The Isaacson House stands in a residential area west of the Bates College campus and north of downtown Lewiston, on the west side of Benson Street. It is a single-story square structure with a flat roof, and is set further back from the street than neighboring houses. A central stone walkway approaches the house, which is set on a terraced rise accessed via floating stone steps. The exterior is finished in vertical siding, and features floor-to-ceiling windows with white trim. At the center of the front facade is a doorway-sized opening leading into a courtyard, which functions as a transitional space between the outside and inside. The main block of the house is divided into rooms three wide and three deep. Interior finish details include custom millwork and hardware.[2][3]
The house was built in 1959 for Philip M. Isaacson, a young lawyer and Lewiston native. Isaacson had become interested in modern architecture while studying law at Harvard Law School, and initially approached Josep Lluís Sert with a proposition to design a small year-round house that could be built for $25,000. Sert rejected his proposal, and Isaacson eventually commissioned F. Frederick Bruck, a young architect trained at the Bauhaus-influenced Harvard Graduate School of Design, for the job. The house that Bruck designed ended up costing $32,000. Even the smallest details of interior finishes were included in his design.[3] The house was named one of America's outstanding homes by the American Institute of Architects.[4]
