House in New Castle County

House in New Castle County. Delaware, U.S. Robert Venturi, John Rauch, and Denise Scott

Brown (architects). 1978–1983 C.E. Wood frame and stucco.

• Robert Venturi's New Castle County House offers a modest but instructive example of the Post-Modern style set in rural north Delaware; orthodox. 
• Modern architecture and city planning had run its course. Rather than copy a specific style, he borrowed freely, juxtaposing, collaging, and reinterpreting forms from distinct periods and places. 
• Classical in derivation yet slightly cartoonish, this somewhat awkward assemblage gives the house a simultaneously grand and whimsical appearance. 
• The painted arches in the vaulted music room, the quirky chandeliers, and perforated wall patterns exhibit a straight-forward craftsman-like quality; his buildings and critical writings helped propel late 20th-century architecture in a new direction. 
• This private residence remains a playfully challenging work expressing a refreshingly pluralistic view of architecture and design.