburbs west of Boston. These sit low and long against the land, with clean horizontal lines, big walls of glass, and rooms that flow into each other. Massachusetts is where the style took root. Walter Gropius came to teach at Harvard in 1937 and built his own glass-and-wood house in Lincoln; his students founded The Architects Collaborative in 1945 and were soon building whole neighborhoods. Carl Koch did the same in Concord with a prefab system called Tech-Built.

Why it’s special

The big idea was to live with the outdoors, not shut it out. Walls of windows bring the trees and light inside, and builders left the old oaks standing and tucked the houses among them, so these streets still feel like a forest with homes in it. Inside, the kitchen, dining, and living areas became one shared great room, an idea these architects helped invent. Built-in shelves, closets, and dividers came as part of the house.

What it’s like to live in one

Living in one feels calm and connected to nature, with a wooded setting rare this close to Boston. They cluster in a few famous neighborhoods, most in Lexington: Six Moon Hill (the founding one, from 1949), Five Fields, Peacock Farm, and the large Turning Mill. Conantum sits in Concord, while Lincoln and Belmont have Brown’s Wood and Snake Hill. Know what you are buying: the single-pane glass that makes these houses glow also leaks heat, flat roofs need watching, and a few enclaves have rules about changes.

Six Moon Hill — The Architects Collaborative's first cooperative, 1949
Six Moon Hill — The Architects Collaborative's first cooperative, 1949 Photo: Fothergilla · Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0

Is it the real thing?

The best of these are collector houses, and a documented original sells at a premium over a generic ranch from the same decade. The clearest proof is the architect: homes by The Architects Collaborative or Carl Koch, or by builder Walter Pierce, are the genuine article. Original built-ins, original windows, and the untouched relationship between house and trees all point the same way. For an enclave tag on this site, we draw each neighborhood’s boundary by hand, and a house has to sit inside it with a build date within about ten years of the enclave. That keeps a stray 1960s colonial from being swept in.

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Common questions about Mid Century Modern homes

How do you identify a Mid Century Modern home?
  • Low, horizontal shape, usually one or one-and-a-half stories
  • Flat or shallow gable roofs with deep overhangs
  • Open floor plan around one big shared living space
  • Large windows, sometimes floor to ceiling
  • A carport instead of an enclosed garage
When were Mid Century Modern homes built?

Mid Century Modern homes were built during 1945–1975.

Where in Massachusetts are Mid Century Modern homes found?
  • Lexington (highest concentration — 4 named enclaves)
  • Lincoln (Gropius House plus Brown's Wood, scattered Hoover work)
  • Concord (Conantum)
Who designed notable Mid Century Modern homes in Massachusetts?
  • The Architects Collaborative (TAC) — Walter Gropius and partners
  • Walter Pierce / Compass Homes — Peacock Farm, Turning Mill
  • Carl Koch — Tech-Built, Conantum
  • Henry Hoover — Lincoln modernist work
  • Benjamin Thompson — TAC and later Design Research

Current listings (41)

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Related styles

National Historic Landmark

Federally designated as nationally significant — the highest U.S. historic recognition. Section 106 review applies to federal undertakings affecting the property.

National Register

Listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Owners may qualify for the 20% federal Historic Rehabilitation Tax Credit on certified rehabilitation work.

State Register

Listed on the Massachusetts State Register of Historic Places.

Local Historic District

Inside a Local Historic District. Exterior changes visible from a public way require approval from the local historic district commission.

Local Landmark

Individually designated by the town as a local landmark. Exterior alterations require commission approval.

MACRIS Inventory

Documented in MACRIS, the state historic inventory. Informational only — no regulatory constraints.

Article 85 (Boston)

Subject to Boston Article 85 demolition-delay review, which can pause demolition of buildings 50+ years old for up to 90 days.

Ch. 91 Waterways License

An active MassDEP permit for a dock, pier, seawall, or other structure on or over a Massachusetts waterway. Many older licenses are not digitized; this record is provided for reference only.

Massachusetts Great Pond

A Great Pond under M.G.L. Ch. 91 — the Commonwealth retains public rights to fish and navigate these state-designated waters. Private docks and other waterfront structures require a Waterways License from MassDEP.

Likely Great Pond

The MLS listing describes this property as being on a Great Pond, which would be a state-designated water body under M.G.L. Ch. 91. GIS data did not independently confirm the pond name — verification needed.