16 Styles of Mid Century Modern Fences and Screens
MCM Landscape Design Series, Part 1
Do you own a mid-century modern house and want to install a fence or screen but are unsure what style to choose? One of my landscape design clients had the same question. I couldn’t find much information online so I did a lot of research in old books and catalogs. After saving over 140 period fence images and designs, I’m here to share ideas for 16 different fence styles from 65+ period images. Whether you want your fence, screen, or baffle to blend in with the neighborhood or stand out with a truly wild period design, this article will have something for everyone!
If you'd rather watch a video instead, head on over to Youtube at https://youtu.be/M_zxRiv1JUE
If you'd like to build one of these fences, remember, I can create custom fence designs and construction details for you to install or give to your contractor. You don't even need to be located in the Washington, DC or Baltimore, MD area. Reach out to me at renee@sandboxlandstudio.com and we can set up a time for a quick chat!
Mid-Century Modern vs. Mid-Century Traditional Style
They were not afraid of bold color in the mid-century era, although you might not realize it because most pictures are in black and white.
First, I want to make a distinction between “Mid-century” and “Mid-century modern” style. Just because your house was built between roughly 1945 and the late 1970s does NOT mean it’s modern. Traditional houses were still being built during this time period! "Mid-century traditional" is a thing! Modern and traditional style is a continuum, with transitional in the middle. This article starts with transitional fence, baffle, and screen designs applicable to a wide variety of mid-century houses and becomes more and more modern. I saved the wildest ones for last, so keep reading!
Modern landscape design is noted for its relative lack of ornamentation, smooth lines, organic forms, simplicity, strong geometry, sense of horizontality, and use of new materials like concrete and fiberglass. Traditional landscape design has more ornamentation and complexity and is typically made from traditional materials. Hopefully looking at these photos will give you a sense of what modern means in the context of fence, baffle, and screen styles.
Your house doesn’t necessarily need to be the exact same style as your landscape. With a very traditional or modern house, it’s best to stick with the house style for garden structures. If you’re in the middle, you have more wiggle room. With both traditional and modern styles, your landscape can be more rustic and less formal than the house, particularly as you move further from the building. It is often useful to have a brief transition zone where the order 'dissolves' into nature, but a sharp border can work just as well. The contrast between order and disorder or formal and wild can be very compelling in the landscape!
Landscape architecture books from the period show many ‘updates’ to older houses with new, ‘modern’ landscapes and fences. In some cases this was successful and in other cases (to my eye) it was less so. It is my opinion that when a house is from a distinct time period, the landscape design should work with that character, not against it. An ornate wrought iron fence would look just as weird with a mid-century ranch as a corrugated fence would look with a Victorian! That being said, we are from the future and have access to materials and techniques that weren’t available during the mid-century time period. In addition, there are materials like asbestos we know not to use any more. We are not tied to the past, but knowing more about it will help us create better designs rooted in the spirit of the times.
Fences with lattice almost always lean traditional. I thought the caption on this one was hilarious. What is "apple pie condition?!"
The strong contrast between the geometry of the house and patio and the wild meadow is compelling.
What Types of Fences Did they Have in the Mid-Century Era?
At the time, people had access to a wide variety of fences we still have today. It is not my intention to go through every type of fence that may work with your midcentury home, just to highlight some of the more interesting or unusual fences of the era.
In this article I will cover the following fence styles: solid board, chain-link, rustic, wire mesh, basketweave, louvered, slat, multiple styles of grid/panel, breeze block and tile, corrugated, and translucent plastic. I'll also briefly discuss a few fence types we use in modern design today that they *didn't* use in the midcentury era.
16 Mid-Century Fence Styles
Vertical and horizontal solid board fences were widely available in the mid century era, just as they are now. They don't necessarily scream modern but you wouldn’t be wrong for installing one.
The horizontal board fence emphasizes the linearity and horizontality that was such a strong hallmark of mid-century architecture and pulls it out into the yard. The vertical board fence has a strong, clean rectangular grid and an unusual jaunty angle at the end.
The fence on the left has a storage shed built in front of it The horizontal lines are broken up by a clean rectangular grid painted a dark color. Also note that the grid continues down onto the ground plane with framed or edged cubes filled with what looks like gravel. The fence on the right is a fairly typical vertical board fence with a horizontal topper. Note the lack of lattice!
It’s worth calling out specifically: chain link is period and modern! It doesn’t show up in many design magazines of the day, as it was already a rather common material. In fact, it was being installed in millions of yards. Here it is on the edge of a tall deck, surrounding a children's play area, and again with plywood cutouts “bold to be in scale with the garden.” I’m not sure we would include the cutouts in a design magazine today, but I’m glad someone was having fun. I can only imagine what bright colors they were painted.
Modern and traditional design both take a controlled and ordered approach to space. These rustic fences are rough, natural, and variable, neither really modern nor traditional. If you like a little more texture, a rustic fence or screen can complement a modern house well. The juxtaposition between controlled and wild can often make for a really powerful and compelling design!
Redwood grape stakes were commonly used out west as a rustic fence and can be set with pointy end up or down. Rough planks make a bold natural fence behind swaths of plantings while irregular gaps allow glimpses into and out from the space.
More grape stakes, colorized this time. This stockade-style log fence/sculpture embodies play with its repetition of a single geometric form at different heights and diameters. I love that someone was having so much fun with this! Half-naked children seem to be a hallmark of MCM landscape photography; it was the baby boom, after all.
Like chain-link fences, many miles of split-rail fence were installed in suburban neighborhoods. They are a great affordable option and can be backed with wire mesh if necessary to contain dogs or children. Rough, wide cedar planks contrast texturally with thin cedar saplings.
Moving from more to less rustic, wire fences were common in areas where animals or people needed to be kept in or out but there was a view to be maintained. They could also be used as screens or trellises for climbing vines. The simple rectangular geometry of the frames plays well with other modern elements. I was surprised to see several examples using hexagonal chicken wire. I would recommend using hog panels or wire in a rectangular grid- it looks more ‘modern’ to our eyes, and the wire is usually thicker and more durable.
Left: this shape (a long rectangle projecting out from thin 'legs') was very common in the mid-century era. I'm not sure why the designers chose to infill this grid with chicken wire, especially next to what appears to be a sandbox. Right: this is a very common wire fence with a strong, clean rectangular grid fronted by ornamental grasses.
Left: This Asian-style fence with a strong rectangular grid is also filled with hexagonal chicken wire. It allows views into and out of the space. Right: It is hard to distinguish from the photograph, but this square grid fence has wire mesh to prevent unsupervised children from accessing the swimming pool, below. Open fences like this can be quite lovely in the garden. I'm not sure if they had as much of a problem with deer in the mid-century era as we do, but this would make a wonderful deer fence at 7-8' tall.
A wood and wire defines space but allows views into the surrounding landscape and acts as a safety measure for the swimming pool. It plays well with the other rectangular elements in the landscape including the deck roof, concrete panels, and the pool.
Mid-century designers didn’t shy away from using plain metal pipes to create fences and screens, which is not a material we typically consider using today. These could be highly decorative or more utilitarian or agricultural. I love the ingenuity they showed in using commonplace materials (whatever they had available to them) to make exceptional screens.
Left: These panels (presumably wooden?) appear to be ‘floating,' supported by dark-colored pipes. This creates a wonderful semi-transparent geometric screen. Right: wooden posts support horizontal pipes and a trained shrub or vine to create a carport screen.
Left: Strips of flexible plastic are woven around pipes to create a translucent screen in the garden. Center: A simple metal screen strung with wire to support climbing vines that will eventually grow into a green wall. Right: an agricultural pipe fence on a farm or ranch.
Stretched canvas seems to be less common than some other fence types, but I found enough examples that I felt I should include it. These fences usually have a metal or wood frame and the canvas is stretched taut within them through the use of metal grommets and lacing. Canvas doesn't last as long as many other materials which is why you see several of these used under the eaves of a house. The benefit, however, is that it's a relatively affordable material and completely blocks views. When the canvas breaks down, you can install new canvas in the existing frame. These screens could be quite colorful, as in the image on the top left. Canvas was also lashed to metal frames to provide overhead screening from the hot sun.
Left: this screen has a wooden frame with panels of two different sizes set several inches up from the ground. Right: this screen has a metal frame and is blocking views into or out of the pool area.
Left: The caption for this screen stated that "canvas can be used for bright, colorful screening." Middle: a detail on the metal grommets and the lashing attaching the screen to a metal frame. Right: a circular canvas screen used overhead as a sun shade. It's out of the scope of this article, but I've found many examples of shade structures built with a similar pipe frame and canvas infill.
Left and right: Canvas screens acting as shade baffles under the wide eave of a mid-century house, likely in a hot, dry climate. Middle: Take another look at this photo and you'll see a DIY light diffuser constructed of a fabric interior (probably not canvas this time) stretched taut inside a metal frame and suspended over the table!
Nobody would call a basketweave fence a particularly modern fence, but they were very common during the time period. I see relatively few built today, thus justifying their inclusion. They’re great if you want a period style that’s more subdued or transitional as they work well in many settings. Basketweave fences are made from woven slats of wood, which are usually oriented horizontally but can also be oriented vertically. As with all fences, the thinner the slat material, the faster the wood will break down, which is an important consideration in climates with more extreme weather. One nice thing about basketweave fences is that they're the same on both sides- there's no 'right side' or 'wrong side' to the fence.
Left: this fence uses thin slats and thin spacers, leading to a denser and more subdued weave, more privacy, and less airflow. Middle: Vertical basketweave fences are less common than horizontal. This one has thin slats but thick spacers, leading to a really dramatic basket shape. Right: These slats are thin and narrow but the spacers are wide, again leading to a more dramatic basket shape and feel and increased airflow/light penetration.
Left: I kind of love this fence. It makes me feel like I'm inside of a giant Longaberger basket. It's just sooo chunky, with thin yet super-wide boards and fairly thick spacers. And in front of such a normal-looking ranch house!! Right: It's hard to see in this picture, but these thin/narrow slats are woven around the thin/narrow spacers in a 3-under/3-over pattern. There are so many opportunities for woven fences past plain weave. Twill, anyone?
There are both operable and fixed louver fences. With fixed louvers, you must choose the direction of the slats ahead of time. Fixed-louver fences and screens block the views, wind, and light from one direction while allowing it from another, which can be used to your advantage. Operable louvers can be opened and closed at will, sort of like outdoor mini blinds. They can be difficult to construct and maintain but in the right location, the flexibility is worth it. Operable louver fences are particularly useful where you might want to block airflow or light at some times while allowing it at others, say in a coastal area with cooling summer breezes and frigid winter winds. Louvered fences, both fixed and operable, are more expensive than many other fence types due to the angles required for construction and/or moving parts.
Left: this vertical fixed-louver fence is very modern. Note the strong contrast in color and slat direction between the fence and gate. The louvers on the portion of the fence parallel to the walkway block views into the house as you approach but not as you leave. The louvers on the portion perpendicular to the walkway allow views as you approach. They could have been oriented the other way if this was not desired. Right: A horizontal louver fence acts as a screen on top of a dry stone planting bed. Horizontal louvered fences should be constructed of thick enough lumber with enough support so the louvers don’t sag over time.
Left: An operable louver fence made of thicker, rougher boards in a natural color feels more transitional or rustic and less modern. This fence is shown with one panel closed and the other two open, demonstrating the versatility of this type of fence. Right: This fixed louver fence, with its thinner slats, feels more modern. The louvers are set so that people on the patio can see out into the field beyond, but anyone on the other side of the fence can't see through to the patio. This functionality can be used in all sorts of ways for screening.
Left: A modern operable louver screen in open and closed positions. Right: A modern pivoting fence with large translucent fiberglass panels set in dark frames operates under the same principle as an operable louver fence but the individual panels are much larger and can be opened individually. This screen provides a view when open and privacy from the adjacent house when closed.
While researching this article, I learned about the origin of thin slat fences, which was news to me and rather exciting. Apparently they originated with the construction of lath houses in hot western/southwestern climates. As you may know, laths are thin boards that were originally used as a substrate for plaster in the construction of interior house walls. At some point, someone had the genius idea to use these thin boards outdoors to create a shade structure. Gaps between the boards allowed cooling breezes to flow through the space. Because lath houses were so popular in California and because California was a hotbed of the modern design movement, thin slats became inextricably linked with the design language of modernism and began to extend out into the landscape in other forms like fences and screens. Arguably, what differentiates slat fences from solid board fences is both the width of the board AND the existence of thin gaps. No gaps, not a slat fence.
Two lath houses provide shade while still allowing for airflow through a space. The lath house on the right contains a seating area and strong geometric framing with an empty rectangle above the door.
Left: A horizontal slat fence with really thin slats looks good but can be expensive due to the additional labor required to attach every single one of of those slats to the posts. Right: A rare example of a vertical slat fence. I can't tell if this is wood or another material (metal? the slats are just so fine). I would always recommend a cap on top of a wooden vertical slat fence to protect the end of each slat from rain. It's a lot easier to replace a cap on top than it is to deal with the top part of every single board rotting or weathering. It sure looks clean without a cap though!
Left: This screen is made from 1x1 material and is sheltered under the eave of the house. I really love this screen. It's such a wonderful example of thin slat construction. The top of the screen is really interesting- they didn't install the slats all the way to the top and instead left a grid of empty rectangles. Right: This is another grapestake fence, but not as rustic and with thin gaps between the stakes, installed in alternating horizontal and vertical panels with the horizontal portion inset behind the vertical. This fence has a cap to protect it from weathering- a smart move!
Now we start to get really modern! The mid-century period was all about grids, both regular grids and broken or fractured grids. The first type of grid fence is intermediate between the slat fences shown before and the fences that follow. One might call them ‘grids of slats’ where the slats, running either horizontally or vertically or both, are installed behind or within a gridded frame. This is different from just being the back side of a slat fence because they took the time to frame out a grid.
Both of these pictures are of the same property with an unassuming ranch-style house. This fence has been framed out to quite a height but note that many (but not all!) of the top cells are empty. This helps keep the fence from feeling too overwhelming when standing next to it. There is a strong contrast between the thick, assertive framing of the grid and the thin, delicate slats.
Left: A fence with a smaller grid and less contrast between the size of the grid framing and the slats. I don't think this fence looks as good as the one above, but maybe less contrast is what you're going for. Vines are also growing up this fence and will soon obscure its construction from view. Right: The slats on this fence are set really far apart from each other, which creates a really airy screen. The slats are inset into the grid and run both horizontally and vertically, and the grid cells are different sizes.
This category includes panel grids, shadowboxes, and egg-crate fences and screens. By regular, I mean that the fence itself is divided into a grid where all of the cells are the same size and shape. These cells may be empty or filled with solid or translucent materials.
Left: This is a series of baffles oriented diagonally to block the view of the vegetable and cutting gardens from the rest of the yard. (Sort of the same principle as a giant fixed louver fence). Each baffle is subdivided into cells of the same size and shape. Right: Note the pattern of filled and empty cells on this screen. The caption states that it is ‘gaily painted.' I'd love to know what colors!
Left: In this fence, some cells have translucent panels at the front and others at the back, creating a deep 3D texture and an interesting shadow pattern- you can see that the shadows on some cells are drastically different than on others. Right: this fence uses translucent plastic on some panels to play with patterns of light and shadow while still obscuring views along this walkway.
Right and Left: This egg-crate fence is another example of designers' interest in patterns of sun and shadow that change throughout the day or time of year. I find it fascinating that this was included in a design book. Would we be so interested today?
Left: Much like this 1930 Piet Mondrian painting, people loved an irregular or deconstructed grid in the midcentury era. Center top: This is a Roberto Burle Marx curved masonry wall. It isn't so much an irregular panel grid as it is decorated with irregular grids (presumably in bright colors). Center bottom: This multicolored grid fence has an inset irregular grid panel, part of which is open. Right: They weren't afraid of bright colors in the mid-century era! Most of our images are in black and white but the few that are in color show unexpectedly vibrant hues. This fence may be made of cement board panels.
This fence has a bold contrast between the dark slats and the translucent material behind, yet is delicate in appearance due to the thin width of the slats. It relies on the shapes created by the silhouettes of the posts behind and the thin frame to create a repeating but irregular pattern. Like many fences of the era, it feels strongly inspired by Japanese architecture and garden design.
A cheerful, colorful, irregular screen. There are several sizes of cell and all but one are filled with colorful cement board tiles in four different colors- a salmon, a turquoise, and two different yellows (pale yellow and mustard). Note that the cell on the top right, which is furthest from the structure, is empty. Irregular grid screens (and patios) can sort of 'dissolve' as they move away from the house, becoming more and more open. This can be a really wonderful effect.
Another kind of grid, often seen as a freestanding baffle or screen attached to the house, is created by dimensional lumber run vertically with connecting pieces made either of the same lumber or thinner pieces of wood. Note how the overall effect is more linear and vertical than the other kinds of grids. Two of the panels are symmetrical; the others are not. Also take a look at a similar screen used as part of the house facade on the Ray and Betty Pitman house in Kansas.
Left: Decorative mid-century modern baffles made out of 2x4 lumber. This photo inspired Robert over at Mid-Century Maurer to create an orange screen for his back yard that I'm absolutely obsessed with. Did I mention I love orange? Right: A photo from Zillow of a MCM house in Bemidji, MN. Unfortunately the realtor didn't take a closeup of the screen so this is as good as we get.
Left: A screen made from 1x4 lumber and wood blocks. The blocks create a really wonderful undulating pattern from straight lumber and simple rectangles. This is a really great example of partial enclosure, where you create a structure to divide space, but you can still partially see through it to the space beyond. I also really love how the paving grid keys in and out of the planting bed. Right: A photo from Zillow of the same house in Bemidji of a bathroom screen. Because it's a closeup, you can really see how the rectangles are inset into the vertical pieces (much thinner this time to fit the small size of the space and room).
Left: Another open dimensional lumber screen. This one appears to be much more regular in the placement of the blocks. Right: A screen dividing two outdoor gathering areas from each other. Note the vertical thin slat fence.
Breeze blocks are perforated concrete blocks that allow air and light through but cast patterns of shade on a space. They are very modern and, like lath houses, are a product of the hot southwestern climate, although they will work in other climates as well. With breeze blocks as well as the open grids above, designers were playing with perforation . You can see through them, yet they still divide space. Breeze block fences can be painted or left unpainted. The benefit of not painting is that you never have to repaint!
Left: This breeze block fence doesn't feel overly tall or imposing because of its perforated nature. This fence has an open wrought iron gate with circle and diamond motifs that echo the pattern of the block but contrast in color and weight. I haven't seen many mid-century wrought iron fences, although in theory they would have been a possibility. I wonder if they were very expensive or if most wrought iron workers kept doing traditional designs. Right: This tile screen/trellis on the side of the house is perforated with an abstract pattern. The caption states that the tiles are pink!
Left: Breeze blocks came in all shapes and sizes and could be used to build fences as well as walls and screens. Right: This house has several attached screens made from breeze blocks to define spaces, creating a wonderful courtyard-like feeling.
Left: Breeze blocks could be more organic in shape. These were hand-molded to achieve a fine level of finish and detail. Right: A painted block retaining wall with a breeze block fence beyond.
Corrugated fences and screens- often in very bold colors like the yellow below- were popular modern choices. These fences totally blocked breeze and light, giving complete privacy. The designers were very interested in the patterns of light and shadow cast by the corrugations throughout the day and sometimes used dramatic jogs in the fenceline to show this off. Fences could be painted different colors on different sides. Both corrugated asbestos and fiberglass panels were used at the time. Since then, asbestos has been banned because it’s hazardous to our health. I would stick to painted corrugated steel or aluminum today!
Today we don’t think of plastic as a landscape material. But the mid-century time period was all about experimentation with new materials. The designers were excited about translucent plastic and fiberglass screens, which blocked views but allowed diffused light, could glow at night, and transmitted shadows from behind. These were heavily inspired by Japanese shoji screens and Japanese architecture. It is hard to recommend the use of plastic today for health and environmental reasons, although outdoor-rated frosted acrylic is still available. Frosted tempered glass is a good substitute but is expensive and much heavier.
Left: a regular grid pool structure and screen where some of the cells have pops of color. Right: a translucent screen along the entry to a house. The rectangles are the same size (except the ones on the top and bottom) and are staggered.
A translucent screen in front of a very normal-looking ranch house. Note how the portion near the entry is stepped up a panel so you can see slightly underneath. Also check out those circular concrete stepping stones!
Left: a translucent screen provides privacy to an outdoor dining area. The panels are separated by wider boards in a natural color, leading to a less refined appearance. Right: a house facade exhibiting the the shadow effects you get when plants are silhouetted behind translucent screens.
Left: A frosted glass fence meets a thin slat fence at the corner of this yard. Center: We already saw this fence made from strips of plastic woven around metal pipes. Right: a translucent panel breaks up the weight of this horizontal board (or corrugated?) fence and creates a window of light.
Left: Another fence made from woven strips of plastic, although they are woven around a much thicker frame this time, creating a strong pattern of light and shadow. Right: a curious screen made from clear corrugated plastic that has been framed and stuck in an upright position in a planting bed set off by a zigzag pathway. I can't imagine designers today doing anything like this!
Or... what’s missing?
If you’ve been paying close attention, you may have noticed that a few of the fence, screen, and baffle materials we consider to be ‘modern’ today weren’t mentioned in the article. Cable railings are one of these, as shown on the image on the left below. The image on the right below is the only period fence I found that may be cable rail—but it's probably just strands of wire. The caption doesn't say. I can only conclude that stainless steel cable railings and fences were not in widespread residential use in the mid-century time period. Instead, they usually used wire mesh or individual strands of wire when they wanted to be able to see through a fence.
Les Ponts by Cephas CC BY-SA 3.0
Another material we think of as being very modern is Cor-ten or weathering steel. While weathering steel existed in the mid-century period, it had not yet jumped from heavy industrial to artistic to home use. Technologies such as waterjet cutting to create patterned metal screens also hadn’t yet become commercially available.
Technically these materials and construction methods are not period. But since mid-century designers were playing with new materials and technologies, I don’t see a problem with using these in a way that is otherwise true to the spirit of mid-century modern design. Most of us don’t live in museums! The design below right strongly evokes the geometric patterns and the perforated, screen-like nature of breeze blocks in a new material. The design to the left separates two small sitting terraces to provide privacy. It uses mid-century organic shapes "bold to be in scale with the garden," as they might have said (hearkening back to the caption for the decorated chain-link fence). It also plays with openness and partial screening of views in a way that would have been very familiar to mid-century designers. Both projects are excellent examples of using new materials in a period-sensitive way.
Corten screen with midcentury cutouts by Jan Kirsh. Used with permission.
Midcentury-inspired geometric corten facade, AUS Perth, Fremantle, Fremantle College 002 by wuppertaler, CC BY-4.0
Do you want a midcentury fence, screen, or baffle for your house but aren't sure how to build it, where to put it, or which material would be the best choice? I can help!
As a landscape designer I draw technical construction details for fences, baffles, and screens all the time. Whether you'd like to DIY or hand the plans off to a contractor, I will ensure that you have a solid understanding of the materials you'll need and how they go together. I can also help site fences on your property to provide privacy, block undesired views, preserve good views, allow airflow, and integrate with the style of your house. Just reach out to me at renee@sandboxlandstudio.com and we can discuss the specifics or set up a quick chat! You don't need to be located in the Washington, DC or Baltimore areas for me to create a fence detail or provide basic guidance about your property.