Posts Tagged ‘Architects’
Avenel Cooperative Unit Hits The Market!
2841 1/2 Avenel St
Los Angeles, CA 90026
3 BR, 1 BA
$749,000
Days like today remind about why I love working in real estate in Los Angeles as this is one of two very exciting listings to hit the market today (check out the other one here). Located in the Avenel Cooperative Housing Project in Silver Lake which helped put Los Angeles on the map as the epicenter for the Modernist movement in American domestic architecture, this property was designed by architect Gregory Ain in 1947. I was able to see four units in this housing complex last October (check out my writeup here) as part of the MAK Tour and I pretty much blown away by the unit’s simplicity, sophistication and charm.
Between Earth and Heaven: The Architecture of John Lautner
Few architects made a bigger impact on the California landscape than John Lautner. One of the most significant Modernist architects, Lautner’s six decades of work produced more than 150 built works. To celebrate this amazing career, The Palm Springs Art Museum will be exhibiting Between Heaven and Earth: The Architecture of John Lautner from Febraury 20th until May 23rd.
Lautner’s work is well-known in the Palm Springs area as he designed a mountain cabin in the trees, a motel as desert retreat and a showcase home for designer Arthur Elrod, so this exhibit should be a perfect fit with the Museum.
On display will be 115 original drawings and sketches, ten original models, six large-scale architectural models, and the documentary film Infinite Space: The Architecture Of John Lautner (a movie I’ve been dying to see). I will definitely be checking this exhibit out when I go to Palm Springs in March.
For more information about the exhibit click here.
Palm Springs Art Museum
101 Museum Drive
Palm Springs, CA 92262
Frank Lloyd Wright’s Ennis House
Frank Lloyd Wright’s Ennis House
2607 Glendower
Los Angeles, CA 90027
4 BR, 4.5 BA
$15,000,000 $10,495,000
One of the most recognizable of Frank Lloyd Wright’s many famous homes, the Ennis House just had a dramatic price drop in the Ennis House Foundation’s quest to find a new owner. Warning! This house is not for everyone. Personally, I love looking at photos of the Ennis House but could never imagine living there. Could you?
It seems more like a museum to me than a house, but regardless, this is an important piece of work from one of the masters. This textile block home was built in 1924 and can be seen from many parts of Los Feliz and the Eastside of Los Angeles.
2348 Cove Ave In Silver lake
2348 Cove Ave
Los Angeles, CA 90039
2 BR, 2BA
$1,299,000
In 2005 architect George Mimnaugh reinterpreted Rodney Walker’s original 1953 glass and concrete design by updating it for modern living. The renovation earned the home a Los Angeles Historical-Monument designation in 2007 and now the home is on the market for a hefty price tag. According to Curbed, this home has been a tough sell as it has been on and off the market since the restoration.
Located on a flat lot up in the hills on the east side of the Silver Lake Reservoir, this is the kind of mid-century modern that we all lust over.
I love the true open floor plan, the floor-to-ceiling walls of glass and the stone backdrop.
Read more…
Raphael Soriano’s Shulman House
The Shulman House
7875 Woodrow Wilson Dr
Los Angeles, CA 90046
3 BR, 3 BA
$2,495,000
Widely considered the greatest architectural photographer of our time, Julius Shulman spent the past 59 years living in this Raphael Soriano masterpiece until his death this past summer. This studio and residence tucked away in a secluded spot in the Hollywood Hills just hit the market this week and local architecture fantatics having been buzzing with the opportunity to check it out in person.
This mid-century is the only unaltered steel frame house by Soriano and has thus been deemed a Los Angeles Historic-Cultural monument. The interior contains extensive wooden built-ins and cabinetry, there are koi ponds surrounding the backyard studio, the living room has a floor-to-ceiling fireplace, and the kitchen has built-in bench seating.
Clearly this is an architectural landmark fit for an architectural icon. Hopefully the new owner will respect history and maintain the architctectural integrity of the home with some tasteful updates.
For more photos and information click here.
(Top photo courtesy of You-Are-Here)
Neutra Office Building In Silver Lake
Richard Neutra’s presence is felt all over Silver Lake. From the iconic homes that adorn the neighborhood to the work of the young architects whom absorbed his style and carried on his legacy, Neutra is often the first name people bring up when talking about “Silver Lake architecture.”
And while many think of the brilliant homes he designed, one of his most famous works is the Neutra Office Building on Glendale Blvd. For 20 years the building served as Neutra’s studio until his death in 1970. This building is the last surviving example of a Neutra commercial design which probably explains the hefty price tag when the building was listed for sale earlier this year. According to Neutra.org the building is still for sale but it does not say for how much. Curbed LA reported $3.5 million but that may have changed.
The Neutra Office Building is listed as a Historic Cultural Monument on the National Register Of Historic Places. The building’s rear apartment was being rented out by Dion Neutra, Richard’s son, earlier this year as well – “only for true Neutra fans” it advised. Would you have made the cut?
Neutra Office Building
2379 Glendale Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90039
Interview With Steve Jones Of bettershelter
If you keep your eye on the local real estate market or simply like to check out open houses on Sundays, chances are good you’ve come across the work of bettershelter. The brainchild of Steve Jones and Peter Zehnder, bettershelter’s goal has been to fill a void in Southern California’s housing market by providing affordable housing with a design aesthetic set in SoCal modernism (see their 1.7 Ocean homes in Costa Mesa for example).
The boutique real estate company based in Newport Beach first popped up on my radar when I read about this flip. Since then I checked out some of their other projects and they all impressed me just as much. Jones took some time out to answer a few questions about design, affordable housing and some of his local faves:
Take Sunset: What made you want to start bettershelter?
Steve Jones: We started bettershelter because we didn’t like what we saw in the market place and thought we could do better, most homes for sale were ugly! bettershelter started in Orange County, where most new homes are master planned communities with little character. A whole audience of home-buyers were being completely ignored.
Richard Neutra, Architect: Sketches and Drawings
I checked out the Richard Neutra exhibit at the Los Angeles Public Library in Downtown L.A. today. While he was well-known for being one of modernism’s most important architects (and second only to Frank Lloyd Wright as one of America’s “star-chitects”), Neutra was equally as adept at sketching and drawing his subjects.
Works of art in their own right, this gallery contained a number of pieces that I would love to hang up in my home. Such as this one of the Heller House in Beverly Hills:
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