One of the Last Alcoa Care-Free Homes

A rare Alcoa Care-Free Home is lovingly restored by a pair of realtors who specialize in MCM homes to become a mid mod marvel once again.

What would you do if you came across an extremely rare MCM home that had just come up for sale? If you’re Lee Braun and her husband, Peter—both realtors specializing in mid mod homes—you snatch it up before anyone has the audacity to change it. Together, the couple bought a Mid Century Modern Alcoa Care-Free Home—one of only 24 built across the country.

But this house is even rarer because it’s one of the very few Alcoa homes still standing. In recent years, many of the homes have been torn down or gutted to fit contemporary ideas about aesthetics. “We looked at the house and we couldn’t bear the thought of someone coming in and ripping everything out. It broke our hearts,” Lee says. Through their many renovations—which is an ongoing process, Lee points out—the couple has continually sought to polish this rare MCM gem to how it shined during its glory days.

Forever Metal

The house is located in Hollin Hills, a 326-acre neighborhood south of Old Town Alexandria, Virginia, where all the homes are Mid Century Modern architecture. The neighborhood was built from the late 1940s to the early 1970s by developer Robert Davenport and renowned architect Charles Goodman. Goodman also happened to be the architect that the makers of Alcoa Care-Free Homes tapped to help design their new, mass-produced kit homes—one of them being this home.

The story goes that Alcoa (Aluminum Company of America) wanted to enter the housing industry and opted to have their homes feature their material, aluminum. In fact, some of the homes include as much as 7,500 pounds of it. But aluminum was expensive, even then, so while many of the MCM homes in the Hollin Hills neighborhood have similar square footages as Lee’s house (originally 1,900 square feet), they cost only $20,000. Lee’s house, on the other hand, went for $60,000 in 1957, the year it was built. “It was almost three times as much as what [most] buyers could have afforded at the time,” Lee explains. “Plus, some people thought the house looked odd because of all the aluminum.” All this contributed to Alcoa Care-Free Homes becoming an abandoned project of sorts. Only 24 of the planned 48 homes were ever built.

Still, the aluminum material was supposed to be futuristic and long-lasting, which helps explain why Lee’s home still has its original roof and siding intact. Other homes in the neighborhood became victims of wood rot, yet this aluminum still stands strong. Only a few parts of the building’s original siding had any hint of oxidation. Lee had those panels taken down and had their colors matched to the original color of the paint, which was still intact on the backside of the aluminum. “We had these sandblasted and powder-coated to the exact same color.” The front door, also made of aluminum, was badly dented, and because there was no way to replace it—not that the couple even wanted to—they bonded it in place.

outdoor atrium with water feature yellow chairs and pink neon sign on brick wall — The brauns took one-third of the original courtyard for the bathroom expansion but repurposed the original brick. the sign is a quote by lee—something she often said to peter as the restoration got tough.

Water Works

Lee and her husband love Mid Century Modern houses and see themselves as stewards of this rare gem of a Alcoa Care-Free Home. Thus, saving the interesting aluminum features extended to, of all places, the bathrooms. “Many of the remaining Alcoa bathrooms have either been removed or remodeled,” Lee explains, so saving the bathrooms was a must.

While beginning the renovations, Lee heard in the news that another rare Alcoa Care-Free Home had been demolished. “I think I just sat down and cried,” she recalls. “What I wouldn’t have given to have some of the original siding or some of the bathroom fixtures.” But the experience incentivized her to push ahead to save the bathrooms at any cost.

“Our goal was to treat the house as much as a museum as we could,” she says. “And these original bathrooms have one-of-a-kind features you can’t find anywhere else.” The bathrooms have built-in wall scales and aluminum grids framing the avocado green or blue laminate. “The bathrooms kind of remind me of those you might find in an airplane,” Lee says. “They might be the only two Alcoa original bathrooms left, so I knew I had to restore them.”

Happy Ending for the Alcoa Care-Free Home

When Lee and her husband first bought the house, they didn’t know it would become their forever home. Not only was the structure meant to stand the test of time, but the couple can’t see themselves ever selling it. “Truth be told, I tricked my husband into buying the home—I told him it would be a great investment,” Lee jokes. “But even though not every reno went to plan because we spent more money than we anticipated, we both feel that it was worth it.” In fact, they would do it all over again if they had to.

“A restoration will always be a lot more expensive than a renovation,” she says. “But I like to compare it to labor, i.e. having a baby. It isn’t very fun while going through it, but when you’re done it’s so joyful.” The couple feels good knowing they’ve done what was right for the house. “I’m really proud of how it’s all turned out.”

dining room and living room with view to outdoors in renovated 1957 home — “My husband, Peter, was so hands-on with this process,” Lee says. “He was the one who took off hundreds of pieces of aluminum, labeled, cleaned and put back on, in most cases having to miter the pieces to fit on the heated concrete floors that were added. We were both so hands-on in this project.”

Saarinen dining chairs reupholstered in Knoll orange fabric in dining room of 1957 Virginia home — The Saarinen dining chairs were a major discovery. The original owners had them stored in the carport but they were molding. “They literally had mushrooms growing on them,” Lee says. She purchased the set for $200 and had them cleaned, refurbished and recovered in Knoll fabric.

open concept from room with Eames lounge chair in restored Alcoa home — The home’s front room is Lee’s martini lounge. It’s complete with walnut walls and concrete floors. The yellow and orange painting hanging on the wall was purchased by the home’s original owners and has been hanging on that wall since the 1960s. “It just felt like it belonged there,” Lee says. the Knoll Rosewood Parallel Bar Coffee Table was a unique find as well. “This was one of the first Knoll made. We know this because it’s made from solid rosewood, which is what they used before they switched to a rosewood laminate.”

galley kitchen in renovated 1957 Virginia home — The kitchen had been renovated in the 1990s and was no longer historically accurate. “Luckily, we were able to locate the original cabinetry in the garage,” Lee says. “The original owners saved everything. They had closets full of parts to the home. So, we took those cabinets and we turned the upper cabinets into a sideboard with peglegs and painted the inside of them.” The new range hood was made to resemble what it might have looked like in 1957.

home bar in restored MCM home with beefeater figurine — The martini bar includes a Beefeater figurine and classic martini glasses to offer a wonderful mod look.

blue-laminate and aluminum bathroom preserved in 1957 Virginia home — The blue-laminate and aluminum bathroom was something the couple knew they had to save, even though the expense proved costly.

bathroom with brick wall and double sink vanity — This new primary bathroom includes an accent wall that used to be part of the home’s interior courtyard. While it was important for the couple to restore the laminate and aluminum bathrooms, they still wanted a primary bathroom that would increase the home’s livability with space big enough for his-and-her sinks.

aluminum closet doors in Alcoa Care-Free Home bedroom — Aluminum material covers the large closet in this primary bedroom. “All the closet doors in the bedrooms were off the tracks, but the parts were there. Even though the closet doors are dented and not perfect, they are a part of the original house, so we’ve kept them,” Lee says.

If you’re interested in more restorations of rare MCM gems, don’t miss Tour the Frost House, a Rare Modern Gem in the Midwest. And of course, don’t forget to follow us on Instagram, Facebook and Pinterest for more Mid Century Modern inspiration!