Case Study Houses.

I've always been fascinated with case study homes from the mid century.  What exactly is a case study house?  They were experimental homes commissioned by major architects of the time including Neutra, Eames and Saarinen for Arts & Architecture magazine.   The idea was to build inexpensive and efficient model homes to accommodate the housing boom after WWII.  The program ran from 1945-1966 and most of the case study homes where built in Los Angeles and San Francisco.

One of the most well known homes and perhaps my personal favorite is the Stahl House, which resides in the Hollywood Hills in Los Angeles, California.

#22 The Stahl House 

1960, architect Pierre Koenig

1635 Woods Drive, West Hollywood, CA. 

Palm Springs, a Mid Century Mecca

Palm Springs, California lays in the Coachella valley surrounded by mountains and deserts.  It has long been an escape for Angelenos and Hollywood starlets since the early 1900's.

Less than 2 hours away from Los Angeles, Palm Springs feels like another world...a Mid Century Modern world, in fact.  It boasts what is called the largest and best preserved architecture from the Mid Century. Not only are the homes mid century, but the hotels, banks, gas stations - literally every building represents the 60's modern style, referred to as "Desert Modernism".   Take a look...

HOMES:

The Kaufman House.  Architect Richard Neutra, 1946.

The Russell House.  Architect Albert Frey. 

The Elrod House.  Architect John Lautner.

The Loewy House. Architect Albert Frey.

The Kenaston House.  Architect E. Stewart Williams, 1957. aka my dream home! 

Bob Hope Residence.  Architect John Lautner. 

I don't know about you but this is a lot to take in. I could admire these homes all day. I've decided to save the Palm Springs hotels for a separate post.  John Lautner's architecture and history deserves his own post too.  Till then!