Archive for the ‘Architecture’ Category
For architecture lovers and fans of Modernism Week in Palm Springs look no further than the just launched MADE in Beverly Hills, an exciting four day festival celebrating the arts, architeecture, fashion, design, and outdoor landscapes throughout the beautiful city of Beverly Hills. We’re only a month away from the opening night celebration at the historic Greystone Mansion.
A little bit about Greystone Mansion: Greystone and the surrounding grounds it shares its magnificent beauty with, are rich in California history. Greystone Mansion was designed by the renowned Southern California architect Gordon B. Kaufmann and was constructed by the P.J. Walker Company. The landscape architect was Paul G. Thiene who used a potpourri of Gothic and neoclassic architectural styles. There are fifty-five livable rooms within the 46,054 square feet of living space in the Mansion. Construction of the palatial manor home began February 15, 1927 and although Edward “Ned” Laurence Doheny, Jr, his wife Lucy, and their five children moved into the residence in September 1928, the estate took three years to complete at a cost of over $3 million, an almost unimaginable sum in real estate at the time. In addition to the Mansion, originally located on the grounds were stables and kennels, tennis courts, a fire station, gatehouse, swimming pool and pavilion, a greenhouse, a lake, babbling brooks and cascading waterfalls. But on the night of February 16, 1929, only five months after the family had moved in, Ned Doheny was found shot to death inside the home, at the age of 35 and the victim of an apparent murder-suicide perpetrated by his longtime personal friend and aid Hugh Plunket. Lucy continued living at Greystone until 1955, after which she and her second husband Leigh M. Battson sold the majority of the original land to the Paul Trousdale Corporation, developers of Beverly Hills’ prestigious “Trousdale Estate” homes. The City of Beverly Hills purchased the property from Mr. Crown in 1965 for approximately $1.3 million with plans to install a 19-million gallon water tank on the property as its hilltop site provided tremendous natural water pressure. This site continues to serve as the City of Beverly Hills’ largest reservoir.
Tickets to the opening night party at the Mansion cost $150 and include champagne and wine, hors d’oeuvres, and a live performance from The Dreamboats. In addition to the Greystone reception, there are multiple talks, home tours, film screenings, and parties ranging from free to $10 dollars and beyond. Let me know which special events you will be attending and if you’ll be at The Mansion for a sunset toast on opening night!
Modernism Week returns to Palm Springs! Join architecture aficionados from around the world this February 16-26, 2023 for eleven days of all things mid-century modern. Read on for the special events, home tours, live music, and more hip happenings you won’t want to miss.
With just five weeks until one of Palm Springs’s liveliest festivals, Modernism Week returns in 2022 with in-person events, exclusive mid-century modern home tours, parties, food and wine tastings, panel discussions, talks from architecture experts, drag shows, and so much more. Tickets always sell out quickly and hotel rooms and short term rentals are booming, so read on for some of this year’s most exciting highlights of Modernism Week.
Welcome to Avenel Homes, a landmark 10-unit cooperative housing development designed by master architect Gregory Ain in 1947. Listed in the National Register of Historic Places and located in the coveted Ivanhoe School District, this is a rare opportunity to own a piece of mid-century modern history and what the Los Angeles Times in 2002 called, a “compact but stylish design [that] may provide a blueprint for L.A.’s future.” Renovated in the early 2000s by architect Michael Folonis, this unit is a must-see.
“If order and logic are in the Architecture, then Architecture will inevitably compliment nature.” – 1950, Craig Ellwood
Built in 1956 for a graphic designer, legendary architect Craig Ellwood’s mid-century modern masterpiece Casa Kundera returns to the market with a vengeance, fully restored and completely marvelous. For mid-century modern devotees, 2977 Passmore Drive in the Hollywood Hills is a must-see.
Legendary architect Frank Lloyd Wright’s iconic Ennis House has returned to the market seeking a whopping $23 million dollars. The jaw-dropping Los Feliz property’s design is based on ancient Mayan temples and the home is considered to be one of the best examples of Mayan revival architecture in the United States and is perhaps one of the most recognizable and esteemed homes in the world.
A rare unit has opened up in the famed and historic El Cabrillo courtyard complex in Hollywood. Set just below Franklin Blvd., the 10 unit El Cabrillo was originally commissioned by Cecile B. DeMille. DeMille originally built it to house Broadway stage actors moving to Los Angeles to work in sound films. The location was chosen so that it was at the foot of Whitley Heights and DeMille’s studio, which was then Hollywood’s premier address, where Chaplin and Valentino had houses.
The Austrian Spencer House was built in 1937 by a young Raphael Soriano. The architect would later go on to help define the mid-century modern style. He was invited by Arts & Architecture magazine to participate in the Case Study Houses program, Soriano completed his project in 1950. Pioneering in its use of steel in residential construction, the design marks a turning point for the program, later culminating in his colleague Pierre Koenig’ s Case Study House #21 and #22. The Austrian Spencer House is just one of twelve surviving houses built by Soriano.
This cool, colorful and updated mid-century modern home is located in the exclusive Oaks section in the Los Feliz hills where all the sleepy streets are named after different types of oak trees. 2320 Alto Oak Drive is a stunning example of mid-century style and boasts incredible views of the canyon, downtown LA, Hollywood, and the Griffith Observatory.
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