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Alcoa Care-free Homes are a group of suburban homes designed for Alcoa (Aluminum Company of America) by Charles M. Goodman during the Mid-century modern movement, incorporating ideas generated at the Women's Congress On Housing.

While composed of a variety of building materials (brick, steel, wood, and extensive use of glass) they incorporated large amounts (up to 7500 lbs) of aluminum. The homes were introduced in 1957. They were constructed by local contractors using kits provided by Alcoa, and were mostly built in 1958 as model homes. The company had intended to build forty-eight homes, one for each state in union at the time. Eventually, twenty-four were built in sixteen states. The company was sued for misrepresentation of costs to build the homes, with ALCOA claiming costs to build up to $34,000 and selling prices of $50,000 while Associated Contractors Inc., claiming true costs to build the homes were $63,612 with the highest selling price $32,419.

Locations

According to the original brochure, an Alcoa Care-Free Home was built in the following places:

• Lakewood, Colorado, (outside Denver)
• New Canaan, Connecticut
• Pinecrest, Florida (outside Miami)
• Evansville, Illinois
• Wheaton, Illinois
• Lafayette, Indiana - the first Alcoa house to be built
• Lincoln, Massachusetts (outside Boston
• Southfield, Michigan (outside Birmingham)
• Flint, Michigan
• Grand Rapids, Michigan
• Saint Louis Park, Minnesota (outside Minneapolis) restored
• Brighton, New York (outside Rochester 43°7′38.64″N 77°32′49.27″W / 43.1274000°N 77.5470194°W / 43.1274000; -77.5470194) - Alcoa Care-free Home added to the NRHP
• Brecksville, Ohio (outside Cleveland)
• Dublin, Ohio (outside Columbus)
• Woodbourne-Hyde Park, Ohio (outside Dayton)
• Perrysburg, Ohio (outside Toledo) - Built by Gustav H. Feldtmann, the house was open to visitors for a six-week period shortly after completion. He sold it in 1965.
• Raleigh Hills, Oregon (outside Portland) 45°28′54″N 122°45′14″W / 45.48167°N 122.75389°W / 45.48167; -122.75389) - The house was demolished in September 2021, after being sold for $880,000 in December 2020.
• Upper St. Clair Township, Pennsylvania (outside Pittsburgh) - in a southern suburb of Alcoa’s corporate home
• Ross Township, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania (outside Pittsburgh)
• Maryville, Tennessee
• Fort Worth, Texas
• Alexandria, Virginia (Hollin Hills Historic District) contributing property the NRHP historic district - restored
• Richmond, Virginia
• Seattle, Washington

See also

• Lustron house
• Charles M. Goodman House
• Case Study Houses

References

1. Subdivisions and Architecture Planned and Designed by Charles M. Goodman Associates in Montgomery County, Maryland (PDF) (Report). National Register of Historic Places. September 2002. The Alcoa house used aluminum for the following building elements: 1) roof, 2) ribbed exterior wall panels, 3) hinged purple grilles for windows, 4) front door, and 5) framing for sliding glass doors. The house also combined wood, glass, steel and brick in a 1,900 square-foot house that was "planned with the requirements of last year's well-known Women's Housing Congress in mind."105 (The Women's Housing Congress was just one reflection of the dominant marketing pitch to make houses reflect the concerns of the female head of the household, especially since the woman was doing more housework herself and servants were disappearing in all but the richest of households.) The house featured several of Goodman's trademark features: 1) a central-core kitchen that was essentially an island dividing the living room from the family room; 2) a family room that was distinct from the living room and adjacent to the kitchen; and 3) a screened garden terrace. Goodman used prefabrication techniques wherever he could in the design of the Alcoa house.
2. "Women Congress on Housing" (PDF). U.S. Department on Housing and Urban Development (HUD). April 1955. Retrieved March 9, 2023 – via Housing and Home Finance Agency.
3. ^ "Aluminum Industry, Hearings Before Subcommittee No. 3 of ... 85-1 & 85-2pursuant to H. Res. 56 ... November 18-19, 1957; March 11 - May 7, 1958". United States Congress House Select Committee on Small Business. August 7, 1958 – via Google Books.
4. "Aluminium Houses & Charles M. Goodman". Aluminium Products. August 16, 2010.
5. ^ Paletta, Anthony (May 10, 2017). "The clever midcentury aluminum homes that would have changed U.S. suburbs". Curbed.
6. Bashara, Dan (April 2, 2019). Cartoon Vision: UPA Animation and Postwar Aesthetics. Univ of California Press. ISBN 9780520298149 – via Google Books.
7. Skrabec, Quentin R. (February 6, 2017), Aluminum in America: A History, McFarland, ISBN 9781476625645
8. Gringeri-Brown, Michelle (2012). Atomic Ranch Midcentury Interiors. Gibbs Smith. ISBN 9781423619314.
9. "Aluminum Houses Planned for Fall; ALUMINUM HOUSES PLANNED FOR FALL". The New York Times. April 21, 1957.
10. Plans Announced for 50 Alcoa Care-Free Homes, Architectural Record (121), June 1957
11. ^ "Alcoa "Care-Free" aluminium home in Minnesota to open doors to tourists". AlCircle. October 8, 2018. Retrieved August 5, 2022.
12. "American Lumberman & Building Products Merchandiser". American Lumberman. August 7, 1958 – via Google Books.
13. ^ Lobner, Peter (15 June 2020). "Aluminum Company of America (Alcoa) aluminum Care-Free Homes" (PDF). lynceans.org.
14. ^ "My Alcoa Care-free Home: History. HISTORY". myalcoacarefreehome.
15. "Post-World War II Prefabricated Aluminum and Steel Houses and Their Relevance Today". The Lyncean Group of San Diego. June 15, 2020.
16. https://issuu.com/building-products/docs/tclm_02011959/s/28915455
17. ^ "A Model for Identifying and Evaluating the Historic Significance of Post-World War II Housing" (Report). National Academies Press. 2012. p. 80.
18. "Modern New Canaan - New Canaan Museum & Historical Society".
19. New Canaan Mid-Century Modern Houses (PDF) (Report). Building Conservation Associates. 2008.
20. "12950 Sw 67th Ave, Pinecrest, FL 33156 - MLS #M1472288 | ZFC". www.zfc.com.
21. "Endangered Goodman Alcoa Care-free Home in Miami". moderncapitaldc.com. January 17, 2012.
22. "Pictures of Endangered Goodman Alcoa Care-free Home in Miami". moderncapitaldc.com. February 5, 2012.
23. "Praise for Aluminum". Indiana Preservationist. January–February 1999. {{cite magazine}}: Cite magazine requires |magazine= (help)
24. ^ "Charles Goodman — Eden Casteel Music Studio". Eden Casteel.
25. "Tour de Lafayette :: Additional Plaque Properties". www.tourdelafayette.com.
26. LLC, Dwell (April 5, 2006). "Dwell". Dwell, LLC – via Google Books.
27. Runyan, Robin (June 22, 2018). "A young couple carefully restores a midcentury Alcoa aluminum home". Curbed Detroit.
28. "Charles Goodman – Alcoa Care Free Home (1957)". November 1, 2013.
29. "ALCOA ALUMINUM HOUSE 8000 Westwood Hills Drive – St Louis Park Historical Society".
30. "On the market: 1950s Charles Goodman-designed Alcoa Aluminum House in Rochester, New York State, USA - WowHaus". www.wowhaus.co.uk.
31. "Alcoa Care-free Home - Rochester, NY - U.S. National Register of Historic Places on Waymarking.com". www.waymarking.com.
32. Libby, Brian (March 6, 2016). "Metallic midcentury: visiting the Alcoa Care-free Home". Portland Architecture. Retrieved August 6, 2022.
33. Zap, Caludine (October 6, 2015). "A 'Care-Free' Aluminum Home in Portland Hits the Market". Realtor.com. Retrieved August 6, 2022.
34. Eastman, Janet (September 19, 2021). "Oregon's only midcentury aluminum Alcoa Home bulldozed in SW Portland". The Oregonian. Archived from the original on September 19, 2021. Retrieved September 20, 2021.
35. Eastman, Janet (January 29, 2016). "Cool aluminum: Rare, midcentury modern model home for sale in Portland (photos)". The Oregonian. Archived from the original on September 20, 2021. Retrieved September 20, 2021.
36. Eastman, Janet (September 22, 2021). "Here's how to save spectacular Oregon homes from the wrecking ball". The Oregonian/OregonLive.
37. Oxenham, Andrew (August 14, 2020). "The ALCOA Care-Free Home by Charles M. Goodman, Mid Century Modern Tennessee".
38. "Alcoa House". Hollin Hills.
39. Old-House Journal Dec 2010 - Jan 2011
40. "029-5471 Hollin Hills Historic District". www.dhr.virginia.gov.
41. "Restored ALCOA "Care-free" Home to be featured during 2021 Fall House+Garden Tour". Hollin Hills House + Garden Tour.
42. "Blogging the History of Richmond, Virginia: Alcoa Designed House in Richmond". Shockloe Examiner. August 10, 2017.

• 1957 in the United States
• Alcoa
• Aluminum in the United States
• Houses in the United States