Next up on the auction block, the Maison Tropicale, a rare midcentury prefab by French designer, Jean Prouvé — one of only three ever built. Shipped all the way from its first home in Congo-Brazzaville, and immaculately restored in Paris, this lightweight steel and aluminum kit-of-parts structure and prefab archetype can be yours for the low, low price of $4 – $6 million! Do we have a bidder?
We mentioned the Maison Tropicale last year when it was exhibitioned by the Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art as part of a larger Prouvé show. Now the nomadic house will settle down in Queens, according to the New York Times, as the home of the highest bidder at the Christie’s June 5 auction.
“The Maison is plug-and-play: there was never any plumbing, and it is wired for electricity. It ships in six containers. Christie’s is compiling a short list of potential bidders with substantial properties in Mustique, Antigua, the Hamptons — name your playground — who might like a 59-foot-by-32-foot–by-16-foot-tall folly/outdoor sculpture/guesthouse/vintage metal toy to park on the lawn, with a designer label attached.”
With a multi-million dollar pricetag and a spotted past as a literal accessory to French Colonialism in the Congo, the Maison Tropicale is not your standard affordable kit-of-parts. But as an antique, it’s rich with history, and there’s no doubt it won’t be orphaned for long.
