{"nrhp_refnum":"09000260","name":"Contempora House","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"88 S. Mountain Rd.","address_restricted":false,"city":"New City","county":"Rockland County","state":"NY","lat":41.18376132900005,"lon":-74.01704953799998,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2009-04-29","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"Contempora House is a two-story Modern Movement dwelling with a detached studio-service building, built in 1934-35 on a wooded site on South Mountain Road near New City, Rockland County, New York. It was designed by architect and planner Paul Lester Wiener.","why_significant":"The nomination argues it is an outstanding regional example of European Modernism in domestic architecture of the between-war period. Wiener's design was directly inspired by drawings by the Viennese architect Josef Hoffman. The house and studio keep clean, unornamented geometric forms and remain largely intact.","narrative":"Contempora House is a flat-roofed, two-story Modern dwelling with a detached studio-service building, set on a wooded multi-acre site on South Mountain Road near New City in Rockland County. Paul Lester Wiener, a German-born architect and planner, designed and built it in 1934-35 for himself and his wife, taking inspiration from drawings by Vienna architect Josef Hoffman. The main house has simple cubic massing, a rounded northwest corner, cantilevered balconies, stucco walls over wood framing and metal lath, and aluminum casement windows. Inside, period features include enamelware kitchen cabinets and plain-faced doors with aluminum knobs. The house was published in The Architectural Record in 1935. It is valued as a regional example of European Modernism in the years between the wars. A neighborhood of artists and writers grew along the road, and later owners added monumental sculptures. A 1960s renovation aimed to restore the original appearance, and the complex survives largely intact.","period_of_significance":"1934-35","architect_builder":"Wiener, Paul Lester; architect","architectural_style":"Modern Movement","criteria":["C"],"status_note":"Main house exterior largely as built, apart from a removed balcony railing and covered passageway; the property is still used as a single dwelling.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:51:52.707-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NY/09000260.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/09000260/45ef55f88b-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/09000260/45ef55f88b-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 4.0","author":"JERRYE &amp; ROY KLOTZ, M.D.","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:CONTEMPORA_HOUSE,_NEW_CITY,_ROCKLAND_COUNTY_NY.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">JERRYE &amp;amp; ROY KLOTZ, M.D.</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 4.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:CONTEMPORA_HOUSE,_NEW_CITY,_ROCKLAND_COUNTY_NY.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/75321432","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contempora_House","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5164950"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/new-york/rockland-county/contempora-house-09000260/"}