Peak Home Innovation - 1906

History  of the Thermo-Con House

1906
Thomas Edison unveils prototype housing using lightweight "foam concrete"

 

1923
Frank Lloyd Wright designs the first of several homes using pre-cast "textile" concrete blocks

 

1932
New York City's Museum of Modern Art mounts an exhibit titled "International Style," showcasing avant-garde industrial design and architectural functionalism in the U.S. and Europe

 

1941
United States enters World War II

 

1949
Thermo-Con House construction completed

 

1950
Korean War begins

 

1997
Thermo-Con House placed on Virginia Landmarks Register

 

2000
Renovation of Thermo-Con House

The innovative initiatives pursued at Fort Belvoir during the post-war period were also illustrated in its residential architecture. In 1948, the well-known architectural firm of Albert Kahn & Associates designed the Thermo-Con House. This house form was intended to provide a prototype for low-cost, mass-produced housing. The construction of the house employed an innovative technique that used chemically-treated concrete that rose from its foundation like bread rising in a pan. Another major residential project during the 1970s was the McRee Barracks, a complex of mid-rise buildings constructed in 1975 to house 1,200 single enlisted men.

 

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