Oklahoma Modern

Oklahoma's "official" online persona is pretty dry. Our state's home page could best be described as Welcome to Nineties. Which is an improvement over the previous version, that looked like something created using Windows 3.11. But our tourism and recreation office has been a refreshing exception to that trend. A recent overhaul of TravelOK.com offers would-be visitors videos, blogs and articles about a variety of unique destinations that await them in the Sooner State. Yes, even Mid-Century Modern. You know it's gone mainstream when you find an article titled Mid-Century Cool in Oklahoma City on the state travel website. Seriously, it's a helpful article with a good list of notable buildings in The City.

Last week I noticed new visitors to Oklahoma Modern being sent from Dwell magazine's website. Dwell is one of my fave magazines, so I was curious. I investigated and was delighted to find a new resource listing modern sites of regional interest- such as the one you're looking at now. Here's a link to the page which includes a map of the various sites sprinkled across our Great Land... Dwell's Regional Modern Website Map We don't really consider ourselves a "real estate" site, but that's okay (we're not based in OKC either). Shucks, when we started OK Modern we never thought we'd be in Dwell! We're flattered to be sharing pixels with cool sites like Houston Mod, the Eichler Network and Kansas City Modern. Thanks Dwell!

Roadside Modern Found in Neighboring Missouri On a recent excursion to Lake of the Ozarks we discovered this gem of a roadside motel. The unique moving sign caught our eye- and the zig zag roof drew us in. But the real treat is the Sixties style and courtyard pool! The Golden Door Motel is a classic example of a roadside, park-at-your-door motel. The fact that it's so clean and well maintained is unique. That its style remains essentially unaltered, especially in this fast growing resort town, is a modern miracle.

I see a lot of modern-looking structures along the highway. There's probably a higher concentration of unique designs out on the road because of the desire to catch your attention as you whiz past. Some of the most interesting roadside attractions are also the most mundane. Consider the lowly highway rest stop. Many of our state's rest areas don't even offer travelers a rest room . But a few rest stops found along Oklahoma interstates feature picnic tables under stylized tepees. I've always admired this clean and simple form made of nothing more than three sticks and a circle. Another mid-century solution to shelter stylish picnickers was concrete. Lots of concrete. I spotted a good example of structural concrete shelters at a city park in Enid. These umbrella-like canopies, and their single support, are made completely of concrete. Public works projects are quite often accessorized with the latest look. This simple little shelter overlooks Broken Bow Lake and