Midcenturymodernshow's Podcast

How do you save a historic kitchen that's like no other because of its color and design? That's exactly the question that Landmarks Illinois, a statewide historic preservation non-profit, found itself grappling with when historic-preservation advocates asked Landmarks for its help to save the kitchen designed by African-American architect John Warren Moutoussamy. Ebony Magazine Editor Charlotte L. Lyons tested meals in this kitchen before adding them to the magazine's monthly feature, “A Date with a Dish.” Landmarks stepped in when the building was sold for development and the new owner didn't want the kitchen. The nonprofit bought the kitchen, which included the walls and appliances, for $1. Photographer Lee Bey documented the kitchen before volunteers dismantled it.  The kitchen is now in a storage unit while Landmarks works to find a new owner. Landmarks wants a new owner who reassemble, displayed and interpreted as an exhibit or reused for educational purpose at an appropriate location where its historic