Small monumental house  

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Somewhere here there might be something that inspires you:
http://www.archinect.com/forum/threads.php?id=65086_0_42_0_C

Small monumental
The Phillip johnson glass house and some of the LA case study houses look suprisinlgly monumental for their small size.

I think it's the minimal geometry, single, large rectangular prisms with a dearth or projecting acrhitectural clutter, dormers, bays, porches etc.
These two homes have just gone up across the street and while I welcome their modern intentions I suspect both will end up very diagnostic to the first decade of the 21st century.

I'm not saying that's a terrible thing. My own house looks very dated. It's style is absolutely identifiable with the late 1930's idea of "modern" but now it's universally characterized as "art deco".
The glass house and case study houses have a rare timelessness that's not reproducable with a simple formula.

You should look at Glenn...
You should look at Glenn Murcutts sons work, its rather good, and cheap.

The glass house is a good...
The glass house is a good sample, but it is very depending on the context, in this case its surrounding. I forgot that space and distance do make much different for making sumthing eye-catchy. Do people really live in the glass house?

Australian builders have neve...
Australian builders have never given due consideration to insulation, we've got a history of expedience, if you live anywhere near a quarry think about very thick stone walls as a core for your house with larger screened verandahs that can be used when the need arises.
Perahps something like a Godsell house reworked as a bungalow.

well
Mr. Johnson is dead. So no!
James -
I know what you mean about the timelessness of the CSH. I had a conversation last night about the same thing with a friend of mine. It seems modern houses today all seem to be replicas of each other. Almost none that I have seen seem to have that timeless appeal. They all tend to want to be a Dwell house. I am not saying that is bad, they just don't have the personality of many midcentury houses.
The main thing is that many of of the midcentury houses by the likes of Neutra, Koenig, Ellwood, Edward Durrell Stone, have a certain lightness and grace to them. You're right. Although seemingly simple, it's a very hard target to hit!

I like Godsell very much
I went to a gathering where he spoke in Jackson, Mississippi this year. I was suprised at how many students reprimanded his work for his rectilinear approach.
Another thing I have noticed about new modern construction is that people tend to build two story now. It's really easy IMHO to lose it's lightness and grace this way. Obviously it can be done (Eames House).
There was an amazing E.D. Stone house in a Dwell issue a few months back. I wish I knew which one it was. It was small and quite stunning. In fact, maybe you should look at some of his work. I love his use of architectural screens, which do not seem to have been in favor since then. It would be a great way to add pizazz, privacy to large glass expanses and character without having to resort to something that would break up simple geometry.

Young whitespike you are ...
Young whitespike you are so smart for a young fellow and I do mean that with all do respect, for your age you are right on, while most guys your age could hardly care or understand what a mid century modern home is all about. other than some kids in architectual school that are just learning that the pass word is Carbo, not that many young folks understand about them,
I search for years for my home and basically waited till the right one came around as my home is not a contemporary shit box, that was thrown together in the 60s with the neighbor hood swimming pool around the corner. what you would call a ranch and on a good day say it was a contemporary home or like some jerks like to brand it today cause it sounds real cool Atomic ranch creepy term creepy magazine,
Mid century modern homes are very rare !!!! they are the designs of every one you stated but the main players were the Harvard 5 from New Cannon conn, Mqrcel Breuer , Landis Gores, John johnsen , Phiip Johnson, Eliot Noyes , these guys changed the world of modern box homes , yes Richard Neutra and Frank Lloyd wright were key players in the big box but the Harvard 5 developed and planned out the styles were they are still used today,
Other regional architects came into play after seeing the works of Wright Neutra and studying with Gropius and Breuer at Harvard ,
Two of those guys were O'Neal Ford in Texas and Ted Kershner of Oklahoma ( who designed my home with his son in law Doug wixon ) and did a
incredible job on this 5000 sq ft home,
these home were considered step outs from the California Case study homes as they were all small, and the Harvard 5 homes were all 3500 to 6000 sq feet,

one of the elements of my h...
one of the elements of my home is what these guys the Harvard 5 called Celestal Windows in their words windows to the stars that open every thing up,
I love this about my home, no boxy rooms here, and to think that it was built in 63

I think Builder lives in...
I think Builder lives in Melbourne, the hideous climate there has to worked with, not against. Our built environment here is for the most part utterly horrible.
I agree about the two story houses, it strikes me as odd that with housing becoming more and more expensive that no-one seems to want to build smaller houses, gotta have that home cinema and 3 bathrooms!

they call it the big bang...
they call it the big bang buck, It is so true got to have the media room and the 5 toilets with special ass wipers , and the kitchens made of stainless, but......... for every one modern home built here in America there are 30 country French.country English. Mchomes, for some reason our country is in love with the European design look of yesteryear and we love to build that look , I like original stuff, its your home, its your castle, you should put your own signature on it, other than some builder with a big SUV wife , who is the little decorator on the job, notice i did not say designer ..... cause most of them our just home builders delux.!!!

Thanks for the feedbacks....
Thanks for the feedbacks. Some designer or builder delux things tends to do form follows function (as LFR mentioned)or function plus decorations, but it what happens here, since we cant do much or create more flexible form (e.g chairs) with a lot of constraints (e.g weather as HP mentioned). Yes Neutra and FLW had made a big different, could they do it in small urban area?

Albert Frey House
unfortunately the pics arent the best I have some more in a book at home which show the pool and built in outdoor furniture
It really was tiny, I'm not sure if it would work as well in a different environment but it looks great in the desert
http://www.psmodcom.com/Architects%20Pages/FreyHouseI.html