Zen Acre

Kurzen was gifted a plot of land in Stoney Creek, CT by the grateful parents of Dalton student Susan Wile, who later married Robert Rauschenberg. As a WWII veteran, Kurzen was able to procure a surplus army Quonset. This he traversed with a rectangular form and perched high to create an unprecedented house design; a low living room, lit from 3 sides, projects over the salt march and is flanked by cathedral-like spaces. This haven of peaceable life he named for himself, in Duchampian style "A. Kurzen" or – appropriately tangled up – "Zen Acre."