800 Circle Drive - Thomas House

800 Circle Drive / Thomas House / Architect: Hobart Wagener / Style: Expressionist style / built 1963

While this house is not very visible from the street, we wanted to include it in this tour because it is such a strong MCM design. Glen and JoAnn Thomas hired Hobart Wagener to design their home in the early 1960’s. It takes advantage of its sloping site with the top floor facing the street and two floors on the downhill side on the slope. The house has a dynamic, geometric, double roof profile. It is reminiscent of industrial factories in its ‘sawtooth’ shape. On the back / south side of the building each floor has a horizontal ribbon of windows with a long balcony on the top floor. The exterior materials are sandstone, wood plank siding and of course, large areas of glass. Another remarkable feature is how the stone ‘skin’ of the building seems to peel off into the landscape to form very extensive retaining walls.