Elizabeth Gordon (August 8, 1906 – September 3, 2000) was editor of ''

House Beautiful ''House Beautiful'' is an interior decorating magazine that focuses on decorating and the domestic arts. First published in 1896, it is currently published by the Hearst Corporation, who began publishing it in 1934. It is the oldest still-publi ...

'' magazine from 1941 to 1964. She was remembered as "a missionary of taste to the American homemaker". In her well-known 1953 essay, "The Threat to the Next America", she criticized

International Style The International Style is a major architectural style and movement that began in western Europe in the 1920s and dominated modern architecture until the 1970s. It is defined by strict adherence to Functionalism (architecture), functional and Fo ...

modern architecture and associated it with totalitarianism and communism. For this she earned a personal letter of approval from

Frank Lloyd Wright Frank Lloyd Wright Sr. (June 8, 1867 – April 9, 1959) was an American architect, designer, writer, and educator. He designed List of Frank Lloyd Wright works, more than 1,000 structures over a creative period of 70 years. Wright played a key ...

, and the two became friends. In 1960, she introduced the Japanese aesthetic concept of shibui to an American audience. She spent five years researching the subject, including 16 months in Japan. The Shibui special issue (August 1960) "caused a sensation". She edited ''The House Beautiful/AIA Climate Control Project'', and wrote several articles on climate control for the magazine. She was married to Carl Norcross, "an authority on town planning." The couple's 1941 residence in

Dobbs Ferry, New York Dobbs Ferry is a Administrative divisions of New York#Village, village in Westchester County, New York, United States. The population was 10,875 according to the 2010 United States Census. In 2021, its population rose to an estimated 11,456. The ...

, was designed by architect Julius Gregory.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gordon, Elizabeth 1906 births 2000 deaths American writers 20th-century American women writers American editors