The (R.M.) Schindler List: los angeles 1920s

1920

The Schindlers move to Los Angeles for R.M. to oversee construction of the Aline Barnsdall House (Hollyhock) for Wright (Steele 2005 p91)

The Schindlers arrive on December 3, 1920 (Warren 2011 p251)

“With Wright in Japan, Schindler had to make decisions which should have been made by Wright himself. In order to keep down the continually rising cost of the building and also as an expression of his own philosophy of design, he eliminated and simplified numerous details.” (Gebhard 1972 p40)

Schindler continues to work for Wright during 1920-2 and into 1923 (Gebhard 1972 p42)

“Schindler’s break with the Wright office and the setting up of his own private architectural practice was gradual.” (Gebhard 1972 p45)

By 1919-20 Los Angeles was beginning to embrace Spanish Colonial Revival (Gebhard 1972 p46)

Schindler in a letter to Neutra in late 1920 or early 1921: “When I speak of American architecture I must say at once that really there is none. There are a few beginnings but architecture has never been wedded to America, and the few skyscrapers that were thrust upward by the gigantic vitality of the infinite prairies have nothing human about them. The only buildings that testify to the deep feeling for the soil on which they stand are the sun-baked adobe buildings of the first immigrants and their successors—Spanish and Mexican—in the southwest part of the country." (de Michelis 2005 p3)

In the 1920s, the population of Hollywood increased from 36,000 to 250,000. (Koulermos and Polyzoides 1975)

Pauline Schindler (source)

1920: Temporary one-room house for J.B. Irving (for Frank Lloyd Wright; Wilmette, Illinois; extant, but moved)

Draws a small temporary one-room house for J.B. Irving at Wilmette (Gebhard 1972 [later shown to have been designed by Schindler])

Gebhard (1972 p196) shows this as an unbuilt project; however, the project was later discovered to have been built.

photo by Ron Scherubel via PrairieMod (structure modified)

photo by Ron Scherubel via PrairieMod (structure modified)

1920: Project (Hill Grove Planting Plan) for Miss Aline Barnsdall (for Frank Lloyd Wright, Los Angeles, California)

As noted in Smith and Darling (2001 p227)

1920: Project (for actor apartments and terrace stores at Olive Hill) for Aline Barnsdall (for Frank Lloyd Wright, Los Angeles, California)

As noted in Smith and Darling (2001 p227), who list the actor apartments and terrace stores as separate projects.

Develops working drawings for the actor apartments and terrace stores for Olive Hill (Gebhard 1972)

[Given the similarities with the Monolith Homes, something noted by Smith (___), I believe these are Schindler's designs]

1920: Project for duplexes for industrial housing (Los Angeles, California)

As noted in Gebhard (1972 p197)

1920: Project for the Free Public Library, Bergen Branch (Jersey City, New Jersey)

As noted in Gebhard (1972 p44 1993 xvii) [Gebhard 1993c (p xvii) shows a date of 1923]

Windows used later in Lovell beach house; architectural concepts later appeared in the Lovell Beach House and the Sachs Apartments (Gebhard 1972 p44)

R.M. Schindler papers, Architecture & Design Collection. Art, Design & Architecture Museum; University of California, Santa Barbara (via Gebhard 1997 p29)

section from Scheine (1998 p55)

1920-1: Hollyhock House for Aline Barnsdall (construction manager for Frank Lloyd Wright; Los Angeles, California; extant)

Aline Barnsdall about her house plans: "Mr. Wright believes that a California house should be half house and half garden and I am strongly of the same opinion." (Smith 1979 p20)

Aline Barnsdall about her house plans: "So far Mr. Wright and I have differed on only one point. He wants my house to be white, and I think a white house is too glaring for Southern California. So no matter what he says my house will not be white." (Smith 1979 p20)

R.M Schindler developed the working drawings in early 1920 (Smith 1979 p22)

Worked stopped on the project seemingly due to disagreements among the contractor, Lloyd Wright (Frank Lloyd Wright's son and superintendent on the project), and Aline Barnsdall's business manager (Smith 1979 p23)

Wright had a hunch that Schindler's charm would placate Barnsdall (Steele 1996 p13)

Schindler arrived in December to take over supervision of the project (Smith 1979 p23)

Barnsdall established an experimental school run by Leah Lovell, sister-in-law of Samuel Freeman (Smith 1979 p29)

"Barnsdall halted the project and terminated Wright's services in 1921, at which time Residences "A" and "B" had been completed, but the second-floor interiors of her residence were still unfinished...she engaged Schindler to complete the upstairs interiors." (Herr 2005 p16)

"While the original design was clearly Wright's own and reflected his own interpretation of the commission, it is evident that the development of key elements—the detailing of the interior and the arrangement of the spaces within the overall plan, for example—was left to his assistants, notably Schindler, or was a reworked elaboration of themes set out in Wright's own previous projects." (Friedman 1992 p253)

"With Hollyhock House, Wright crafted a high profile example of open-space planning and integrated accommodation for indoor-outdoor living that informed his own later domestic work as well as that of other architects. These components became elemental features of 'California type' houses built across the country in the mid-twentieth century." (Herr 2005 p17)

"With the houses of his First Mature Period, Wright 'broke the box,' creating nearly seamless connections between rooms and the outdoors." (Herr 2005 p17) [I tend to disagree with this assessment of Wright's work of this period; while Wright considered the outdoors in his designs, the transition was hardly "nearly seamless".

"By all evidence obtainable Robertson should have been competent Konzertmeister with the sympathetic aid of my untried amateur superintendent Schindler. But while Robertson could read the average score, he couldn't read this one, as it turned out. And the superintendent didn't if he could. Rudy Schindler was too smooth a party ever to learn how to be serious, which was one reason why I liked him. But that was bad for the house." (Wright 1943 p228)

"In May 1974, upon visiting Hollyhock House, the critic Colin Rowe was pleasantly startled by the building's palpable Viennese presence. By comparison, the Mayan references seemed less interesting and significant. The structure was, Rowe insisted, 'so very Wagnerschule.' At the time we attributed this at least partially to the contribution of Rudolph Schindler, the former student of Otto Wagner, who had left Vienna ultimately to work for Wright and who had come to Los Angeles to complete the design and supervise construction of the Barnsdall complex." (Hines 1995 p474)

"...Teresa Grimes observes that 'the Barnsdall commission forever changed Modern architecture in Southern California because it was responsible for bringing Rudolph M. Schindler and Richard J. Neutra to Los Angeles.'" (Herr 2005 p18-9) [Actually, R.M. Schindler brought Neutra to Southern California, but Neutra wouldn't have gone there if Hollyhock hadn't brought Schindler there.]

Site plan for Olive Hill (via Smith 1979 p22)

Perspective for Hollyhock (via Smith 1979 p27)

Arial view of Olive Hill; Holly hock in the center with the Director's House in the upper center-tight (via Smith 1979 p16)

1921

Louis Sullivan to Schindler, referring to architectural work in Chicago: "The situation here resembles a corpse; it has become terrifying. There may be a future, but there is no present. Congratulations on having work to do. Enforced idleness is a nerve-killer" (McCoy 1956 p14)

Letter from Schindler to Neutra dated November 10, 1921: "To advise you to come over here and take a chance is hard to do with 6 million unemployed. Since I have no work myself I cannot help you very much. My income is now uncertain. I am trying to keep my savings from dissolving in the construction of my studio. But you may be assured that the slightest change for the better will be enough for me to ask you to come over. I personally would love to have you close by..." (McCoy 1974 p224)

1921: Camping at Yosemite

Schindler in a letter to Wright dated September 13, 1921: “I shall take a vacation presently in order to restore my equilibrium.” (de Michlelis 2005 p13)

While camping at Yosemite, Schindler decides to open his own office (McCoy 1960 p157) and build a house-studio inspired by the indoor-outdoor intimacy and communality of camping.

Camped along Tanaya Creek in the High Sierras (Hailey 2008 p 224)

Schindler to Neutra: "I received your letter high up in the mountains where I am having a vacation for which I have waited a long time. It is one of the most marvelous places in America. I camp at the shore of the Tenaya, sleep on a bed of spruce needles under a free sky and bathe in the ice-cold waterfall." (Hailey 2008 p224)

Schindler campsite at Yosemite, October 1921 (R.M. Schindler Collection, Architecture and Design Collection, University of California-Santa Barbara via Southern California Architectural History)

via Schindler-Chace House

Pauline and R.M. Schindler, Yosemite, October 1921 (Esther McCoy Papers, Archives of American Art)

1921: Director's House (also called Residence A) for Miss Aline Barnsdall (for Frank Lloyd Wright; Los Angeles, California; extant)

As noted in Steele (2005 p91). Smith and Daring (2001 p227) call this the "Actor's Abode/Residence A" and date it 1920; they also list a separate building for the "Director's Residence" for 1920.

"While working for Wright, Schindler designed both built-in and mobile furniture for Aline Barnsdall's building complex on Olive Hill in Los Angeles (the Director's House and "Oleanders")..." (Gebhard and Gebhard 1997 p17)

(Gebhard 1993a)

floorplan (from Scheine 1998 p57)

photo by the author (Robert E. Mace) 2014

1921: Oleanders/Residence B for Miss Aline Barnsdall (for Frank Lloyd Wright; Los Angeles, California; destroyed)

As noted in Steele (2005 p91) and Smith and Darling (2001 p227), who show a date of 1920.

"While working for Wright, Schindler designed both built-in and mobile furniture for Aline Barnsdall's building complex on Olive Hill in Los Angeles (the Director's House and "Oleanders")..." (Gebhard and Gebhard 1997 p17)

Wright lived in Oleanders in 1923 (Smith 1979 p32)

Demolished in 1954 (Herr 2005 p19)

(Gebhard 1993a)

source

1921: Project (bungalow court) for Jacob Korsen (Los Angeles, California)

As noted in Gebhard (1972 p67 1993c xvii)

R.M. Schindler papers, Architecture & Design Collection. Art, Design & Architecture Museum; University of California, Santa Barbara (via Gebhard 1972 p67)

1921: Project for a skyscraper, The Playmart (Los Angeles, California)

[Urbanops (2013) reports design dates of 1921-2]

Twelve-stories, black glass and aluminum (Gebhard 1972 p91 1993c xvii)

Also referred to as the 'Photoplay Building', it was developed for the Frank Meline Company. Designed to include restaurants, offices, a men's club, auditoriums, and a rooftop gym, pool, and sundeck. The building was intended to be clad in smoked glass and aluminum. (Urbanops 2013)

Urbanops (2013) shows the floorplans.

photo by Julius Schulman 1982 Getty Research Institute

Schematic by Urbanops (2013)

1921: Project for the Walt Whitman School (Los Angeles, California)

As noted in Gebhard (1972 p197 1993c xvii)

Floor plan (Architecture and Design Collection, University Art Museum, University of California-Santa Barbara, via Southern California Architectural History)

1921: Sketch for an apartment building (Los Angeles, California)

As noted in Gebhard (1972 p197 1993c xvii)

1921-2: The Kings Road House (also referred to as the Schindler-Chace House; 833 North Kings Road, Los Angeles, California; extant)

As noted in Gebhard (1993c xxvii) [Gebhard (1993c) shows 1921-9]

[There's continued confusion on how to spell Chace. McCoy (1960) and Gebhard (1972) refer to Chase, Steele (2005) refers to Chace; even Schindler misspells Chace as Chase; however, Chace is the correct spelling (I've been personally corrected by a relative!).]

3,500 square feet

Schindler and his wife Pauline took a two-week camping vacation in late fall 1921 at Yosemite and were inspired to create a house as open to the environment as a tent. (Steele 2005 p9)

When the Schindlers built their house with the Chaces, the country to the west of their property was still open land and beanfields (Gebhard 1972 p45)

The property they bought was in the middle of a lima bean field (Warren 2011 p252)

Pauline became friends with Marion Chace while attending Smith College (Steele 2005 p21)

Clyde Chace was an engineer and worked for Irving Gill (Steele 2005 p21)

"Gill's experiments in concrete, especially in tilt-slab construction, influenced both Lloyd Wright and Schindler, and Schindler built his own Kings Road house using this method..." (Scheine 1998 p17)

Schindler: The house would be built "...as small and as cheaply as possible--$7000--for two families makes $3500.00 for each--an amount for which it would be impossible to build separately." (Sweeney and Sheine 2012 p15)

The Schindlers wrote Pauline's parents to help finance the house, writing that "the basic idea is to give each person their own room—instead of the usual distribution—and to do most of the cooking right on the table—making it more a social campfire affair, than the disagreeable burden to one member of the family." (Steele 2005)

They described the intentions of the spaces as "large studio rooms—with concrete walls on three sides, the front open (glass) to the outdoors—a real California scheme. On the roof two 'sleeping baskets' are provided—for open air sleeping—with temporary cover for rainy nights." (Steele 2005)

Pauline's parents lent the couple $2,350 (Steele 2005)

Pauline: "Its severity of line makes it a monumental thing." (Sweeney and Scheine 2012 p18)

The Chaces contributed $400 (Steele 2005)

Initial plans were rejected by the building department; after many visits, the department agreed to give Schindler a temporary permit (McCoy 1960 p157)

Construction began in February 1922 (Steele 2005 Warren 2011 p252) [McCoy 1960 p157 states the house began construction in 1921; Sweeney and Scheine 2012 p18 describe construction starting in 1922]

"Schindler constructed the building of unpainted concrete and redwood, leaving the structural element exposed." (Sweeney 1997 p59)

Schindler obtained tools and equipment from Irving Gill to build the concrete walls of his house and invited Gill out to observe (de Michelis 2005 p7)

Construction took place between February and June 1922 (Smith 1995 p115)

Moved into the house in May (Hailey 2008 p224)

Schindler in a letter to Neutra dated June 16, 1922: "My house is an interesting experiment and successful. The concrete walls are poured in sections on the concrete floor and then tilted. I put glass between the panels, with the result that the 3" openings repeat decoratively. This treatment creates a new feeling for the wall of a house." (McCoy 1974 p224)

On the Kings Road House: “His ’natural environment’ was not the wild open spaces of the western frontier, but a small tightly controlled urban environment.” (Gebhard 1972 p51)

“The repetitive slab walls suggested modern technology, and their rhythmic appearance throughout the house expressed the repetitive process of machine production.” (Gebhard 1972 p51)

Schindler: "At the time I built it, the accepted system of construction was to clothe the structural core with layer after layer of surfacing material, until the skeleton was hidden beyond recognition. This approach transforms most American buildings into starched sheets of oil paint, endlessly recoated. The building loses all possibility of growth, and becomes an impersonal and ageless spectre. To break with tradition I wove the Kings Road house out of untreated structural material (concrete, redwood, insulate panels, glass) each to contribute its natural texture and color." (McCoy 1953 p12)

Schindler: "Joining the outdoors with the indoors spatially to satisfy a new attitude toward nature and movement cannot be achieved by merely increasing the size of the conventional wall openings." (McCoy 1960 p158)

Was probably influenced by Japanese vernacular architecture (Melendo and others 2014)

Pauline Schindler: "[W]e're really camping,—you'd never see how folks could live at all in such a rough and incomplete household, it's quite wondrous...tho we've been too busy even to note the dramatic moment moving into our own ought to be." (Hailey 2008 p223)

Reyner Banham: "It's difficult at first sight to see what is so marvelous about the Schindler/Chase [sic] house." (Banham and others 1996 p171)

"This is Schindler's most important work..." (Steele 2005 p21)

"[The Kings Road House] became the model for the Case Study House program..." (Steele 2005 p21)

“Schindler’s house on Kings Road of 1921-2 and the Lovell beach house of 1922-6 are without question his masterpeices—a view shared by Schindler himself.” (Gebhard 1972 p47)

“As a radical rethinking of the whole man-made environment, the Kings Road house is the more original.” (Gebhard 1972 p47)

"In the house he combined a number of architectural features which later became distinguishing marks of California modern architecture: the concrete slab level with a garden; the glass walls with sliding canvas doors to the patio; the shed roof with wide overhangs; the clerestories; the movable non-bearing partitions." (McCoy 1960 p157)

“Pueblo Ribera Court, his own house, and the Popenoe cabin could, within reason, be labelled Pueblo Revival.” (Gebhard 1972 p47)

"His own Kings Road House...[is] as much about life as [it] is about architecture." (March and Scheine 1995 p8)

"The way [he designed his house] was radically innovative and prophetic of the modern housing that would evolve several decades later in the wake of Mies van der Rohe and Wright." (Smith 1995 p115)

All services (electrical, plumbing, gas) were run underneath the slab (Smith 1995 p119)

"Schindler treated plant material and building material with equal geometric precision." (Smith 1995 p121)

Schindler, in a letter to Pauline Schindler, April 24, 1922: "Architecturally it is a thoroughbred--and will either attract people--or repulse them--my fate is settled--one way or other--" (Sweeney and Scheine 2012 p3)

Pauline Schindler to R.M. Schindler, July 9, 1953: "[I am] grateful to you, r.m.s. ...for...this house, which has been so dear to me that in a way it has determined life." (Sweeney and Scheine 2012 p3)

Pauline Schindler: "The furniture is structurally the simplest possible and is of inexpensive materials, accentuating the informal feeling and horizontal lines of the room. It was designed by the architect, R.M. Schindler, not only for this house but for the particular individuals who inhabit it." (Schindler 1930 as quoted in Sweeney 1997 p61)

Letter from Pauline Schindler to her mother dated February 10, 1922: "...our house is to have an absoluteness...And an absoluteness of such a quality that even the texture and color of its unseen parts are significant to us...No doubt we shall be thought absurd,—but that does not bother us at all. These details are as sacred to us as the presence of God...In fact, they ARE the presence of God." (Sweeney 1997 p62-3)

"With his first independent design, Schindler sought a resolution of society, architecture, and landscape that was unequalled in the remainder of his career." (Smith 1995 p121)

Gregory Ain: "That house revisited recently arouses the same wonder and delight that it did almost thirty years ago. Powerful, yet delicate, vibrant yet serene, it is distinguished in detail by innumerable innovations which have since become the common language of modern domestic architecture, but which have rarely since, I believe, been used with such sensitive meaning or to so rich a cumulative effect." (McCoy 1954 p12)

"...R.M. Schindler's own house on Kings Road (1922), in which Neutra and his family lived from 1925 to 1930, featured sliding canvas doors opening to the garden and spider legs in the sleeping baskets on the roof. Although Neutra certainly developed his very recognizable combination of these details, he could not be said to have invented any of them." (Scheine 2006 p93)

"It was R.M. Schindler...who translated the plastic surface effects and the projecting vegas of Pueblo architecture into a highly original form, first in his project for the Martin house at Taos, New Mexico (1915), then in his Pueblo Ribera apartments at LaJolla (I923), and in the concrete walls of his own house in Hollywood (I922)." (Gebhard 1967 p146-7)

"All changes in the house occur within the original shell except for the enlargement of a dressing room in the 1-room apartment into a small bedroom; design was made by the architect and executed under his direction in 1952. A detached garage was added on the north side in 1965." (McCoy 1970)

"One of the ten buildings most visited by architects, historians and art students because of the significant contribution it has made to 20th century modern architecture." (McCoy 1970)

"Neutra wrote his book Wie Baut Amerika, (Hoffman, Stuttgart, 1927) in the Schindler house." (McCoy 1970)

"...for all its intellectual rigor, this is not a 'polite' house." (Sweeney 1997 p59)

"...an excercise in indoor/outdoor communication that has still not been surpassed..." (Abercrombie 2001)

"...one of the most startlingly original structures of the 20th century..." (Soltesz 2001)

"Today, R.M. Schindler's Kings Road house is celebrated as an icon of early Modern architecture." (Sweeney and Scheine 2012 p5)

Philip Johnson was dismissive of the house when he visited it in the early 1930s. (Sweeney and Scheine 2012 p5)

"...to an extraordinary degree, the house was a collaborative effort between Schindler and his wife, Pauline." (Sweeney and Scheine 2012 p6)

"It is the birthplace of the Southern California Modernism so celebrated today." (Sweeney and Scheine 2012 p27)

Letter from Pauline Schindler to her mother, 1916: "One of my dreams, Mother, is to have, some day, a little joy of a bungalow, on the edge of woods and mountains and near a crowded city, which shall be open just as some people's hearts are open, to friends of all classes and types. I should like it to be as democratic a meeting place as Hull-House, where millionaires and laborers, professors and illiterates, the splendid and the ignoble meet constantly together." (Sweeney and Scheine 2012 p6)

"...the house is a radical watershed by any criterion." (Lamprecht 2013)

"The emergence of the abstract interior in the us in the inter-war years was the result, for the most part, of European immigrants taking it there. A striking example of a building that embraced those ideas was the house that the Austrian architect Rudolph M. Schindler created in 1922 for himself and his wife Pauline, along with another couple, Marian and Clyde Chase, in Los Angeles’ Kings Road. It contained shared areas – a bathroom and kitchen among them – as well as dedicated studio spaces. The interior’s dominant features were the link the architect created between the inside and the outside and his desire to make the building’s internal walls thin and movable such that they would not inhibit the interior’s
open plan. Sliding canvas doors opened from the studios on to patios to create an inside/outside spatial continuum, reinforced by the presence of roof canopies over the patios. As it had been in British Arts and Crafts houses, such as Baillie Scott’s ‘Blackwell’ created two decades earlier, and the work of Charles Rennie Mackintosh in the early century, the light entering into the building from outside was carefully controlled. Most innovative was Schindler’s choice of materials. The floor consisted of a flat
concrete slab and a few solid concrete walls were also included. A three inch gap was left between the floor and the walls which the architect filled either with concrete or with clear, or frosted, glass to create a variety of degrees of transparency within the interior space. The other, movable wallswere light wooden frames filled with a variety of transparencies provided by frosted glass, clear glass, and a solid insulation board called ‘Insulite’. In a corner of the living area the architect placed a fireplace adjacent to a vertical glazed area. The Schindler House took the abstract interior’s obsession with transparency to an extreme level of sophistication, combining it with a strong awareness of the effects of texture. Schindler had worked in the office of Frank Lloyd Wright at the time when that architect was designing Tokyo’s Imperial Hotel. Like Wright himself, and many other Modernist architects, Schindler was indebted to the minimal, functional, and spiritually-unified spaces of the traditional Japanese home with its ‘fusuma’ – sliding doors covered with opaque paper; its ‘shoji’ – wooden lattice sliding doors covered with paper; its ‘tokonama’ – a small alcove; and its tatami mats." (Sparke 2008)

published in T-Square (1932); the house makes a cameo in Buster Keaton's Sherlock, Jr. (1924)

House and site plan, 1922 (source)

Floorplan for the Kings Road House (R.M. Schindler Collection, Architecture and Design Collection, University of California-Santa Barbara, via Southern California Architectural History)

R.M. Schindler papers, Architecture & Design Collection. Art, Design & Architecture Museum; University of California, Santa Barbara (via Gebhard 1997 p35)

via Schindler-Chace House

Kings Road House under construction (R.M. Schindler Collection, Architecture and Design Collection, University of California-Santa Barbara, via Southern California Architectural History; cropped version shown in McCoy 1953 p12)

Installing redwood framing (from Smith and Mudford 2001 p22)

House under construction, 1922 (source)

via Schindler-Chace House and Goldhagen (2005 p150) taken in 1924

R. M. Schindler papers, Architecture & Design Collection. Art, Design & Architecture Museum; University of California, Santa Barbara

from Gebhard (1972 p49)

View of the back patio, 1967 (source)

Fire of the back patio (photo by Julius Schulman, as shown in McCoy 1953 p12)

photo by Julius Schulman 1953 Getty Research Institute

photo by Julius Schulman 1953 Getty Research Institute. Note that Pauline Schindler, against R.M. Schindler's wishes, covered the floor and painted the walls and ceilings of her unit.

Interior in 1976 (source)

Interior, 1976 (source)

Esther McCoy archives at the Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution (permalink)

photo by Julius Schulman 1982 Getty Research Institute

View of the roof in 1987 without the sleeping baskets while under restoration (photo by Julius Schulman; from Germany 2000 p27)

photo by Julius Schulman 1987 Getty Research Institute

photo by the author (Robert E. Mace) 2012

photo by the author (Robert E. Mace) 2014

1922

Schindlers' son, Mark, born on July 20th (Steele 2005 p91)

Schindler struggled financially with his practice. (Steele 2005)

Speaks at an art luncheon for the Hollywood Woman's Club: "He deplored the custom some builders have of slicing off the beautiful, natural curves of the hills to aid in the building of their homes instead of planning to conform to the curves of nature." (Baker 1922)

Publishes "Who will save Hollywood?" in Holly Leaves (Schindler 1922): "The building must never be placed straddling the ridge, but should hug the flank of it, becoming part of its surrounding, and leaving the main lines of the mountain untouched."

From left: R.M. Schindler, Pauline (Gibling) Schindler, Sophie Gibling, Edmund Gibling, Dorothy Gibling, and Mark Schindler at the Kings Road House (R.M. Schindler Collection, Architecture and Design Collection, University of California-Santa Barbara, via Southern California Architectural History)

1922 and 1924: Photography studio for Miss V. Baker (Los Angeles, California; destroyed)

As noted in Gebhard (1972 p197) and Steele (2005 p91) [Steele (2005) lists the dates as 1922-5]

1922: Apartment buildings for I. Binder and H. Gross (103-111 North Soto Street, Los Angeles, California; extant, but remodeled)

As noted in Gebhard (1972 p197 1993c xvii), Steele (2005 p91), and Smith and Darling (2001 p228)

(Gebhard 1993a)

(Gebhard 1993a) This appears to be for a different project...

(Gebhard 1993a)

Google Streetview, accessed by the author on December 21, 2017

1922: Remodeling of an apartment building for B. Caplan, H. Yaffee, and S. Tuck (2234/2236, West 15th Street, Los Angeles, California; extant, but remodeled)

As noted in Steele (2005 p91) and Gebhard (1993c xvii)

(Gebhard 1993a)

Google Streetview, accessed by the author on December 21, 2017

(Gebhard 1993a) This is either a different building or a different realization of the building above. I lean toward a different building since the volumes are so different; however, no other building looks like this on the 2200 block of 15th street.

1922: Duplex for Mrs. F. Henderson (Los Angeles, California; destroyed)

As noted in Gebhard (1972 p197 1993c xvii) and Steele (2005 p91)

from Gebhard 1993a

1922: Duplex for Mrs. E.E. Lacey (Los Angeles, California; extant)

As noted in Steele (2005 p91) and Gebhard (1993c xvii)

1922: Cabin for Paul Popenoe (Coachella, California; destroyed)

As noted in Gebhard (1972 p197 1993c xvii) and Steele (2005 p91) [Note that Steele mispells Popinoe as Popinoff]

"The first version of the Popenoe Cabin project delineated a completely introverted building, devoid of any openings toward the outside except the small entrance; the perimeter, with its angles bevelled at 45 degrees, enclosed the domestic areas and a garden court (the “jungle,” as Schindler called it), which presented itself as a fragment that belonged to and yet was separated from the natural surroundings. The house opened onto this garden through a large glass wall that, as in Kings Road, constituted the fourth, transparent side; the massive walls on the other three sides were of such thickness that they seemed to have been thought out in adobe rather than concrete. A fireplace open on two sides distributed the various uses of the large residential area, flanked only by the two small cells separated by the kitchen and the studio." (Michelis 2005)

"...Schindler was able to radically rethink the final version of the project, the realization of which was practically completed by late October. A square, measuring eight metres on each side, housed the living room in the centre, illuminated by a thin clerestory window, around which were placed the kitchen, bathroom, and, on two opposite sides, “his nook” and that of the lady of the house and her child. The terrace surrounding the entire house doubled the surface area, and it could be shielded by a textile screen all around, resulting in four “porches” designated for living, dining, cooking, and sleeping outdoors. Schindler’s small house is especially interesting in that it proposes architecture in perfect balance with the majestic desert landscape that surrounds it, developing the themes explored in the 1918 Log House, conceiving the wrapping of the building as a thin permeable skin around the domestic spaces, and leaving undefined the borders between the exterior and the interior and between the opaque wall and window - a domestic architecture that mixed the encampment motifs of the pioneers journeying toward the western frontier and those of the terraced volumes of the Indian pueblos. The ladder, leaning against the exterior to reach the terrace of the flat roof, exactly as in the Taos pueblo, constitutes the most ingenuous and most explicit testimony to a sense of belonging and a rootedness in history." (Michelis 2005)

Gebhard (1972 p52+197) [lists dates of “1922 and 1924” (rebuilt? remodeled?)]

“Pueblo Ribera Court, his own house, and the Popenoe cabin could, within reason, be labelled Pueblo Revival.” (Gebhard 1972 p47)

via Park and others (2007 p12). Note that the plans state "A temporary house..."

(from Gebhard 1993c)

Popenoe Cabin (R.M. Schindler Collection, Architecture and Design Collection, University of California-Santa Barbara, via Southern California Architectural History)

1922: Beauty salon for Helena Rubinstein (Hollywood, California; destroyed)

As noted in Steele (2005 p91)

Reception room for the beauty salon (R.M. Schindler Collection, Architecture and Design Collections, University of California-Santa Barbara; via Southern California Architectural History)

1922: Project (residence) for Mrs. Anne M. Burrell (Balboa, California)

As noted in Gebhard (1972 p197 1993c xvii)

(Gebhard 1993a)

1922: Project (four-flat apartment building) for Mrs. Anne M. Burrell (731 North Alexandria, Los Angeles, California)

As noted in Gebhard (1972 p197 1993c xvii) and Smith and Darling (2001 p228; lists name as Anne)

(Gebhard 1993a)

1922: Project (residence) for Malcomb P. Campbell (Los Angeles, California)

As noted in Gebhard (1972 p197 1993c xvii)

(Gebhard 1993a)

1922: Project (residence) for W.G. Duncan (Los Angeles, California)

As noted in Gebhard (1972 p197 1993c xvii)

(Gebhard 1993a)

1922: Project (duplex) for Mrs. V. Ellis (Los Angeles, California)

As noted in Gebhard (1993c p xvii)

(Gebhard 1993a)

1922: Project (double residence) for O.S. Floren (Los Angeles, California)

As noted in Gebhard (1993c p xvii)

(Gebhard 1993a)

1922: Project (double residence for C.J. Adolphson) for O.S. Floren (Los Angeles, California)

(Gebhard 1993a)

1922: Project (double residence for Jordan) for O.S. Floren (Los Angeles, California)

(Gebhard 1993a)

1922: Project (residence) for C. P. Lowes (for Frank Lloyd Wright; Eagle Rock, California)

As noted in Gebhard (1993c xvii)

Designed early reditions of C.P. Lowes’ Eagle Rock house (Wright later used a similar floorplan in Storer House) (Gebhard 1972 p42)

Schindler later designed and built a house for Lowes under his own name (Gebhard 1972 p44)

Architectural Drawing Collection, University Art Museum, University of California-Santa Barbara (from Germany 2000 p39)

1922: Project (residence) for W.E. Kent (Los Angeles, California)

As noted in Gebhard (1972 p197 1993c xvii)

1922: Project (residence) for Mrs. R. Lindquist (Hollywood, California)

As noted in Gebhard (1972 p197 1993c xvii)

1922: Project (?) for Frank Meline Company

As noted in Gebhard (1993c p xviii)

1922: Project (bungalow) for Port L. Mix (Los Angeles, California)

As noted in Gebhard (1972 p197 1993c xvii)

1922: Project (?) for Mrs. Russel

As noted in Gebhard (1993c p xvii)

1922: Project (?) for E. Temple

As noted in Gebhard (1993c p xviii)

1922-3: Duplex for Annie M. Burrell (1012 North New Hampshire Avenue, Los Angeles, California; extant)

As noted in Gebhard (1972 p197) [who lists this property under 1922] and Steele (2005 p91). Gebhard (1993a) lists the house as 1922, in Hollywood, and built. Smith and Darling (2001 p228) list the house as being on North New Hampshire Avenue in Los Angeles and possibly being a project.

(Gebhard 1993a)

via Google Streetview on September 2007

via Google Streetview on December 20, 2017

1922-3: Residence for Millard (Frank Lloyd Wright; California; extant)

Along with Lloyd Wright developed the working drawings for the Millard House (Gebhard 1972)

1922-3: Project (bungalow court and apartment building) for Louis Fisher (Los Angeles, California)

As noted in Gebhard (1993c p xvii)

(Gebhard 1993a)

1922-4: Photo studio for Ms. Viroque Baker (Los Angeles, California; destroyed)

As noted in Gebhard (1972 p197) [except he notes the dates and 1922 and 1924] and Steele (2005)

1922-4: Project (residence) for Mrs. Laura Davies (Los Angeles, California)

As noted in Gebhard (1993c xviii)

One of the first A-frame designs in the United States (Gebhard 1972 p62)

R.M. Schindler papers, Architecture & Design Collection. Art, Design & Architecture Museum; University of California, Santa Barbara (via Gebhard 1972 p62)

(Gebhard 1993a)

1922-6: Beach House for Philip M. Lovell (1242 West Oceanfront, Newport Beach, California; extant)

As noted in Steele (2005 p91) and Gebhard (1972 p198 1993c xviii) [Gebhard (1972 p198) shows the date as 1925-6; Gebhard (1993c) shows dates of 1922-47]

"Schindler met the Lovells through the sociocultural and educational activities of Mrs. Lovell. She directed a kindergarten on Olive Hill (Hollyhock Center) which was attended by the daughter of Miss Barnsdall. Through her teaching at Olive Hill Mrs. Lovell met Frank Lloyd Wright and subsequently she met Schindler. ... Leah and Philip Lovell did not seem impressed by Wright, but they became close friends with Schindler." (Sarnitz 1986 p375)

The Lovells met Frank Lloyd Wright while teaching at the school on Olive Hill. Sam and Harriett Freeman hired Wright to design their house; however, Wright was "wasn't over[ly] kind, he was medieval." (McCoy 1958)

Mrs. Lovell: "We liked Schindler better. At the time we were living in a Swiss chalet-type house on Mt. Washington, and Philip wanted a playhouse for the summer. He let Schindler build a cabin for us in Wrightwood. He wanted Schindler to build a beach house for us, too. Schindler incorporated all of Philip's ideas in the cabin. We thought he had the genius of Wright." (Sarnitz 1986 p375)

Schindler: “The motif used in elevating the house was suggested by the pile structure indigenous to all beaches.” (Gebhard 1972 p86)

Schindler was determined to build a flexible structure, which is why he used wood for the floors, joists, and glazing bars of the large western window (Whiffen 1981)

"All walls and partitions are 2 inches thick; they are made of metal lath and cement plaster and are suspended between the concrete forms." (Sarnitz 1986 p383)

"The house was placed on stilts not only to provide some privacy from the public beach and to obtain a better view of the ocean, but also to give the possibility for the sandy beach to penetrate directly under the house, forming a sheltered outdoor living space equipped with its own open fireplace." (Sarntiz 1986 p380)

The house had few neighbors in 1926 (Sarntiz 1986 p375)

"The framing of [the large western] window in wood affected the course of architectural history in California. When Jeffrey Cook and I visited the house in 1962, Mrs. Lovell told us that it was what caused the break between her husband and the architect, for Dr. Lovell feared that one day the window would be blown in and the children who frequented his house in large numbers would be injured by glass. Schindler's design was vindicated in the earthquake of 1932—five years too late to prevent Lovell from giving the commission for his big house in Los Angeles, the Health House...to Neutra." (Whiffen 1981)

Leah Lovell: The labor gave Schindler trouble; the workmen were a handful. The house ran 30 percent above the estimate, and Philip was mad about it. (McCoy 1958)

Philip Lovell: The inspectors never saw a place like this before. The building code didn't mean anything to Schindler. The inspectors gave him carte blanche. The sea air eroded the concrete and and the reinforcement. The house encroached on the second lot, making it unsalable [however, after lopping off that part of the house, the neighboring lot was later sold.] (McCoy 1958)

"The interior configuration of the house is highly elaborate and the concept of light and space is handled with great-mastery." (Sarnitz 1995 p86)

"The subdivision of the windows is reminiscent of Frank Lloyd Wright's early prairie houses, although the blue color of the window frames is not Wrightian." (Soaring 1986 p378)

The garden schemes for the Lovell Beach House and the How House were by Neutra (Gebhard 1972 p92

The sleeping porches were enclosed by Schindler at the request of the Lovells two years after the house was built (Historic American Buildings Survey 1986)

The stairs from the kitchen to ground level were removed after the Lovells' sold the lot next door because the stairway and the landing extended over the lot line (Historic American Buildings Survey 1986)

"The Lovell beach house reflects the very happy relationship between the client and the architect, a fact clearly expressed in the consistent character and quality of the building which shows that few compromises were forced." (Sarnitz 1986 p383)

Philip Lovell: The total cost of the beach house (with furnishings) was $43,000. (McCoy 1958)

Philip Lovell: "When the 1933 earthquake came the school across the street had to be destroyed because of damage; beach house damage was $5." (McCoy 1958)

Philip Lovell: It was called the "upside-down house". (McCoy 1958)

“...Johnson was logical when he wrote that the house could not be included in the 1932 exhibition because it did not reflect the International Style as style.” (Gebhard 1972 p82)

“Schindler’s house on Kings Road of 1921-2 and the Lovell beach house of 1922-6 are without question his masterpeices - a view shared by Schindler himself.” (Gebhard 1972 p47)

“Today the Lovell beach house deserves a place with Neutra’s Lovell house (1929), Gropius’ Bauhaus at Dessau (1929-30), Le Corbusier’s Villa Savoye (1929-30) and Mies van der Rohe’s German Pavilion at Barcelona (1929) as a key work of twentieth-century architecture.” (Gebhard 1972 p80)

"The construction is functional and poetic, the spatial concept of the house is the most complete system in his oeuvre up to then, and the interrelations of the interior spaces reveal a new, until then unknown transparency." (Sarnitz 1995 p83)

"The interior configuration of the house is highly elaborate and the concept of light and space is handled with great mastery." (Sarnitz 1986 p380)

Dr. Lovell: "...Schindler paid attention to our way of living and adjusted to it, which Neutra didn't." (Sarnitz 1986 p385)

Dr. Lovell: "RMS would down to the beach with his carpenter when we wanted something changed or repaired. He never made us feel that we were interfering with a work of art." (Leclerc 1997 p97)

Dr. LovellL "RMS wanted everything in the house to blend together. The bed frames were the same design as the windows. I remember that the wood had the look of seaweed. The leftover wood was cut up to make the stool and the long sofa in the living room. He gave Maria Kipp (a textile designer) yards and yards of cheese cloth and monk's cloth to dye a golden yellow for the curtains and rust for cover for the sofa. When he finished, everything looked as if it belonged there..." (Sarnitz 1986 p385)

Dr. Lovell: "The beach house ran 30 percent above the estimates, but then the town house ran a hundred percent over..." (Sarnitz 1986 p385)

"...economically the house was a disaster: the cost had run 30 percent over estimate due to the changes, the concrete construction, and the remote site in Newport Beach." (Sarnitz 1986 p388)

"...the beach house suited the Lovells much better than the town house designed by Neutra." (Sarnitz 1986 p388)

"The Lovell Beach House, completed in 1926, stands as one of Schindler's greatest achievements, and it was precisely what the Lovells were imagining in their desire to live as they preached—out in the open, plenty of sunshine, a concrete sundeck on the roof on which to bathe nude, with privacy." (Marmorstein 2002 p247)

"...one of the five key buildings of the 1920s." March and Sheine 1995 p7)

"The building was a very personal setting for a way of life based upon a profound respect for sport, health, and nature." (Sarnitz 1986 p385)

"...the structure is heroic; the massive reinforced concrete frames, exposed on the exterior like a grand entry porch, the cantilevered sleeping porch and balcony, the great double-height volume of enclosed space, all combine to make this four bedroom beach house into a monumental piece of architecture." (Scheine 1998 p65)

Lovell briefly put the Beach House up for sale: "To the Architects of Southern California: This emblem of Federal recognized artistry, built in 1928 [sic] by its present owner, is now for sale. ... The lot is 36 X 102 to a 20 ft. alley. All utilities are in. The price is $150,000 net to the [purchaser]. Immediate possession can be had. Considering that 5 million dollars was recently paid for a 200 year old painting, this architectural work of genius is a bargain." (Marmorstein 2002 p266)

"After the Kings Road House this is Schindler's second most important work..." (Steele 2005 p31)

"It is important to recall that this project is an icon of modernity at a Promethean scale." (Polzoides 1997 p66)

"...structurally muscular..." (Abercrombie 2001)

published in Popular Mechanics (1927), Architectural Record (1929), Cheney (1930), Neutra (1930 p139)

Sketches for the Lovell Beach House, 1922 (Architectural Drawing Collection, University Art Museum, University of California at Santa Barbara)

as shown in McCoy (1953 p14)

East elevation (via Oppositions 1979)

South elevation (via Oppositions 1979)

R. M. Schindler papers, Architecture & Design Collection. Art, Design & Architecture Museum; University of California, Santa Barbara (via Gebhard 1972 p81)

photo by R.M. Schindler (via McCoy 1979 p92)

R.M. Schindler papers, Architecture & Design Collection. Art, Design & Architecture Museum; University of California, Santa Barbara (via Gebhard 1997 p58)

as shown in McCoy (1953 p14)

from the Ester McCoy archives at the Smithsonian

R. M. Schindler papers, Architecture & Design Collection. Art, Design & Architecture Museum; University of California, Santa Barbara (via Gebhard 1972 p82)

West elevation of the Lovell Beach House (photo by Edward Weston; Architectural Drawing Collection, University Art Museum, University of California-Santa Barbara)

as shown in McCoy (1953 p14; original photo by Edward Weston according to Southern California Architectural History)

from the Ester McCoy archives at the Smithsonian

c1940s, via Marmorstein 2002 p249

c1960, via Marmorstein 2002 p249

from the Ester McCoy archives at the Smithsonian

Julius Schulman 1968 (Getty Research Institute)

photo by Marvin Rand 1968

photo by Marvin Rand 1968 via Library of Congress

still from the 1975 BBC video on the Lovell Beach House

pre-1991 photo (Shinkenchiku 1991)

photo by the author (Robert E. Mace) 2012

photo by the author (Robert E. Mace) June 2015

photo by the author (Robert E. Mace) 2012

1923

Wright lived six blocks away from Schindler for six months (Melendo and others 2014 p47)

Schindler in 1923: “I purpose to treat the whole in true California style—the middle of the house being the garden, the rooms opening wide to it, the floors of concrete, close to the ground. The roof is to be used as a porch, either for living or sleeping.” (Gebhard 1972 p68-9)

Thanksgiving at the Kings Road House. From left: Dorothy Gibling, Betty Katz, Alexander "Brandy" Brandner, ?, Max Pons, Herman Sachs, Karl Howenstein, Edith (Gutterson) Howenstein, Anton Martin Feller, E. Clare Schooler, and ? (photo by R.M. Schindler, R.M. Schindler Collection, Architecture and Design Collection, University of California-Santa Barbara, via Southern California Architectural History)

Thanksgiving at the Kings Road House (photo by R.M. Schindler, R.M. Schindler Collection, Architecture and Design Collection, University of California-Santa Barbara, via Southern California Architectural History)

1923: Four-flat apartment building for William Dohs (5427 Harold Way, Los Angeles, California; extant)

As noted in Steele (2005 p91) and Gebhard (1993c xviii)

(Gebhard 1993a)

Google Streetview, accessed by the author on December 21, 2017

1923: Apartment building for S. Friedman and A. Kopley (115 North Soto Street, Los Angeles, California; remodeled as of 1972; appears as of December 20, 2017, to have been majorly remodeled or destroyed))

As noted in Steele (2005 p91) Gebhard (1993c xviii); Gebhard (1993a) lists this as a project.

(Gebhard 1993a)

streetview via Google on December 20, 2017

1923: Apartment building for Mrs. Celia Kreutzer (1620-1626 Harold Way, Hollywood, California; extant but remodeled as of 1972)

As noted in Gebhard (1972 p199 1993c xviii) and Steele (2005 p91)

1923: Beach studio and store for H. Leepa and E. Leswin (Castel del Mar, California; destroyed)

As noted in Gebhard (1972 p198 1993c xviii) and Steele (2005 p91)

1923: Residence for C.P. Lowes (5325 Ellenwood Drive, Eagle Rock, California; destroyed by highway construction)

As noted by Gebhard (1972 p197 1993c xviii) and Steele (2005 p91)

Four difference schemes (Gebhard 1972 p197)

House was lost in 1969 when the 134 Freeway was built (ERVHS 2012)

published in Moderne Bauformen (1930 p240)

Front facade of the C.P. Lowes House (photo by Viroque Baker; Schindler Papers, Architecture and Design Collections, University of California-Santa Barbara; via Southern California Architectural History)

R. M. Schindler papers, Architecture & Design Collection. Art, Design & Architecture Museum; University of California, Santa Barbara (via Gebhard 1972 p56)

(via McCoy 1979 p87)

(via Gebhard and others 1997 p70)

(via Gebhard and others 1997 p71)

R. M. Schindler papers, Architecture & Design Collection. Art, Design & Architecture Museum; University of California, Santa Barbara (via Gebhard 1972 p57)

1923: Duplex for Mrs. Anne L. Paine (Los Angeles, California; extant, but remodeled as of 1972)

As noted in Gebhard (1972 p197 1993c xviii) and Steele (2005 p91)

1923: House remodel and additions for Helena Rubinstein (Greenwich, Connecticut; ____)

Noted by Gebhard (1972 p197) and Steele (2005 p91)

1923-5: Projects for Mrs. Clode Warne (Los Angeles, California)

As noted in Gebhard (1972 p55+197 1993c xviii) [Gebhard (1993c xvii) shows 1923-5]

(Gebhard 1993d)

R. M. Schindler papers, Architecture & Design Collection. Art, Design & Architecture Museum; University of California, Santa Barbara (via Gebhard 1997 p39)

1923: Project (residence) for Mrs. Maud Davis Baker (Hollywood, California)

As noted by Gebhard (1972 p63 1993c xviii). Smith and Darling (2001 p227) show Los Angeles.

R.M. Schindler papers, Architecture & Design Collection. Art, Design & Architecture Museum; University of California, Santa Barbara (via Gebhard 1972 p63)

(Gebhard 1993a)

1923: Project (exhibition complex) for Franklin Galleries (Los Angeles, California)

As noted by Gebhard (1972 p63 1993c xviii)

(Gebhard 1993a)

1923: Project for the Physical Education Club Lodge at Topanga Ranch (Topanga Canyon, California)

As noted by Gebhard (1972 p88+197 1993c xviii)

1923: Project (residence) for Dr. P.M. Lovell (Hollywood, California)

As noted in Gebhard (1972 p197)

1923: Project (alterations to Hotel Wind and Sea) for L.E. Snell (La Jolla, California)

As noted in Gebhard (1972 p197 1993c xviii)

1923: Project (art room) for the Hollywood Public Library (with Douglas Donaldson; Hollywood, California)

As noted in Gebhard (1972 p197 1993c xviii)

Project for the Hollywood Public Library (R.M. Schindler Collection, Architecture and Design Collections, University of California-Santa Barbara; via Southern California Architectural History)

1923: Project (store and hotel building) for James E. Neville (Hollywood, California)

As noted in Gebhard (1972 p197 1993c xviii)

1923: Project (apartment building) for Annie M. Burrell

As noted in Gebhard (1993c p xvii 1993c xviii)

(Gebhard 1993a)

1923-4: Project (?) for Wyman and Brueckner

As noted in Gebhard (1993c p xvii)

1923-5: Pueblo Ribera Court for W.L. Lloyd (230–248 Gravilla Street and 230–309 Playa del Sur, La Jolla, California; extant, one unit appears to be restored, most others remodeled [some radically], one burned down)

As noted in Steele (2005 p91) and Gebhard (1993c xviii) [who shows 1923-41]

Client, W.L. Lloyd, was a dentist from San Diego; client asked for a design that would draw attention yet have a traditional southwestern bent; difficult to get a loan; Chace was the subcontractor. (Gebhard 1972)

Schindler: "I propose to treat the whole in true [south] California style, the middle the house being the garden, the rooms spreading wide into it, the floors of concrete, close to the ground. The roof is to be as a porch, either for living or sleeping, and should be one of the features of the place, with its ocean view... The [prototypical] unit is planned in such a way that it can be closely joined and combined with other units, without sacrificing privacy of rooms, garden, or roof." (Johnson 2013 p177)

Vacation houses for W.L. Lloyd (Steele 2005 p27)

12 individual units maximizing views of the Pacific Ocean (Steele 2005 p27)

Board-formed concrete, something Lloyd Wright did in 1914 (McCoy 1960 p160)

Built by Clyde Chace (McCoy and Giebner 1968)

Schindler designed an enclosure for one of the units in 1941 (McCoy and Giebner 1968)

“Pueblo Ribera Court, his own house, and the Popenoe cabin could, within reason, be labelled Pueblo Revival.” (Gebhard 1972 p47)

“For California and really for the rest of the United States in the early twenties Schindler’s Pueblo Ribera Court...was one of the most original multiple housing designs of the period.” (Gebhard 1972 p65)

“As a land-use concept the Pueblo Ribera was admirable, but as an imposition of doctrinaire modern architecture on the real world of building and finance it was a failure.” (Gebhard 1972 p72)

The complex has been altered extensively and damaged by fire (Steele 2005 p27)

"It was R.M. Schindler...who translated the plastic surface effects and the projecting vegas of Pueblo architecture into a highly original form, first in his project for the Martin house at Taos, New Mexico (1915), then in his Pueblo Ribera apartments at LaJolla (I923), and in the concrete walls of his own house in Hollywood (I922)." (Gebhard 1967 p146-7)

"...a masterpiece of early California modernism..." Dirk Sutro (as quoted in Shess 2006)

Published in Taut (1927a p56), Taut (1927b p114-6), Architectural Record (1930), Western Architect (1930) Pencil Points (1941b)

(from Gebhard 1993c)

R.M. Schindler papers, Architecture & Design Collection. Art, Design & Architecture Museum; University of California, Santa Barbara (via Gebhard 1997 p36)

R.M. Schindler papers, Architecture & Design Collection. Art, Design & Architecture Museum; University of California, Santa Barbara (via Gebhard 1972 p71)

Ester McCoy archives at the Smithsonian

(Architectural Drawing Collection, University Art Museum, University of California at Santa Barbara)

from the Ester McCoy archives at the Smithsonian

photograph by Marvin Raud in 1968 (via the Library of Congress)

photograph by Marvin Raud in 1968 (via the Library of Congress)

one of the rooftop terraces; photograph by Marvin Raud in 1968 (via the Library of Congress)

via here

via Shess (2006 p41 photo by Gary Payne)

photo by the author (Robert E. Mace) June 2015

Mark Haddaway did an amazing remodel on one of the units, bringing it back to its original glory (and the unitowner furnished it with Schindler reproductions) (2019). It also happens to be the unit in the photo above. This is a truly commendable level of restoration.:

1924-5: Fountain and garden wall for Aline Barnsdall [The Schindler Terrace] (with Richard Neutra; Los Angeles, California; extant, but damaged by an earthquake and unrestored)

As noted in Steele (2005 p91) and Smith (1979 p32) [Steele notes 1924; Smith states the project wasn't finished until August 1925]

"...in 1923, [Barnsdall] rehired Wright to design a children's school that would have a focus on theater and the performing arts ["Little Dipper"]...Construction began on November 7, 1923, but municipal building inspectors halted work pending changes to meet building codes. Barnsdall refused to pay for these changes and cancelled the project...The following year, Barnsdall turned to Rudolph Schindler, who used Wright's completed footprint and materials to finish the school site as a garden terrace...Richard Neutra assisted Schindler with the planning and execution after the pair formed a casual partnership in 1925." (Herr 2005 p16-7)

"The 'Schindler Terrace' is a significant moment in the annals of modern architecture in that it is where Wright initiated his textile block system of construction later employed in four other Los Angeles residences." (Herr 2005 p19)

"As completed, the Schindler Terrace intertwined the work and creativity of [Frank Lloyd Wright, R.M. Schindler, and Richard Neutra]." (Herr 2005 p19)

A portion of the wall collapsed in the 1994 Northridge earthquake; the benches were salvaged and placed in storage (Herr 2005 p12)

Plan for the terrace (via Smith 1979 p31)

Perspective of the terrace (via Smith 1979 p32)

1924: Remodel of apartment building for Mrs. F. Bbraun (6092 Selma Avenue, Los Angeles, California; remodeled as of 1972 [now destroyed])

As noted in Gebhard (1972 p198 1993c xviii) and Steele (2005 p91)

(Gebhard 1993a)

1924: Duplexes for O.S. Floren (Los Angeles, California; extant, but extensively remodeled as of 1972)

As noted by Gebhard (1972 p197 1993c xviii) and Steele (2005 p91) [Gebhard 1997c shows 1924-5]

O.S. Floren, contractor-investor, worked closely with Schindler from 1922-5 (Gebhard 1972 p73)

“...aim was to build inexpensive speculative housing which could compete with the popular housing being put up by other contractors.” (Gebhard 1972 p73-4)

According to Gebhard (1972 p197):
- one at the northeast corner of Harper and Romaine
- one at the northwest corner of La Jolla and Romaine
- one at 5075 Romaine

photo by Ernest M. Pratt and Viroque Baker (from Gebhard 1972 p74)

R.M. Schindler papers, Architecture & Design Collection. Art, Design & Architecture Museum; University of California, Santa Barbara (via Gebhard 1997 p51)

1924: Duplex A and B for O.S. Floren (Los Angeles, California; ______)

As noted by Gebhard (1993a)

(Gebhard 1993a)

1924: Lodge for Dr. Philip M. Lovell (Wrightwood, California; destroyed)

As noted in Steele (2005 p91)

Used shop-fabricated panels (McCoy 1960 p163)

Philip Lovell: The mountain home was prefabricated. Used Celotex for the exterior, but it was no good after three seasons. (McCoy 1958)

"...burned to the ground." (Marmorstein 2002 p246)

via Marmorstein 2002 p247

1924: Residence for John Cooper Packard (931 North Gainsborough Drive, South Pasadena, California; demolished in 2002)

As noted in Steele (2005 p91) and Gebhard (1993c xviii)

Packard was an attorney who represented Upton Sinclair after Sinclair was arrested for trying to speak at a rally for the striking longshoremen at the port of San Pedro (de Michelis 2005 p8)

Rose Marie Packard: "We have the maximum of privacy yet the entire house can be thrown open to large group entertaining, adaptability is the word that describes it." (Park and Park 2013 p10)

Continues the ideas from the Kings Road House (Steele 2005 p26)

An awkward site led to the plan. (Steele 2005 p26)

Had to have a pitched roof per local regulations (McCoy 1960 p163, Steele 2005 p26)

Schindler originally planned to sheath the roof in copper but used roll roofing to save costs (Park and Park 2013 p10)

Made with gunnite (Gebhard 1972 p62)

"...powerful and extraordinary work..." (March 1995c p129)

"...is based on triaxial symmetry of the equilateral triangle." (March 1995c p129)

"...Schindler devised a crystalline architecture surprisingly free of any stylistic bias in the direction of modernist dogma." (de Michelis 2005 p8)

"Frank Lloyd Wright did not exploit triangular and hexagonal symmetry in a plan until San Marcos-in-the-Deseert, 1927." (March 1995c p145)

Schindler: "The usual scheme for building such a house is to erect a wooden skeleton and then stretch over it a thin slab of metal lathe and stucco. To support such an inorganic and inelastic plaster slab by means of an organic swelling and shrinking skeleton is bad in principle." (McCoy 1953 p13)

House was destroyed in 2002 (Park and Park 2013 p9)

published in Moderne Bauformen (1928)

R.M. Schindler papers, Architecture & Design Collection. Art, Design & Architecture Museum; University of California, Santa Barbara (via Gebhard 1972 p60)

from McCoy (1960 p162)

R.M. Schindler papers, Architecture & Design Collection. Art, Design & Architecture Museum; University of California, Santa Barbara (via Gebhard 1972 p59)

Packard House (photo by Viroque Baker; R.M. Schindler Papers, Architecture and Design Collections, University of California-Santa Barbara; via Southern California Architectural History; also shown in McCoy 1953 p13)

(via March and Scheine 1995 p129)

Rear facade (Architectural Drawing Collection, University Art Museum, University of California at Santa Barbara)

R.M. Schindler papers, Architecture & Design Collection. Art, Design & Architecture Museum; University of California, Santa Barbara (via Gebhard 1972 p61)

Packard House in 2001 with the roofing material and entry modified (from Park and Park 2013 p9)

Packard House in 2001 (from Park and Park 2013 p9)

via Steele 1998 p63

1924: Desert house for Paul Popinoe (Coachella, California; destroyed)

As noted in Steele (2005 p91) [Steele (2005) mispells Popinoe as Popinoff]

1924: Project (desert house) for P. Popinoe (Coachella, California)

referred to in Gebhard (1972 p52+198) and Steele (2005 p91) [Note that Steele and Gebhard both misspell Popinoe as Popinoff {or perhaps Schindler misspelled the name and this is correct spelling? Steele lists this project as being built]

R.M. Schindler papers, Architecture & Design Collection. Art, Design & Architecture Museum; University of California, Santa Barbara (via Gebhard 1972 p53; un-negatived by author)

1924: Project (workmen’s colony) for Gould and Bandini

Noted in Gebhard (1972 p65 1993c xviii) and Gebhard (1972 p198)

from Gebhard 1993a

1924: Project for the Nuremburga Hotel (Burbank, California)

As noted by Gebhard (1972 p198 1993c xviii) [Gebhard (1993c xvii) shows Nurembega Hotel]

1924: Project for the People’s Bank (Los Angeles, California)

As noted by Gebhard (1972 p92 1993c xviii)

photo by Julius Schulman 1982 Getty Research Institute

R.M. Schindler papers, Architecture & Design Collection. Art, Design & Architecture Museum; University of California, Santa Barbara (via Gebhard 1997 p54)

1924: Project (residence) for A. Plotkin (Los Angeles, California)

As noted by Gebhard (1972 p92 1993c xviii)

1924: Project (residence remodeling) for Posson

As noted in Gebhard (1993c p xvii)

(from Gebhard 1993c)

1924: Project (?) for E.W. Titus

As noted in Gebhard (1993c p xvii)

1924-5: Duplex for O.S. Floren (Los Angeles, California; ____)

As noted in Gebhard (1993a)

1924-5: House remodel for Hyman Levin (Los Angeles, California; ____)

As noted in Steele (2005 p91) [Gebhard (1972c xvii) shows 1924-34]

(via Gebhard and others 1997 p21)

via Scheine (1998 p74)

1924-5: Interior design and furniture for Aline Barnsdall (Los Angeles, California; ____)

As noted in Steele (2005 p91)

dressing table for Hollyhock (from Scheine 1998 p56)

1924-5: Project (colony) for J. Harriman

Mentioned by Gebhard along with the fascinating back story about Harriman (1972 p72-3+198)

R.M. Schindler papers, Architecture & Design Collection. Art, Design & Architecture Museum; University of California, Santa Barbara (via Gebhard 1997 p53)

1924-6: Residence for Mrs. E.J. Gibling (Los Angeles, California; destroyed)

As noted in Steele (2005 p91) and Gebhard (1972c xvii) [Gehard shows 1925-6]

via Scheine (1998 p75)

(Gebhard 1993a)

1924-1933: House for H. Levin (with Architectural Group for Industry and Commerce; 2376 Dundee Place, Los Angeles, California; ______)

As noted by Gebhard (1972 p198 1993c xviii) [Gebhard (1972c xviii) shows 1924-34]

Google Streetview, accessed by the author on December 21, 2017

1925

The Chaces vacate the Kings Road House in 1925 (Steele 2005)

The Chaces left for Florida in 1924 to join the family's construction business (Bahr 2007 p152)

"The [Neutra] personality was marked, as is generally known, by a vanity so towering that it made the likes of Frank Lloyd Wright look modest, and it rendered sincere partnership almost impossible. [Neutra's] universe was utterly Neutracentric." (Banham 1983 p195)

Richard Neutra, R.M. Schindler, Dione Neutra, and Dion Neutra at the Kings Road House (source) [this photo is noted by the source as circa 1925; however, Steele (2005 p92) doesn't have the Neutras moving into the house until 1926]

1925: Entry/sign for Miss Viroque Baker (5417 Hollywood Boulevard, Los Angeles, California; destroyed)

As noted in Gebhard (1993c p xvii 1993c xviii)

UC-Santa Barbara Architecture and Design Collections, Schindler Papers (via The Schindlers and the Westons and their Bohemian Circles)

1925: Pergola and wading pool for Aline Barnsdall (Los Angeles, California; still exists but damaged by earthquake and neglected)

As noted in Steele (2005 p91)

(Gebhard 1993a)

from Hines (1994 p61)

1925: Remodel of the Director's House and Hollyhock for Ms. Aline Barnsdall (Olive Hill, Los Angeles; ______)

As noted in Gebhard (1972 p198)

R. M. Schindler papers, Architecture & Design Collection. Art, Design & Architecture Museum; University of California, Santa Barbara (via Gebhard 1972 p101)

1925: Apartment building for Mr. and Mrs. S. Breacher (5806 Carlton Way, Los Angeles, California; destroyed [apparently by highway construction])

As noted by Gebhard (1972 p198 1993c xviii) and Steele (2005 p91)

(Gebhard 1993a)

R.M. Schindler papers, Architecture & Design Collection. Art, Design & Architecture Museum; University of California, Santa Barbara (via Gebhard 1997 p51)

photo by Virtue Baker (from Gebhard 1972 p75)

1925: Duplex for O.S. Floren (Los Angeles, California; ____)

As noted in Gebhard (1993a)

(Gebhard 1993a)

1925: Maisonette for O.S. Floren (Los Angeles, California; ____)

As noted in Steele (2005 p91)

1925: House for James Eads How (2422 Silver Ridge Avenue, Los Angeles, California; extant and restored)

As noted in Steele (2005 p91) and Gebhard (1993c xviii)

[disagreement on how to spell How; Gebhard (1972 p198) spells How Howe; the correct spelling is How]

How's wife's name was Ingeborg (de Michelis 2005 p8)

How's father, James Buchanon How, made a fortune in salvage after inventing a diving bell, designed the iron-clad warships that defeated the South's navy during the Civil War, and designed an engineering marvel in St Louis in a bridge that spanned the Mississippi river. (Steele 1996 p7)

How dedicated his fortune to the homeless, supporting the International Brotherhood Welfare Association and inaugurating the first Hobo College in Chicago in 1914 (de Michelis 2005 p8)

"The Schindlers almost certainly knew the Hows in Chicago, where Pauline Gibling (later, Schindler) had worked for Jane Addams at Hull House..." (March 1997 p73)

The project required an office for the owner-doctor (Steele 2005 p29)

Schindler noted that the concept was related to "the two outlooks which the location offered. The rooms form a series of right angle shapes placed above each other and facing alternatively north and south. This scheme provides sufficient terraces necessary for outdoor life." (Steele 2005 p29)

Schindler on the color choices for the house: "Natural concrete outside. Stained concrete and plaster inside tan to yellow. Stained redwood transparent gray green. Colors taken from foliage and bark of eucalyptus trees." (Steele 1996 p32)

“The continuation of the horizontal battens through the main window units as transoms (a device Wright was to use frequently during the thirties)...” (Gebhard 1972 p80)

"...the How House is a neoclassical tract for the 20th century as much as the musical works of Prokofiev, Stravinsky and Richard Strauss around the 1920s." (March 1995c p125)

"...a sophisticated layering of space and plane in both the horizontal and vertical dimension and by modular proportioning." (Steele 1996 p33)

"Schindler's realisation of a spatial system of planes which are transparent and refractory as well as protective and solid, is a vindication of Loos' insight about walls, albeit expanded in ways that are consistent with the optimism that was once endemic to Los Angelos." (Steele 1996 p52)

"...the How House is a virtuoso performance of proportional design..." (March 1995c p125)

"...arguably the best house that Rudolph Schindler ever designed..." (Steele 1996 p7)

The garden schemes for the Lovell Beach House and the How House were by Richard Neutra (Gebhard 1972 p92)

published in Taut (1929a p178-9) and Architectural Record (1929 p5-9)

R.M. Schindler papers, Architecture & Design Collection. Art, Design & Architecture Museum; University of California, Santa Barbara (via Gebhard 1997 p56)

from Gebhard (1997a)

(Architectural Drawing Collection, University Art Museum, University of California at Santa Barbara)

Rear facade of the How House (photo by Viroque Baker; Schindler Papers, Architecture and Design Collections, University of California-Santa Barbara; via Southern California Architectural History)

R.M. Schindler papers, Architecture & Design Collection. Art, Design & Architecture Museum; University of California, Santa Barbara (via Gebhard 1972)

via Scheine (1998 p79)

photo by Julius Schulman 1980 Getty Research Center. Note that the house had been modified by this point with an eaved roof placed on the structure.

photo by Julius Schulman 1980 Getty Research Center

photo by Julius Schulman 1947 Getty Research Center. Note that the house had been modified by this point with an eaved roof placed on the structure.

photo by the author (Robert E. Mace) 2014

source

reprodction of a table lamp for the How House (source)

1925: Ranch house for Dr. Philip M. Lovell (Fallbrook, California; destroyed)

As noted in Steele (2005 p91) and Gebhard (1993c xviii)

Schindler used concrete block (McCoy 1960 p165)

"[This project had] the layout of the square living room in the centre, with the bedrooms and other facilities distributed along three sides and a sun roof reachable by an exterior ladder from the large terrace that surrounded the perimeter of the house." (Michelis 2005)

"...the house had a brief, troubled life: its primary material, Celotex, swelled when the rains came, causing the roof to collapse." (Marmorstein 2002 p246)

Mountain cabin for Dr. Lovell (via Park 2007 p13)

photo by Richard Neutra

1925: Residence for Carlton Park (Fallbrook, California; destroyed)

As noted in Gebhard (1972 p198 1993c xviii) and Steele (2005 p91) [Park 2007 p13 shows a spelling of Carton]

via Park (2007 p13)

from the Ester McCoy archives at the Smithsonian

1925: Bedroom for Dr. Philip M. Lovell (Los Angeles, California; destroyed)

As noted in Gebhard (1972 p198 1993c xviii)

1925: Furniture for the children's workshop for Dr. Philip M. Lovell (Los Angeles, California; _____)

As noted in Gebhard (1972 p198)

1925: Tea room for Mrs. O'Sullivan and Miss B. Kent (Los Angeles, California; destroyed)

As noted in Gebhard (1972 p198 1993c xviii)

1925: Project (Tyco Photographic Studio) for the Ambassador Hotel (Los Angeles, California)

As noted in Gebhard (1972 p198 1993c p xvii) [Gebhard 1993c shows Tyko; Smith and Darling 2001 show Tycko]

1925: Project for Brown Market

As noted in Gebhard (1993c p xvii) and Smith and Darling (2001 p228)

(Gebhard 1993a)

1925: Project for (residence) for Brudin (El Monte, California)

As noted in Gebhard (1972 p198) and Smith and Darling (2001 p228; they show "Brundin")

1925: Project (commercial building exterior) for Celotex

As noted in Gebhard (1993c p xvii)

(Gebhard 1993a)

1925: Project (first scheme) for Hotel Elsinore (with A.R. Brandner and Richard Neutra; Elsinore, California)

As noted in Gebhard (1972 p198)

(Gebhard 1993a)

(Gebhard 1993a)

1925: Project (?) for Lincoln Monument

As noted in Gebhard (1993c p xvii)

1925: Project (hotel and bungalow community) for P. Popinoff (Coachella, California)

As noted in Gebhard (1972 p198)

[should this be Popinoe?]

1925: Project (?) for John Storer

As noted in Gebhard (1993c p xvii)

1925: Project (?) for Sunset Canyon Country Club

As noted in Gebhard (1993c p xvii)

1926

Richard and Dione Neutra and son, Dion, move into the other half of the Kings Road House (Steele 2005 p92)

Has a professional falling out with Neutra "...once Neutra turns out to be a highly uncooperative colleague." (Steele 2005 p92)

Schindler disliked shiny hardware: "...which places an object out of reach of a close personal relationship..." and invented undercut grooves to take the place of drawer pulls. (McCoy 1960 p178)

Schindler: "Each house needs to be composed as a symphony, with variations on a few themes." (Smith 1995 p115)

1926: Six article for the "Care of the Body" column in the Los Angeles Times

Schindler publishes six articles as part of Dr. Lovell's newspaper column, 'Care of the Body'. These articles represent the first theoretical writings of the Modern movement by an emigrant European architect in the United States. (Sarnitz 1995 p83)

"Their ideological roots reveal two categories: first, Schindler's belief in the importance of technological change and progress; and second, Schindler's demand that the house be adapted to the new social and cultural conventions and conveniences." Sarnitz 1986 p375)

About Furniture (Schindler 1926e)

excerpts:

"The furniture, originally conceived to adapt the house to a more comfortable use, has usurped our place in it. Our homes have become places for all kinds of 'things' instead of affording us a sheltered space for living, which means movement."

"The furniture is growing lower and lower. A modern table should hardly be more than two feet and two inches high, and a modern seat measures less than sixteen inches."

"A plain, well colored, modern floor covering is highly preferable to any oriental or other patterned rug."

"We must lose our prejudice that any kind of scrawl, laboriously applied to a surface, enhances its value. On the contrary, an interesting plainness is the most difficult and most precious thing to achieve."

"If a design or a picture is good enough, a whole room should be devoted to it."

"Vases belong in the closet unless some branch is in need of water and support."

"Curtains are a convenient means to regulate and vary the light entering through our windows, and not useless rags fastened and draped for the sake of decoration."

"It must be the basic principle of all interior decoration that nothing which is permanent in appearance should be chosen for its individual charm or sentimental associations, but only for its possible contribution to the room conceived as an organic entity, and a background for hunan activity."

"Rooms furnished according to historical styles belong in museums or on the stage. Our modern way of living is developed and characteristic enough, and has the power to create its own style."

1926-31: Architectural Group for Industry and Commerce

Neutra and Schindler form Architectural Group for Industry and Commerce (Steele 2005 p92)

Collaborated with Neutra, along with the urban planner Carol Arnovici (a dude), in Architectural Group for Industry and Commerce from 1926-1931. (Gebhard 1972 p93)

1926: Haines Health Food Store (Los Angeles, California; destroyed)

As noted in Gebhard (1972 p198 1993c xviii) and Steele (2005 p92)

1926: Leah-Ruth Business Building (with Richard Neutra; Los Angeles, California; ____)

As noted in Steele (2005 p92) and Gebhard (1993c xviii)

R.M. Schindler papers, Architecture & Design Collection. Art, Design & Architecture Museum; University of California, Santa Barbara (via Gebhard 1997 p73)

R.M. Schindler papers, Architecture & Design Collection. Art, Design & Architecture Museum; University of California, Santa Barbara (via Gebhard 1997 p43)

1926: Residence for Mrs. K. Sorg (with Richard Neutra; 600 South Putney Street [no longer a Putney Street], San Gabriel, California; ______, but remodeled as of 1972)

As noted in Steele (2005 p92) and Gebhard (1972 p199 1993c xviii) [Gebhard (1972) does not mention Neutra in his listing; Gebhard's address doesn't show in Google maps]

via Scheine (1998 p82)

1926: House remodel for F.M. Weiner (1120 Court Street, Los Angeles, California; destroyed)

As noted in Gebhard (1972 p198 1993c xviii)

1926: Leah-Ruth Shop (with AGIC; Long Beach, California; destroyed)

As noted in Gebhard (1972 p198 1993c xviii)

1926: Project (residence) for Mr. and Mrs. Briggs (Bay Island, Newport Beach, California)

As noted in Gebhard (1972 p198 1993c xviii) and Smith and Darling (2001 p228)

(Gebhard 1993a)

1926: Project (apartments) for M. Brown (Hollywood, California)

As noted in Gebhard (1972 p199 1993c xviii)

(Gebhard 1993a)

1926: Sketch for an exhibition room (Berkeley, California)

As noted in Gebhard (1972 p198 1993c xviii)

1926: Project for the League of Nations (with Richard Neutra)

Project for the League of Nations with Neutra (Gebhard 1972 p94)
- at the time of its submission, it was officially listed as Neutra and Schindler
- locally it was listed as Schindler and Neutra
- the final presentation drawings are by Neutra, but many of the preliminary studies are by Schindler

Le Corbusier won the contest, but Schindler and Neutra received an award (McCoy 1960 p165)

"...the project of Schindler/Neutra did not receive a prize." (Sarnitz 1986 p383)

"Unfortunately, the project was exhibited in Europe only under the name of Neutra." (Sarnitz 1986 p384)

"Although the evidence suggests that the design was truly a joint effort, Neutra arranged to have it exhibited in Europe, but without Schindler's name attached/" (Scheine 1998 p25)

"Mrs. Neutra explained in a discussion with the author, 12 January 1982, Los Angeles, that the name of Schindler was omitted in Europe because Alfred and Lilly Niedermann (the parents of Mrs. Neutra, who lived in Switzerland and who were handling the exhibition for Neutra) were uninformed about the collaboration." (Sarnitz 1986 p383)

Preliminary design for the League of Nations (Hines 1994 p70)

1st floor plan, via Sarnitz 1986 p384

2nd floor plan, via Sarnitz 1986 p384

Final design for the League of Nations (via Hines 1994 p68)

R. M. Schindler papers, Architecture & Design Collection. Art, Design & Architecture Museum; University of California, Santa Barbara (via Gebhard 1972 p95)

R. M. Schindler papers, Architecture & Design Collection. Art, Design & Architecture Museum; University of California, Santa Barbara (via Gebhard 1972 p56)

1926: Project (residence) for Hain (with AGIC; Los Angeles, California)

As noted in Gebhard (1972 p199 1993c xviii) [Gebhard (1993c) shows 'Haines Health Food Store']

c.1926: Project (apartment buildings) for the Hennessey brothers (Los Angeles, California)

from Gebhard 1993a

As noted in Gebhard (1972 p199 1993c xviii) [Gebhard 1993c shows 1926]

1926: Project (garden design) for Mrs. Kester

As noted in Gebhard (1993c p xvii)

1926: Project (apartment building) for Levy (Los Angeles, California)

As noted in Gebhard (1972 p199)

1926: Project (?) for David Lovell

As noted in Gebhard (1993c p xvii)

1926: Project (?) for Dr. Philip M. Lovell

As noted in Gebhard (1993c p xvii)

1926: Project (studio) for Jessica Morgenthau (Palm Springs, California)

As noted in Gebhard (1972 p198 1993c xvii)

1926: Project (?) for Seiburt

As noted in Gebhard (1993c p xvii)

1926: Project (?) for Kenneth Snoke

As noted in Gebhard (1993c p xvii)

1926: Project (?) for Sokolov

As noted in Gebhard (1993c p xvii)

1926-8: Manola Court Apartments for Herman Sachs (also referred to as Sachs Apartments; 1811-1813 Edgecliff Drive, Los Angeles, California; extant)

As noted in Steele (2005 p92) and Gebhard (1993c xix) [Gebhard 1993c show 1926-40]

Sachs was a painter and tile artist (Scheine 1998 p23)

Marks a move away from concrete construction in favor of wood frame and stucco. (Steele 2005 p. 32)

published in American Home (1942)

via Best LA Neighborhoods

from the Ester McCoy archives at the Smithsonian

via Best LA Neighborhoods

photo by Julius Schulman 1938 1945 Getty Research Institute

Herman Sachs in his apartment (via Southern California Architectural History)

Sideboard (source) Value estimated at $10,000 to $15,000.

photo by the author (Robert E. Mace) 2012

via Best LA Neighborhoods 2013

via Scheine (1998 p88)

photos of a unit via VRBO:

benches (source):

chair (source):

sofa (source):

1926-8: Project (residence) for Martec (Los Angeles, California)

As noted in Gebhard (1972 p198 1997c xix) [Gebhard 1993c shows Martel]

1926-8: Project (residence) for C.B. Price (Los Angeles, California)

As noted in Gebhard (1972 p198 1997c xix)

1926-9: House remodel for Samuel Freeman (1962 Glencoe Way, Hollywood, California; extant, but Schindler remodel may have been removed for restoraition of the Wright-designed house)

As noted in Steele (2005 p92) and Gebhard (1997c xix)

Mrs. Freeman was a dance (Scheine 1998 p23)

"Wright and the Freemans became alienated after the budget for their house escalated to more than double the original estimates. When the Freemans eventually saved enough money to buy furnishings, they asked Schdinler to design them. All the furniture in the living room was designed by Schindler over a long period of time—from 1928 to the 1940s." (Greenhalgh 1990 p112)

The Freemans knew a lot of people, including "...Albert and Esther Dekker, Hazel Roy, Galka Scheyer, Rudolph Schindler, Edward Weston, Lester Horton, Bella Lewitzky and Newell Reynolds, Rudi Gernreich, Bill and Stephanie Oliver, Wynn Ritchie Evans, Peter Krasnow, Jean Negelesco, Fritz Zwicky, Benjamin Bufano, Gjura Stovano, Herman Sachs, Olga Zacsek, John Covington, Claude Rains, and Xavier Cugat. It was these friends who shared the Schindler furniture at various concerts in the living room...and who stayed as guests in the two Schindler-Designed apartments." (Chased 1997 p109)

Schindler furniture in the Freeman House (photo by Julius Schulman; via Southern California Architectural History)

1927

Pauline moves out of the Kings Road House to Carmel in 1927 with their son, Mark, in 1927. (Steele 2005)

After Pauline moved out, Schindler divided the Kings Road House where the other side could be a rental. (Steele 2005)

Gaika Scheyer, American representative of the Blue Four (Kandinsky, Klee, Feininger, and Jawlensky) moves into Kings Road.

"In America there is hardly anything to be seen of a modern movement in the European sense, with the expectation of certain quite sporadic, isolated explained, grounded around pupils of Wright, or individual attempts in California (Schindler and Neutra in Los Angeles)." (Taut 1929b)

Pueblo Ribera Court published in Neutra (1928 p53-7)

R.M. Schindler (photo by Edward Weston, via Southern California Architectural History)

1927: Remodel of "Aesop's Chest and Nosegay Store" (710 South Flower Street, Los Angeles, California; destroyed)

As noted in Steele (2005 p92) and Gebhard (1972 1993c xix) [Gebhard 1993c shows 1927-8; [Gebhard 1972 notes the project as a complete build]

1927: Temporary exhibition pavilion for Aline Barnsdall (Los Angeles, California; destroyed)

As noted in Steel (2005 p92) and Gebhard (1972 1993c xix) [Gebhard 1993c shows 1927-8]

September 1927 (from Karasick and Karasick 1993, via Southern California Architectural History)

1927: Oil mill for J. Napolitano (with Richard Neutra and Architectural Group for Industry and Commerce; 676 Clover Street, Los Angeles, California; destroyed)

As noted by Steele (2005 p92, who states that it was done with Neutra) and Gebhard (1972, who notes it was done with Architectural Group for Industry and Commerce)

1927: House remodel for J.E. Richardson (with Richard Neutra and Architectural Group for Industry and Commerce ; 8272 Marmont Lane, Los Angeles, California; ____)

As noted by Steele (2005 p92, who notes that it was done with Neutra) and Gebhard (1972, who notes it was done with Architectural Group for Industry and Commerce 1993c xix)

1927: Project for Aline Barnsdall, the Translucent House (Palos Verdes, California)

As noted in Gebhard (1972 p103)

The site was on top of a cliff overlooking the Pacific Oceans in Palos Verdes (March 1995d p147)

Laterally, Schindler uses a 48-inch module; vertically, he used a 37-inch module (March 1995d p155)

The house was designed for concrete, glass, and metal (March 1995d p158)

"Schindler's Translucent House is truly one of the great unbuilt projects of 20th-century architecture." (March 1995d p158)

"...the Translucent house...can be read as a commentary on the Hollyhock house, turning everything dark and heavy into translucence and light..." (Scheine 1998 p15)

Source: Architectural Drawing Collection/University Art Museum, University of California, Santa Barbara

via Scheine (1998 p95)

(Gebhard 1993a)

1927: Project for Hotel Elsinore (with A.R. Brandner; Elsinore, California)

As noted in Gebhard (1972 p103) and Gebhard (1972 p199)

c.1927-8: Project for the Falcon Flyers Country Club (with Architectural Group for Industry and Commerce near Wasco, California)

Gebhard (1972 p199)

(Gebhard 1993a)

1926: Project (furniture) for the S. Freeman house (Hollywood, California)

As noted in Gebhard (1972 p199)

1927: Project (residence) for Hutsen

1927: Project (five-story apartment building) for J.H. Miller (with AGIC; Los Angeles, California)

Gebhard (1972 p199 1993c xix)

1927: Project (residence) for Mrs. T. Zaczek (with Architectural Group for Industry and Commerce; Los Angeles, California)

Gebhard (1972 p199 1993c xix)

1927: Project for Jardin Apartments (with Architectural Group for Industry and Commerce Los Angeles, California)

Gebhard (1972 p199 1993c xix)

c.1927: Project for an amusement center, garage, and stores (with Architectural Group for Industry and Commerce Los Angeles, California)

Gebhard (1972 p199)

1927: Project for a four-story Class C apartment building (with AGIC; Pasadena, California)

Gebhard (1972 p199)

1927: Publication of Richard Meutra's Wie Baut Amerika? which featured El Pueoblo Ribera on the cover of the paperback

1927-9: Lovell Health House

"...Lovell spoke to Schindler about a house in Los Feliz, close enough to his office and offering a pleasing landscape." (Marmorstein 2002 p248)

"There was enough money coming in for Phil to buy a hillside property at the top of winding Dundee Drive, in Los Feliz. Schindler, at Lovell's behest, made sketches for the new house. As in the Beach House the idea was to pull together, and inside, all the healthful, outdoorsy elements found in such abundance in southern California." (Marmorstein 2002 p253)

"A problem arose that made further dialogue between the two men strained, and the problem had less to do with architecture than more immediately emotional matters." (Marmorstein 2002 p253)

Rayner Banham: "Neutra's beginnings in Los Angeles were very much of an offshoot of Schindler's office, and the budding-off process was painful and left lasting wounds. The whole story cannot be told even now; though Neutra too is dead and safe from scandal, let it suffice here to say that Schindler had got as far with the project for the Lovell house in Griffith Park as to have made sketches and studied possible sites with the client—but Neutra got the job." (Marmorstein 2002 p253-4)

Dione Neutra: "Schindler had a habit of having wives of clients fall in love with him." (Marmorstein 2002 p254)

"Leah Lovell fell hard for Schindler. Their affair dated back to the days when the Lovells were routinely at King's Road and may have simply reached boiling temperature while discussions about the Los Feliz house were underway." (Marmorstein 2002 p254)

"Dr. Lovell had no elixir, drugless or otherwise, for having been cuckolded. All he could do was turn his back on the preening Schindler and turn instead to Richard Neutra to build his house in Los Feliz. Neutra demurred—it was a thankless position to find himself in—and played diplomat as he persuaded the two factions to come together to talk. Grudgingly, Lovell was willing to accept Schindler again as principal architect, provided Neutra run interference." (Marmorstein 2002 p254)

Schindler to Neutra: "If you don't take the job, Lovell will give it to someone else." (Marmorstein 2002 p254) [this is via an interview with Dione Neutra; I don't consider her to be a reliable source]

"Mrs. Neutra told the author [Sarnitz] in a discussion on 16 January 1982 that Dr. Lovell commissioned Neutra in the expectation that Neutra would care more about the costs and the detailing of the house." (Sarnitz 1986 p375)

Dr. Lovell: "The beach house ran 30 percent above the estimates, but then the town house ran a hundred percent over..." (Sarnitz 1986 p385)

"Thomas Hines of UCLA holds the opinion that Dr. Lovell assumed that both architects were working on his project since at that time both architect shared a common office." (Sarnitz 1986 p375)

"Esther McCoy believes that by 1927 the relationship between the Lovells and Schindler had cooled, but that the Lovells nevertheless had asked Schindler to start with the design process for their town house." (Sarnitz 1986 p375)

"The framing of [the large western] window in wood [at the Lovell Beach House] affected the course of architectural history in California. When Jeffrey Cook and I visited the house in 1962, Mrs. Lovell told us that it was what caused the break between her husband and the architect, for Dr. Lovell feared that one day the window would be blown in and the children who frequented his house in large numbers would be injured by glass. Schindler's design was vindicated in the earthquake of 1932—five years too late to prevent Lovell from giving the commission for his big house in Los Angeles, the Health House...to Neutra." (Whiffen 1981)

"Since there are no letters by Schindler himself, but only letters by Neutra and the Lovells, it is suggested that the historiography never can fully be resolved concerning the question of this commission." (Sarnitz 1986 p388)

Dione Neutra: "It was a very unhappy marriage [between the Lovells], and they quarreled terribly with each other. They had three lovely boys, but it was kind of painful to be together with them, because you could feel the tension in the air. And I think that the house Mr. Neutra designed for them really kept them together, because they both loved the house so much." (Marmorstein 2002 p257)

1928

Schindler writes in his notebook: "The sense for the perception of architecture is not the eyes—but living. Our life is its image." (McCoy 1960 p149-150)

Schindler: "Tecknik = type based on human laws. Art = variation seen through a human mind." (McCoy 1960 p167)

"Following the Lovell Beach House, Schindler began to lose interest in techniques and settled down to an exploitation of form." (McCoy 1960 p167)

“The year 1928 marks Schindler’s full commitment to de Stijl.” (Gebhard 1972 p105)

Dione Neutra performing at the Kings Road House

1928: Residence for David Grokowsky (816 Bonita Drive, South Pasadena, California; extant and restored)

As noted in Steele (2005) and Gebhard (1993c xix) [Gebhard (1993c xix) shows a date of 1929]

Was (is?) owned by CalTrans for the planned 6.2 mile extension of the Long Beach Freeway (Hudson 1993)

Double height living space (Steele 2005 p33)

from Gebhard 1993a

R.M. Schindler papers, Architecture & Design Collection. Art, Design & Architecture Museum; University of California, Santa Barbara (via Gebhard 1972 p107)

via Scheine (1998 p96)

via Scheine (1998 p97)

circa 1980

Google Street View as of March 9, 2015; accessed by author

1928: Set for Soul of Raphael for the Opera and Drama Guild (Trinity Auditorium, Los Angeles, California; destroyed)

As noted in Gebhard (1972 p199)

1928: Set for The Idiot for Anna Zacsek (California; destroyed)

As noted in (Mitchell 2011 p20)

1928, 30: Project (beach house) for Mr. Henry Braxton and Mrs. Viola Brothers Shore (5705 Ocean Front Walk, Venice, California)

Gebhard (1972 p199 1993c xix) Park and Lee (2009) [Steele (2005) lists this project as occurring from 1928-9; Park and Lee (2009) shows the project as 1930, which is the date the floorpans and sections show] and Smith and Darling (2001 p228)

Gebhard notes that the same plan appears for the same address in 1930 but under a different name, V.B. Shore (Viola Brothers Shore Residence).

"Various box forms are projected, recessed, and interlocked along the longitude axis. It is Schindler's usual practice and the signature of his designs." (Park and Lee 2009 p34)

The house was never built due to the client's financial circumstances (Park and Lee 2009 p33)

R.M. Schindler papers, Architecture & Design Collection. Art, Design & Architecture Museum; University of California, Santa Barbara (via Gebhard 1972 p110)

(Gebhard 1993a)

(via Southern California Architectural History)

Scale reconstruction of the house, street facade (Park and Lee 2009 p34)

Scale reconstruction of the house, beach facade (Park and Lee 2009 p34)

Floorplans and elevations (Park and Lee 2009 p34)

1928: Project for The Golden Pyramid (also called the Pyramid of Gold) (Los Angeles, California)

Gebhard (1972 p199 1993c xix)

Gebhard (1993)

1928: Project (residence) for Mrs. Siemons (Slemons?) (Los Angeles, California)

Gebhard (1972 p199 1993c xix)

1928: Project (?) for Temple Emanu-el

Gebhard (1993c xix)

1928: Project for Twin Harbor community (with Architectural Group for Industry and Commerce; Catalina Island, California)

Gebhard (1972 p199 1993c xix)

1928: Project for an art gallery (with Architectural Group for Industry and Commerce; Lake Merritt, Oakland, California)

Gebhard (1972 p199)

1928: Project (?) for a subdivision

Gebhard (1993c xix)

1928-9: Art gallery for Henry Braxton (1624 Vine Street, Hollywood, California; destroyed)

As noted in Steele (2005 p92) and Gebhard (1972 p199 1993c xix) [Gebhard 1972 notes 1928 as the date]

"What could account for the interpretation of the Braxton Gallery as Zigzag Moderne is a collaboration between the architect and one of his protegees, Galka Scheyer." (Sawelson-Gorse 1997 p87)

Galka Meyer may have been Schindler's connection to the project (Sawelson-Gorse 1997 p87)

(photos by Viroque Baker; from Scheine p144 via Southern California Architectural History)

1928-9: Residence for Charles H. and Ethel Wolfe (Avalon, Catalina Island, California; demolished 2002)

As noted in Steele (2005 p92) and Gebhard (1972 1993c xix) [Gebhard (1972) lists 1928 as the date and Gebhard (1993c xix) shows 1928-31]

Summerhouse, partially to advertise their avant-garde costume design business. Volumes were placed to ensure privacy (Steele 2005 p35)

"Schindler was a master at hillside planning, and the Wolfe house was the first test of his abilities in this field." (McCoy 1960 p167)

Emphasis on internal space and views (Steele 2005 p35)

Schindler abandoned "...the conventional conception of a house as a carved mass of honeycombed material protruding from the hillside, and created a composition of space units to float above the hill." (McCoy 1960 p167)

"Schindler created large multi-purpose rooms which are virtually continuous with the outdoors." (March and Scheine 1995 p163)

Schindler: “a composition of space units to float above the hill” (Gebhard 1972 p106)

"The central part of the building as it is viewed up the slope from Avalon is rendered dark and is enriched by planting and flowers in boxes on the balcony, so that the perceptual illusion of the reconstruction of the contours of the original hill is suggested." (Koulermos and Polyzoides 1975)

"This house is probably the best-known of Schindler's, after the Lovell beach house." (Scheine 1998 p100)

"Schindler's most memorable hillside house." (Steele 2005 p35)

"In 1974 a house was built on its western side that totally destroyed the Wolfe Houses's much celebrated and photographed southwest corner." (Koulermos and Polyzoides 1975)

Demolished in 2001 (Park and Park 2013 p14)

published in Architectural Record (1931) Advertising Arts (November 1931) Creative Art (1932) Architectural Record (1933a) McGrath (1934) California Arts and Architecture (1935) Vomag (1935) Architect and Engineer (1935)

Perspective drawing (Architectural Drawing Collection, University Art Museum, University of California at Santa Barbara)

via Steele 2015 p14

Floorplan (via Scheine 1998 p101)

via Steele 1999 p79

Schindler's plywood model

photo by Wayne Andrews as shown in McCoy (1953 p13)

R.M. Schindler papers, Architecture & Design Collection. Art, Design & Architecture Museum; University of California, Santa Barbara (via Gebhard 1972)

(via March and Sheine 1995 p19)

Ethel Wolfe in living room (from The Furniture of Schindler Berns-Gebhard)

Charles Wolfe (from The Furniture of Schindler Berns-Gebhard)

(via Gebhard and others 1997 p93)

photo by the Crescent Photo Shop (in Gebhard 1972 p 108)

(via Gebhard and others 1997 p27)

from the Ester McCoy archives at the Smithsonian

Floor lamp Schindler designed for the Wolfe House (via artnet)

photo from Winter and Vertikoff (2006 p140)

1929

Playbill for a show at the Kings Road House (R.M. Schindler Collection, Architecture and Design Collection, University Art Museum, University of California at Santa Barbara, via Southern California Architectural History)

1929 Henry-Russel Hitchcock publishes Modern Architecture: Romanticism and Reintegration

Hitchcock in the book:"Neutra alone is a worthy disciple of Wright..." (Hines 1994 p105)

Hitchcock in the book: "Neutra's work, although not specifically American, illustrates that the new manner can cope individually and effectively with American conditions." (Hines 1994 p105)

Hitchock in the book: Schindler "...paralleled with mediocre success the more extreme aesthetic researches of Le Corbusier and the men of de Stijl." (Hines 1994 p105)

Schindler wrote to Hitchcock: "Your statement concerning my work is careless as you have no real knowledge of it." (Hines 1994 p105)

Hitchcock's response: "...in matters of opinion, I am little likely to be influenced by your apparent contention that the critic is helpless entirely to mention buildings he has only seen photographs of. I hope of course to see your work in California—although frankly it would be Neutra's which would draw me there... I regret that I have not pleased you and your friends, but think, pray, how little I have pleased Mr. R.A. Cram." (Hines 1994 p105)

Hitchcock incorrectly attributes Neutra to working on the foundation for Wright's Imperial Hotel in Japan. (Hines 1994 p105)

1929: Lincoln Garage building and automobile showroom for Maddux (with Herman Sachs; Los Angeles, California; destroyed)

As noted in Steele (2005 p92+200) and Gebhard (1993c xix)

1929: Cabin for W. Lingenbrink (Calabasas, California; destroyed)

As noted in Steele (2005 p92)

1929: Cabin No. 1 at Park Moderne (3978 Blackbird Way, Woodland Hills, California; extant, but remodeled as of 1972)

As noted in Steele (2005 p92)

Accessed via Google Street View on March 11, 2015; 3978 Blackbird Way. Is this the house? It looks Schindleresque...

1929: House remodel for S. Vorkapic (2100 Benedict Canyon, Beverly Hills, California; remodeled as of 1972; destroyed)

As noted in Steele (2005 p92) and Gebhard (1972 p199 1993c xix)

1929: Satyre Bookshop (Los Angeles, California; destroyed)

As noted in Steele (2005 p92) and Gebhard (1993c xix)

1929: Remodel of Oleanders for Miss Aline Barnsdall (Los Angeles, California; destroyed)

As noted in Gebhard (1972 p199 and 1993c xix) and Steele (2005 p92) [Steele and Gebhard (1993c xix) note the project dates as 1928-9]

(Gebhard 1993a)

c.1929: Scheme for an Easter Pupper Show (Los Angeles, California)

As noted in Steele (Gebhard 1972 p200 1993c xix)

(Gebhard 1993a)

1929: Project (?) for the Abernathy Hotel (with AGIC)

Gebhard (1993c xix) Smith and Darling (2001 p227)

1929: Project (remodeling a house) for H.D. Diffen (Avalon, Catalena Island, California)

As noted by Gebhard (1972 p105+199 1993c xix)

R.M. Schindler papers, Architecture & Design Collection. Art, Design & Architecture Museum; University of California, Santa Barbara (via Gebhard 1972 p108)

(Gebhard 1993a)

1929: Project for Effie Dean Cafe (with AGIC; Los Angeles, California)

As noted in Gebhard (1972 p200 1993c xix)

(Gebhard 1993a)

1929: Project (apartment building) for Frankel (Los Angeles, California)

As noted in Gebhard (1972 p200 1993c xix)

(Gebhard 1993a)

1929: Project (store front) for J.J. Newberry (with H. Sachs, Los Angeles, California)

As noted in Gebhard (1972 p200)

1929: Project (?) for A. Press

Gebhard (1993c xix)

1929: Project (sanatorium) for Paradise Resort (Ontario, Canada)

As noted in Gebhard (1972 p200 1993c xix)

1929: Project (?) for Herman Sachs

Gebhard (1993c xix)

1929: Project (Lavana Studio Building) for Siebert (Los Angeles, California; __________)

As noted in Gebhard (1972 p199 1993c xix) [Gebhard (1993c xix) shows dates of 1929-30]

photo by Julius Schulman 1982 Getty Research Institute

1929: Project (coffee shop for a hotel) for Tucson Holding and Investment Company

As noted in Gebhard (1972 p199 1993c xix)

1929: Project for an artist

As noted in Gebhard (1972 p199)

1929: Project for a hotel (with AGIC)

As noted in Gebhard (1972 p199)

R.M. Schindler papers, Architecture & Design Collection. Art, Design & Architecture Museum; University of California, Santa Barbara (via Gebhard 1972 p97)

(Gebhard 1993a)

1929-30: Studio for the Wolfe School of Costume Designing for C.H. Wolfe (Los Angeles, California; destroyed)

As noted in Gebhard (1972 1993c xix) and Steele (2005 p92) [Gebhard only lists 1929]

1929-30: Project (?) for C.H. Wolfe

As noted by Gebhard (1993c xix)

Gebhard (1993c xix) notes this project in addition to the one for his house.

3 comments:

UnknownNovember 4, 2017 at 1:00 AM
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Adams YoungMarch 15, 2020 at 9:42 AM
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klimentMay 16, 2020 at 1:50 AM
The greatest source of information on this architect! Thank you for your efforts and inspiration!
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