A 1938 International Style house built as a display home for Kelvinator appliances, designed by William E. Burk Jr. for Walter C. Raabe, owner of the hardware company that distributed them.
At a glance
The Kelvinator House is one of over 200 similar homes built across America to showcase Kelvinator appliances and modern domestic living. Raabe & Mauger Hardware Company commissioned it as a working advertisement for the products they sold. The house remains one of Albuquerque’s earliest examples of International Style residential architecture.
History
Walter C. Raabe, owner of Raabe & Mauger Hardware Company, built the house in 1938 as part of Kelvinator’s nationwide “Kelvin Homes” campaign, which began in 1936. The architect William E. Burk Jr. designed it in the modernist idiom that was then entering American domestic building. A second-story studio space, designed to match the original structure, was added in 1976. The house was added to the New Mexico State Register of Cultural Properties in 1978 and listed as a contributing property in the Granada Heights historic district in 2022.
What you see
The house exemplifies the clean lines and unadorned volumes of the International Style. Its design shares visual language with the Lembke House, another early modernist residence in Albuquerque. The 1976 addition maintains stylistic consistency with the original building.
Cultural significance
The Kelvinator House documents the marketing strategies of American appliance manufacturers in the 1930s, when major companies built showcase homes to demonstrate the convenience and design of their products. It stands as evidence of how industrial design and commerce shaped domestic architecture in the twentieth century.
Key facts
- Country: United States
- City: Albuquerque, New Mexico
- Built: 1938
- Architect: William E. Burk Jr.
- Owner/Sponsor: Walter C. Raabe
- Coordinates: 35.0757, −106.60315
- Listed: New Mexico State Register of Cultural Properties (1978); Granada Heights historic district (2022)
Practical information & getting there
The Kelvinator House is located in the Granada Heights neighborhood of Albuquerque. As a private residence, it is not open to the public. Contact information and visiting details are not available.
Sources & resources
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