Ames, Winslow, House

History

The Winslow Ames House is a prefabricated modular International Style house in New London, Connecticut. It was designed by Robert W. McLaughlin Jr. and was built in 1933. Winslow Ames was a professor of art history at Connecticut College and the art director of the Lyman Allyn Museum, and he had the home built after attending the Century of Progress Exposition in Chicago. It was constructed for $7,500, one of two surviving Motohomes produced by McLaughlin's company American Houses Inc. The modular house is composed of three rectangles and a flat roof constructed on a concrete slab with a welded steel framework. It was made with asbestos panels and features a core component that provides the heating and plumbing functions for the house. The other two modules feature two bedrooms and a one-car garage.

Ames and his family lived in the house briefly, but Connecticut College acquired it in 1949 and used it for faculty housing until 1986. It was in a state of disrepair by 1989 and was considered a hazard, due to its construction with asbestos panels. It was slated to be demolished, but Hendrickson rallied support to save it after uncovering its history. A restoration and rehabilitation project was completed in 1994 and it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1995.

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