Modern House Rendering

Leisurama Watercolor Rendering

We’ve discussed our affinity for Mid-Century Modern homes in the past (see: here and here), so we were quite surprised when we discovered the existence of a fantastic looking documentary called Leisurama.

The film tells the story of a 1960’s department store that featured full-scale models of Mid-Century Modern homes that were part of a housing development called “Leisurama.” The homes were on the 9th floor of the Macy’s Herald Square store in Manhattan and were a huge hit among shoppers not expecting to encounter an entire home while shopping for such things as a new winter coat.

This collaboration between Macy’s and Leisurama was meant to promote a new type of modern home. The models were fully decorated and furnished, all the way down to the toothbrushes and toilet paper.

Watch the video below to learn more about this wonderful quirk in the history books of American modernism.