Serge Chermayeff was born in Chechnya and then educated in England, where he later married and began his career as a designer, architect, artist and educator.
He married Barbara May in London where they had two sons, Ivan and Peter and lived on Abbey Road.
He married Barbara May in London where they had two sons, Ivan and Peter and lived on Abbey Road.
As the War threatened work, and his young family life, Serge, Barbara, Ivan and Peter—left England and sailed for America.
Serge and Barbara, living in New York and spending time with immigrants from the Bauhaus school of design and emerging modern art scene of New York, were looking for affordable land and like minded artists. When Peter Harnded discovered the magic of the remote outer Cape, he persuaded Serge and Barbara to rent a rustic cabin without electricity or running water on the steep slope of Slough Pond. The property and surrounding area was owned by Jack Phillips, who was selectively inviting architects, designers, artists and thinkers he admired.
Serge and Barbara bought the one room clapboard house overlooking Sough pond, where Henry David Thorough is said to have sighted 7 kettle ponds. They immediately set to work knocking through the walls to make a modernist wall of class facing the window and adding an enormous deck.
Believing in Jack Phillip’s vision, they dedicated themselves creating a magnet for the likes of Walter and Ise Gropius, Marcel and Connie Breuer, Eero and Lily Saarinen, Paul and Solveig Weidlinger, Olav Hammerstrom, Robert J. Wolf, Paul Resika, Richard Hofstadter, Arthur Schlesinger, Vita and Peter Petersen, Saul Bellow, Edmund Wilson, Alfred Kazin, Peter Harnden and all their many students.
Over time the Chermayeff house grew from its original one room size. First creating the loft bedroom for their two sons Ivan and Peter, then with the help of Marcel Breuer a dormer and punching out the windows to the pond and then extending along the shore line of the pond, adding bedrooms, bathrooms, studios and guest spaces.
Marcel and Connie Breur built their neighboring home on Williams Pond.
Serge and Barbara extended north along the shoreline and added two bedrooms and bathrooms.
They built a freestanding shed roof studio for Serge with an adjoining guest bedroom.
Eero Saarinen finished construction on Olav Hammarstrom’s design for Lillian Saarinen.
Serge and Barbara built a separate cottage for Sybil, Barbara’s mother who joined them from England and lived to be 103 years old.
President John F. Kennedy created the Cape Cod national seashore, protecting the area from any further development, preventing any further expansions on existing homes and enshrining the Cape Cod Modern legacy.
Serge retired from Yale and they left New Haven to live permanently on the Cape and they set to work building a 28 square foot living room with a giant sky light—designed to enjoy the winter months. This room housed their extensive book collections, paintings, and artifacts gathered during their many travels around the globe.
