Lovell House | |
Location | 4616 Dundee Dr, Los Angeles, CA 90027 |
---|---|
Coordinates | 34°7′5.4″N118°17′16″W / 34.118167°N 118.28778°W |
Area | 2.5 acres (1.0 ha) |
Built | 1928 |
Architect | Richard Neutra |
Architectural style | International style |
NRHP reference No. | 71000147 [1] |
LAHCM No. | 123 |
Significant dates | |
Added to NRHP | October 14, 1971 |
Designated LAHCM | March 20, 1974 |
The Lovell House or Lovell Health House is an International style modernist residence designed and built by Richard Neutra between 1927 and 1929. The home, located at 4616 Dundee Drive in the Los Feliz neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, was built for the physician and naturopath Philip Lovell. It is considered a major monument in architectural history, and was a turning point in Neutra's career. [2]
It is often described as the first steel frame house in the United States, and also an early example of the use of gunite (sprayed-on concrete). Neutra was familiar with steel construction due to his earlier work with the Chicago firm Holabird & Roche. Neutra served as the contractor for the project because no residential contractors were willing to construct a steel frame home due to the industry's unfamiliarity with and outright distaste for industrial materials employed for residential work [3] .
Philip Lovell was enchanted with the house and praised his architect publicly. Lovell had previously commissioned architect Rudolf Schindler to build the landmark Lovell Beach House in 1926. Neutra and Schindler were contemporaries in Europe and the Neutras lived with the Schindlers (Schindler House) when they first settled in Los Angeles in 1925. Lovell chose Neutra instead of Schindler to build his Los Angeles home while they were living under the same roof. Neutra was known for his relationships with his clients—he thought of himself as a therapist and the client his patient. He spent time getting to know his clients and analyzed their needs. [4]
The Lovell House was purchased in 1961 by Morton and Betty Topper. [5] [6] It was added to the list of Registered Historic Places in Los Angeles in 1971.
In 2021, art dealers Iwan and Manuela Wirth purchased the property for $8.75 million, [7] "with plans to bring back its original lustre." [8]
The 4,800 sq ft (450 m2), three-story house [9] aesthetically follows many of the principles of the International Style. It was included in the 1932 exhibit at the Museum of Modern Art in New York that retrospectively defined the style. In essence it reflects Neutra's interest in industrial production, and this is most evident in the repetitive use of factory-made window assemblies. In fact, Neutra's apprentice Harwell Hamilton Harris suggested that Neutra was drawn to America because of Henry Ford. [10]
The interior reflects Neutra's interest in Cubism, transparency, and hygiene. The "minimal" detailing shows the influence of Irving Gill. In another nod to industrial production, Neutra installed two Ford Model-A headlights in the main stairwell. (The headlights were provided by Neutra apprentice Gregory Ain.) [11] The Historic American Buildings Survey described the Lovell House as "a prime example of residential architecture where technology creates the environment." [12]
The house was used in the 1997 film L.A. Confidential as the home of Pierce Morehouse Patchett, played by David Strathairn. It was also depicted in the film Beginners (Mike Mills, 2010) as the home of Oliver (Ewan McGregor) and his father Hal (Christopher Plummer).
Richard Joseph Neutra was an Austrian-American architect. Living and building for most of his career in Southern California, he came to be considered a prominent and important modernist architect. His most notable works include the Kaufmann Desert House, in Palm Springs, California.
The Case Study Houses were experiments in American residential architecture sponsored by Arts & Architecture magazine, which commissioned major architects of the day, including Richard Neutra, Raphael Soriano, Craig Ellwood, Charles and Ray Eames, Pierre Koenig, Eero Saarinen, A. Quincy Jones, Edward Killingsworth, Rodney Walker, and Ralph Rapson to design and build inexpensive and efficient model homes for the United States residential housing boom caused by the end of World War II and the return of millions of soldiers.
Rudolph Michael Schindler was an Austrian-born American architect whose most important works were built in or near Los Angeles during the early to mid-twentieth century.
Raphael S. Soriano, FAIA, was a Greek-born American architect and educator, who helped define a period of 20th-century architecture that came to be known as Mid-century modern. He pioneered the use of modular prefabricated steel and aluminum structures in residential and commercial design and construction.
The Schindler House, also known as the Schindler Chace House or Kings Road House, is a house in West Hollywood, California, designed by architect Rudolph M. Schindler. The house serves as headquarters to the MAK Center for Art and Architecture, which operate and program three Schindler sites, and is owned and conserved by the Friends of Schindler House.
Gregory Samuel Ain was an American architect active in the mid-20th century. Working primarily in the Los Angeles area, Ain is best known for bringing elements of modern architecture to lower- and medium-cost housing. He addressed "the common architectural problems of common people".
Hauser & Wirth is a Swiss contemporary and modern art gallery.
Harwell Hamilton Harris, was a modernist American architect, noted for his work in Southern California that assimilated European and American influences. He lived and worked in North Carolina from 1962 until his death in 1990.
The Lovell Beach House is located on the Balboa Peninsula in Newport Beach, California. The building was completed in 1926 and is now recognized as one of the most important works by architect Rudolf Schindler, second only to the Schindler House, built four years earlier for his family as a show house and studio. Both of these early houses by Schindler are considered landmarks of early modern architecture in America.
Edward Hale Fickett, FAIA, was an American architect who was a consultant to federal and local governments in the United States and to President Dwight D. Eisenhower.
Jardinette Apartments, now known as Marathon Apartments, is a four-story apartment building in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, designed by modernist Richard Neutra. It was Neutra's first commission in the United States. In his book Key Buildings of the Twentieth Century, Richard Weston called the Jardinette Apartments "one of the first Modernist buildings in America." It has also been called "America's first multi-family, International-style building."
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The Neutra Office Building is a 4,800-square-foot (450 m2) office building in the Silver Lake section of Los Angeles, California. The building was owned and designed by Modernist architect Richard Neutra in 1950. It served as the studio and office for Neutra's architecture practice from 1950 until Neutra's death in 1970. The building has been declared a Historic Cultural Monument and listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It was listed for sale in 2007 at an asking price of $3,500,000.
Iwan Wirth is a Swiss art dealer and the president and co-founder of Hauser & Wirth, a contemporary art gallery.
Neutra VDL Studio and Residences, the home of architect Richard Neutra, is located in Los Angeles, California. It is also known as the Neutra Research House, the Van der Leeuw House, the Richard and Dion Neutra VDL Research House II, or the Richard and Dion Neutra VDL Research Houses and Studio. It was designed by Richard Neutra and his son Dion Neutra. The house is currently owned by California State Polytechnic University, Pomona, and is maintained by its College of Environmental Design. The property was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2009, and was designated as a National Historic Landmark in 2016.
Dion Neutra was a modernist / International style American architect and consultant who worked originally with his father, Richard Neutra (1892–1970).
The Ebelin Bucerius House is a private Modernist style villa residence in Brione sopra Minusio, above Lake Maggiore in the Ticino canton of Switzerland.
Marmol Radziner is a design-build practice based in Los Angeles that was founded in 1989 by American architects Leo Marmol and Ron Radziner. The firm specializes in residential, commercial, hospitality, cultural, and community projects, and offers various design services, including architectural design, construction, landscape design, interior design, furniture design, jewelry design, and modern architecture restoration.
Jack Allen Charney was an American mid-century architect who designed a number of significant buildings in various cities across California, including Los Angeles, Beverly Hills, San Francisco and Long Beach. His designs include the 32-story Sierra Towers in West Hollywood, from 1965.
Michael Rotondi is an American architect and educator. He has been a member of two international practices. He attended the Southern California Institute of Architecture when it began (SCI-Arc) in 1972 and, later, was director of the graduate program there.