This year the Central Virginia chapter of the American Institute of Architects will celebrate John Lautner’s birthday during its “Architecture Week” with the screening of the two Lautner documentaries: The Spirit in Architecture: John Lautner and Infinite Space: the Architecture of John Lautner.
The Spirit in Architecture will screen April 25, and Infinite Space will screen April 26. See details on the Architecture Week website.
Two Cal Poly Pomona professors are teaching students how to develop a “Multiple Property Submission” for ten Lautner homes, for inclusion in the National Register of Historic Places.
Professors Lauren Weiss Bricker and Luis Hoyos offered a two-quarter course studying Lautner architecture, including visits to the Getty Special Collections to view plans and photographs, visits to individual Lautner homes, and instruction in the development of applications to the National Register. The work ranged from research of the historical and architectural context to the study of individual details in a home.
The winter quarter class just ended with a review of the students’ work at Hoyos’s home (the home includes an addition and some remodeling designed by Lautner). At this review the students offered short presentations on the historical context, then went into greater detail on five homes: Lautner (L.A.), Pearlman, Tyler, Harpel (Hollywood), and Walstrom. The event concluded with discussion about the application and a tour of Hoyos’ home.
There are many advantages to owners of homes on the National Register, and no real restrictions. Owners can modify or even demolish National Register homes (although by doing so they may lose their NR status, of course). They can receive tax advantages and the registration can help with inclusion of the home on a local cultural monuments list, which may provide additional protections and incentives as well. For more information on the value of National Register status, download this helpful guide, developed by Christine Madrid French of the National Trust.
On March 4, 2011, Tracy Beckmann and Ryan Trowbridge welcomed guests to the newly renovated Desert Hot Springs Motel, designed by John Lautner in 1947. The motel is now surrounded by a protective wall and includes a small relaxation pool at the rear. Inside the wall is desert planting similar to that inside each unit.
Just three of the four units are available right now. The owners have had to contend with torrential rains that flooded all of the units,which set back their plans. New drains have been installed and the ground elevation modified to avoid any further flooding.
For more information visit the hotel’s website.
By agreement with the Googie Company, the Foundation is delighted to offer the DVD of Infinite Space: The Architecture of John Lautner.
Infinite Space, a new documentary feature film, traces the lifelong quest of visionary genius John Lautner to create “architecture that has no beginning and no end.” It is the story of brilliance and of a complicated life – and the most sensual architecture of the 20th century. (90 minutes)
SPECIAL FEATURES
Architect/editor Frank Escher comments on eight spatial portraits of Lautner masterpieces: Marbrisa, Elrod, Pearlman, Walstrom, Turner, Silvertop, Schaffer and the Chemosphere. (3-6 minutes each)
Director Murray Grigor shares his thoughts on filming INFINITE SPACE with clips from the feature. (12 minutes)
Donation each: $25
Shipping: $4 ($15 outside U.S.)
Purchase from the JLF Shop.
Kenny Caldwell, architectural writer, interviewed Murray Grigor, director of Infinite Space, after the screening of the film in San Francisco. The interview, with pictures, is published on one of Caldwell’s blogs, Design Faith. The perceptive questions reveal much about Lautner’s relationship to the earth and to his clients as well as offer insight into the making of the film.
According to Curbed LA, the Rawlins’ house in Newport Beach, for sale since June, has dropped in price from $5.495 million to 5.195 million.
Check the related link on the Curbed LA site for more information on the house.
Press release from the John Lautner Foundation:
The same day that the city of Beverly Hills begins celebrating its world-famous zip code – 90210 – demolition begins on a significant John Lautner house: the 1951 Shusett residence just above Sunset Boulevard in Beverly Hills 90210. Months of discussions between The John Lautner Foundation, preservationist Michael LaFetra, a possible buyer, and the owners of the Shusett house failed.
John Lautner is considered internationally to be one of America’s most important architects of the 20th century. He was a student of Frank Lloyd Wright (who referred to him as the ‘second-best architect in the world’) and his work foreshadowed the expressionism of architects like Frank Gehry (who referred to Lautner as ‘a God’).
After a series of interesting, but small houses built in the 1940s, the Shusett house, where the public spaces are arranged in a crescent around an enormous, now 130 year old Canary Pine, is one of the first two major commissions in Lautner’s career (the second is the Harvey House in the Hollywood Hills). Both houses, over the course of several decades, underwent significant alterations and suffered neglect. The Harvey House was in extremely poor condition when it was purchased by the current owners, actress Kelly Lynch and writer Mitch Glazer, who rescued the house by undertaking an exemplary restoration.
The John Lautner Foundation was informed last April that a demolition permit for the Shusett house was being processed by the city of Beverly Hills. Since then, the Los Angeles Conservancy and The John Lautner Foundation have been in contact with the owners of the Shusett house, Mr. and Mrs. Enrique and Katalin Mannheim, who owned the house for 23 years, to discuss the possibilities of restoring or selling the house. Mr. LaFetra, the interested buyer, was in direct contact with the Mannheims. Once the demolition permit was issued last Friday, the city of Beverly Hills facilitated a meeting at the house between the owners and The John Lautner Foundation to discuss moving the house. Mr. LaFetra, again, was in direct negotiations with the Mannheims, but sadly, this last minute effort did not produce a viable agreement.
The city of Beverly Hills has no historic preservation laws (such as the Mills Act, which allows owners of historic and designated properties to receive tax credits for restoration expenses), or landmark ordinances which, in cases like this, would allow the necessary time to explore alternatives to demolition.
For questions please contact:
Frank Escher (author and former Administrator of the John Lautner Archive): (323) 665 9100
Christopher Carr (Vice-president, The John Lautner Foundation): (323) 462 2225
Karol Lautner Peterson (president, The John Lautner Foundation): (906) 869 6357
Or John English (director, The John Lautner Foundation and preservation law expert): (323) 807 1154
The owners of the Shusett residence in Beverly Hills have decided to go forward with the demolition of the house. The John Lautner Foundation and others have tried to work with them to find other solutions but were not successful.
For educational purposes the Foundation would love to have photographs and videotape of the demolition. Anyone interested in filming or photographing should stay on public property -either on Monte Leon Lane or Sunset Blvd (through the hedge). The address is 9340 Monte Leon Lane in Beverly Hills. Please let us know if you plan to do any photographing and if you can donate some of your footage to the Foundation (comments (at) johnlautner (dot) org).
The Los Angeles Times Arts & Culture section is featuring a story on the proposed Shusett demolition Saturday, August 21, 2010. The writer appears to position the house as a “minor work” because it is not well-known. The fact that the house has undergone extensive remodeling over the years, not to the benefit of the initial design concept, is not mentioned.
John Lautner’s Shusett residence in Beverly Hills is scheduled to be demolished, possibly starting tomorrow, August 18.
The Shusett residence, built in 1951, and the Harvey House, 1950 (owned by Kelly Lynch and Mitch Glazer) are the first two major commissions that John Lautner received, after several years of designing small houses. The Shusett residence was built to curve around a major tree, which still exists. The original plans were drawn by Louis Weihle, who was in Lautner’s office at the time and who is presently on the JLF Advisory Board. Although it has been remodeled extensively over the years, the basic structure still exists and could be restored to its previous glory by the right owners.
The current owners have applied for a demolition permit, however, which is now posted at the house. The sign says the demolition is to begin tomorrow, August 18, 2010. The Beverly Hills Building Department says that the permit has not yet been issued, however. Some minor details need to be taken care of first.
The property is at 9340 Monte Leon Lane in Beverly Hills. Beverly Hills does not have regulations to preserve significant buildings.
Photographs by Tycho Saariste