The Gamble House

Picture building a house with no nails. Although this is not entirely a fact at the Gamble fact, it is as close as one can get to this idea.

While Frank Lloyd Wright was pioneering the Arts and Crafts movement in Chicago, in California the Greene brother’s, through their architectural firm – Greene & Greene, were pioneering the movement in Southern California.

The main premise of the Arts and Craft movement is incorporating small decorative elements into architectural design, thus steering construction away from the sterile design that was inherited from the Industrial Revolution.

The Gamble House, originally built by Greene & Greene for the Gamble family (from Procter & Gamble) is considered by some experts the greatest exponent of the Arts and Crafts moment in Southern California.

Traditionally, when a house like this was commissioned by a wealthy family, such as the Gambles, the commission included the design and manufacture of custom furniture, which to this day still sits inside the notorious house.

There is a myth, which has been throughly debunked, that the house was built using no nails. Although the statement is almost true, it is nevertheless inaccurate. However, the house was built using almost no nails or screws, and the few that were used, are not visible.

There is a strict no-photography allowed policy at the residence, but I somehow snuck a couple pictures to show my ample readership… You may recognize this house as the home of Dr Emmet Brown in the now iconic film Back to the Future.

 

Richard Neutra – VDL House

If you’ve lived in Los Angeles for any amount of time, you have probably driven by this house at some point. You might not have noticed it, but you have definitely passed by it. The Neutra VDL house is right in front of the Silver Lake Meadow, on Silver Lake Blvd, opposite the Silver Lake Reservoir.

Currently, the house is under the care and administration of the Pomona State University. They do a fair job at keeping the house in good shape and touring visitors every Saturday morning. The house could be in even better shape, but it is not by any means in bad shape.

The VDL house was originally built through the financial support of dutch industrialist Cees Van der Leewu – hence the VDL acronym. Although the house served as a residence and study for Richard Neutra, it retains the moniker of the patron who made it possible.

For me, what is most fascinating about this house, is just how big it feels despite being just a little under 2,000 sq. ft. There are two adjacent structures which together add up to more square footage, but the main house itself is not particularly big. However, due to the clever utilization of windows, space planning, and wise color schemes, it feels much bigger than it actually is.

If you’re looking for something to do on a given Saturday morning, grab some coffee at LA Mill and head on down to the VDL House for a tour of the live-and-work space of one of the greatest proponents of mid-century architecture.

And finally, here is my Jeep by the entrance to the house.

 

A Gloomy Day at the Getty

At the beginning of the year, a few days before my parents flew back home after the holidays, we decided to go on a spur-of-the-moment drive to the Getty. The Paul Getty museum has long been one of my favorite museums in Los Angeles. Although I admire and appreciate the art collection, it’s the space and the architecture that gets me.

As an interesting note on the architecture, more than 90% of the exterior and interior floors ceilings, and walls, were mined from a single travertine quarry in Italy, and brought to Los Angeles, to fulfill Richard Meier’s vision of creating a white travertine palace atop a hill and overlooking the Pacific Ocean. As an additional fact, almost all pieces were cut to the exact same rectangular size, that is, the 30 inch by 30 inch tile on the floor, has the same measurements as the exterior travertine walls and even the polished travertine ceilings.  This sense of uniformity, in addition to the crisp lines of the design make this a magical space in which to enjoy art.

When we visited the Getty last, in early January, we happened to visit it at a very unique time; Southern California is not particularly known for its foggy days, but by some strange coincidence, we happened to visit the museum as a thick layer of fog covered the expanse of the campus. Here are some pictures I took that day:

And finally, here is a picture of my mom.

 

The Guggenheim: A Temple of Spirt

Last month, while I was in NY for my birthday, I couldn’t miss visiting FLWs magnum opus, the Guggenheim.

I’ve always believed that one of the greatest traits of a great artist is the ability to reinvent himself and do things that are totally new. It is actually hard to believe that the same guy that designed this:

Also designed this:

It is said that this was the first modern museum, and that all contemporary museums have been derived from this vision. The idea, was not to have giant open halls plastered with paintings, but rather, to provide individual nooks for individual artists to portray their art.

The museum was originally conceived to be a “Temple of Spirit”. An interesting fact, is that FLW never got to see the museum completed. He passed away just months before its grand opening. The spirit of his work, however, is alive and well in this, his last great gift to humanity.

Here, a panoramic picture  of the inside I took with my iPhone when I was there in June:

Live from the Hollywood Bowl

A fact that might be of very little interest to most people, is that the day I discovered the Calori House, I was actually, on my way to the Hollywood Bowl. This is a significant coincidence as the Hollywood Bowl was originally built and designed by non-the-less than Lloyd Wright himself. I found this coincidence to be incredibly serendipitous, and maybe even an omen.

The Hollywood Bowl has seen many transformations throughout the years. Here is a graphic of its many faces in the early 1920’s.

Although the face that we know today is the one from 1929, the bowl itself was rebuilt from the ground up in 2003 to allow more room for the orchestra and expand the stage. The second and third renditions of the bowl were designed by Lloyd Wright and even to this day, the final design is mostly attributed to him.

An interesting piece of curiosa is that that seating chart has remained virtually unchanged since its grand opening almost 90 years ago. The Bowl was designed to mirror a greek amphitheater and has lived up to that design now hosting dozens of performers from any array of different genres each year. 

One of my favorite things to do in Los Angeles each summer is visit the Hollywood Bowl. I’ve never been to any concert venue quite like it. To show you guys just how much I love the Bowl, bellow is a short video of the LA Philharmonic and the USC Marching Band playing Tchaikovsky 1812 Overture with a Fireworks Spectacular. This was taken just hours after discovering the Calori House…

For more information on the history of the Hollywood Bowl, their official site has a retrospective of the architectural evolution as well as its significance in popular music and culture.

The Wayfarers Chapel

When people think about Lloyd Wright’s work in Southern California, they normally think of one of his signature homes, like the Sowden House or the Derby House. If not that, they think of the Hollywood Bowl. In my opinion, one of his greatest contributions to Southern Californian architecture, is the Wayfarer Chapel in Rancho Palos Verdes.

A few Sundays ago, I finally “bit the bullet” and drove down to Palos Verdes to visit the now iconic chapel. Some of you, in my age bracket, might remember this location from the season finale of Season 1 of The O.C.

This marvel of modern architecture was one Lloyd Wrights most ambitious projects. The so-called “Glass Church”, was mostly built out of crystal and redwood. Many of the materials were locally sourced, a concept pioneered by his father in the early 1920s and promoted by Lloyd Wright in many of his later projects.

The church stands a top an ocean-side cliff with magnificent views of the Pacific Ocean. Just a few steps away from the main altar you can marvel at breathtaking panoramic vistas that sprawl across both sides of the Chapel. Here, a panoramic shot I took while I was visiting last week:

While the grounds are absolutely beautiful, and the views unlike anything you’ve ever seen, the insides of the Chapel are the true pièce de résistance.

In the most true Lloyd Wright style, the Church is designed around a series of geometric features including circles, triangles, and rectangles. There is so much symbolism attached to these mathematical figures, that an entire book in the likes of The DaVinci Code could be written around the secret meaning of geometric design in the Wright’s work.

In the same way Lloyd Wright was often commissioned to build additions for many of his father’s projects, some years ago, Eric Lloyd Wright, son of Lloyd Wright, was responsible for building a visitor center, and addition to the Chapel built by his father. Both building follow his father’s design in the truest sense imaginable and blend seamlessly with the landscape and the original structures.

The undeniable mark of a true Lloyd Wright is the perfect dovetailing of interior and exterior, the blending of nature into the design, and the honest belief that we are borrowing the land and resources from the Earth to contribute and enhance the existing landscape. In none of Lloyd Wright’s work is this more true than in the Wayfarer Chapel.

 

The Roof…

One of the most characteristic features of a spanish-style house, is the tiled roof angled atop the house. Throughout the years, the tiles that made up the roof had broken and fallen leaving the roof looking broken and patchy.

The good news is, the roof itself, was in sound structural condition, needing no major repair and having almost no damage. Hence, we hired a crew of “roofers” that carefully removed every tile, put away the ones that were in good shape, and laid new under-partchment through the entire surface of the roof. Then, we re-set all the original tiles that were salvaged, thus maintaining that original Spanish-style look of the house, and the original tiles Lloyd Wright used.

Here, a picture of the roofing team as they first took out all the original tiles and set them aside.

Next, a picture of the roof after laying down new under-partchment, and re-setting all the original tiles.

 

In the section that covers the living room, there wasn’t enough salvaged tile to cover the entire area, thus, we had to get new tile to cover this section. Here is a picture of the new tile as it extends from one of the bedrooms across the entire expanse of the living room.

Finally, a picture of the new roof, as seen from the patio. Pretty good right?

You say you want a Demolition?

I haven’t updated the blog for almost 4 weeks. However, we have been busy with construction, and we are making some definite progress in brining this jewel back to life.

First, we finished the much-needed gardening that had been impending for the past 25 years. We cleared the house of old trees and dead branches and made the house visible again. Here, a picture of the front of the house after we did a minor trim on the oak that lives at the entrance.

We cut down a couple trees that were doubling as living quarters for a family of rats and obstructed the light coming in through he main gable window. We have been donating all of the wood for people to use as firewood and other woodworking projects.

As soon as we got done with the gardening, we then moved into demolition of the bathrooms and kitchen. It was hard to see the original tile in the bathrooms go, but there was truly no way to salvage it after all the water damage the house had suffered thought its years of deferred maintenance.

Finally, a picture of the dinning room, with the kitchen as a background, where a new arched entrance is being built to access the new kitchen.

This is definitely the “raw bones” part of the project, as the plumbing and electrical go into the walls, and we make way for the interior finishing. Some of the windows have already been finished. Stay tuned for more pictures as the weeks roll forward.

The Jaws House

Nineteen Twenty-Six must have been a busy year for Lloyd Wright. He was supervising the construction of both the Ennis House and the Alice Millard House for his father, as well as beginning construction on his own projects with the Derby House, the Calori House, and probably, his most famous house of the period, the Sowden House.

The Sowden House is also known as the Jaws House, as its front entrance resembles the gapping mouth of a great white shark.

The Wrights, both father and son, were great believers in the concept of “contract and release” whereas the entrance to a house was a cave-like narrow tunnel that lead into the wide open expanse of a broad living space. In few of their homes is this more abundantly clear as when one comes out from underneath the “shark’s mouth” and steps into a paradisiac courtyard of the Sowden House.

There has been a tremendous amount of controversy surrounding this house. First, for it being the alleged location of the infamous Black Dahlia murder in the late 1940s, but more recently, for a much less dramatic circumstance, its very avant-guard remodeling.

Several years ago the house was bought for fraction of what it is worth now and has since undergone a very modern renovation that has included adding a pool and a hot-tub in what used to be the central courtyard. All rooms have been finished in venetian plaster and painted in a different color; while the kitchen and bathrooms have been accented with stainless steel appliances and hardware which does not resemble the treatments on wood and iron that characterized Lloyd Wright. All things considered, regardless of personal preference, the house has benefited from this remodeling and is now in better shape than what it had been for 80 years.

Some months ago, I had the privilege of touring the house. Here are some pictures I took during my visit. For more pictures, information and resources on the Sowden House, (or to throw a private event here) visit the Sowden House website.

The Hollyhock House

The Hollyhock House, the first house FLW built in Southern California, predates all of his “textile block” houses, and anything built by his son, Lloyd Wright, in later years. Like most of the properties he built in Los Angeles, this house was commissioned to him by oil heiress Aline Barnsdall. The central motif of the house, as well as all interior and exterior design, is the hollyhock flower, thus the name.

The Hollyhock House only really served as a house for just a few years. It was built between 1919-1921, and by 1927 it had already been donated by Mrs. Barnsdall to the City of Los Angeles where it would serve as the center-piece of what is now the Barnsdall Art Park.

Interestingly enough, the house has some of the most spectacular views of the Griffith Observatory and the Hollywood Sign, which did not exist when the house was originally built.

Like almost everything FLW built in California, the actual construction of the house was supervised by his son Lloyd Wright, including a its first restoration in the 1940s. The most resent restoration, completed just months ago with a 14 million-dollar grant by the City of Los Angeles, has brought the house back to its best condition since its initial inception.

At the center of living room there is an indistinct concrete mural which many have speculated upon. Some say it is a modern rendition of Aline Barnsdall contemplating a sunset, some others say it is the result of FLWs contact with extraterrestrial “higher beings”. Its true meaning might always remain a mystery.

At the center of the living room lives a fireplace that is surrounded by water which originally flowed from a fountain at the other end of the house. The water then travelled underneath the foundation, surfacing through the living room, and then again submerging to come out at the other end of the house. The windows of the living room allowed for the wind to flow directly, from east to west, across the distance of the room, thus creating a cross roads between fire, water, earth and wind.

It is all these little things that made Frank Lloyd Wright one of the greatest Architects of the 20th century.