Artists in Residence

The first in a series highlighting landmark architecture in Pacific Palisades

March 16, 2006

Nancy Ganiard Smith ,

Stargazing in Pacific Palisades is by no means limited to constellations or celebrity sightings. Important architecture plays a leading role, too. Nestled in this geographically blessed community are head-turning structures'from Spanish Colonial Revival to mid-century modern and beyond'putting in their own award-winning performances.

Over a dozen addresses in the Palisades have official status by the city of Los Angeles as Historic Cultural Monuments, with plenty more, according to local historian Randy Young, deserving this designation.

'Many architects have used Pacific Palisades and its incredible location between the mountains and the sea for their masterworks,' Young says. The list includes such luminaries as Richard Neutra, Eero Saarinen, John Byers, Charles and Ray Eames, Craig Ellwood and Raymond Kappe.

Young, a longtime champion of historic preservation, is one of the volunteers putting the finishing touches on the renovation of Will Rogers Historic Home and Park'the only site in the Palisades listed on the National Register for Historic Places'before its grand reopening on March 25.

An inauspicious beginning to the community's architectural life came in the form of pitched tents in the late 1860s, when city dwellers were drawn to what was then a remote region to enjoy the beach and summer breezes. The conservative Methodists, arriving in the 1920s to establish their Chautauqua and a resting place for their retired ministers, were followed by a different crowd: wealthy motion picture figures, who settled in once the automobile shortened the

distance between Hollywood and the coast.

Later, many notable writers, artists and musicians fleeing Nazi Germany chose Pacific Palisades as their new home, adding yet another thread to the town's cultural fabric.

To this day, the eclectic mix of architectural styles in the Palisades reflects this crosscurrent of cultures, with modest log cabins and cottages, classic California ranch houses, grand villas and estates in various revival modes, and striking Modernist and contemporary homes all sharing the spotlight.

John Entenza, editor of 'Arts and Architecture,' was a major figure in the local scene whose passion for advancing Modernist taste influenced architecture everywhere. Entenza masterminded the Case Study House program (1945-66), experiments in residential design by the greatest talents of the day, an event regarded as one of the most innovative chapters in American architectural history. The heart of the program rested in Pacific Palisades, with Entenza's own Case Study House (#9) situated across the meadow from Case Study House #8, Charles and Ray Eames' home that is now an

international icon.

Despite the richness and diversity of architecture found in the Palisades, the picture is not entirely rosy, with many

sections of town resembling war zones owing to the rampant tearing down of the old to make room for the new. Preservation too often has taken a back seat to development, and the push for maximum square footage threatens the

character of many neighborhoods.

'We were very much what I call the Norman Rockwell/ Beaver Cleaver-style community,' says Young, who is well known for his outspoken advocacy. 'Now, with bigger is

better and these massive structures going up, Beaver is

definitely getting cleaved.'

Nonetheless, city landmark status does impose a layer of protection for the major architectural stars in the community.

The Eames House

203 Chautauqua Blvd.

(Case Study House #8)

Charles and Ray Eames,1945-49

This is by far the most famous structure in Pacific Palisades, a true icon of the 20th century. The married couple, whose creative synergy was legendary, promoted good design for minimal cost through the use of prefabricated, standardized parts. Their home, composed of two steel-framed boxes set against a eucalyptus-covered hillside, is the ultimate statement of modern elegance achieved through basic materials.

The Eameses bought the lot, an idyllic promontory 150 feet above the ocean, from their friend John Entenza, part of a five-acre parcel set aside to launch the Case Study House program.

'For us, it was just a great place to go growing up, not an icon of modernism,' says Eames Demetrios, the grandson of the famous couple, an artist in his own right, who now heads the Eames Office. 'They didn't describe themselves as modernists; they weren't caught up with labels,' he says. 'They were just trying to make stuff work.'

Make things work they did, including their still wildly popular furniture designs. The famous Eames Lounge Chair and Ottoman is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year, and a limited rosewood edition of the duo is a thank-you gift to individuals contributing $6,500 or more to the Eames Foundation.

'We want to make sure the house is still around in 250 years,' says Demetrios, who describes this promotion as one of many tools the Foundation employs to raise funds to maintain the property. In April, the house will be reviewed at a federal hearing for placement on the National Register.

Visits to the home, a self-guided exterior viewing, are by appointment only. Members of the Eames Foundation are treated to a guided interior tour on an annual appreciation day. Contact: 459-9663 or go online to www.eamesfoundation.org.

Villa Aurora

520 Paseo Miramar

(Times Demonstration House,1927-28;

Mark Daniels, architect)

At first glance, the Villa Aurora, a romantic Spanish hillside house, seems to have little in common with the straightforwardly spare Eames House. Yet each houses' creation was rooted in the quest to show how good design can enhance people's lives.

The 22-room villa, originally known as the Los Angeles Times Demonstration Home, was built in the prosperous 1920s as a model home to sell property. The project showcased the latest developments in technological comforts'the kitchen boasted a gas range, electric refrigerator and dishwasher, and the spacious three-car garage had an electric door opener. It also showed skeptical Angelenos the benefits of living in this isolated area; few people wanted to live so far from downtown.

Architect and landscape designer Mark Daniels based his ideas for the house on a castle in Spain, incorporating carved and painted wooden doors and ceilings designed with Moorish motifs. The house, two stories to the front and three to the rear, is carefully and dramatically integrated into its hillside perch.

The home is most famous for its occupants from 1943 to 1958: the German novelist Lion Feuchtwanger, who lived there in exile with his wife Marta. The house became a favorite gathering place for some of the most important artists and intellectuals of the 20th century. The Feuchtwangers often hosted a light evening meal followed by a reading from his current novel, and the guest list for these affairs included people like Thomas Mann, Bertolt Brecht, Arnold Schoenberg, Aldous Huxley, Fritz Lang, Charlie Chaplin and Charles Laughton.

After Marta's death in 1987, the landmark'which she left to USC'was acquired by a German consortium interested in preserving the historic monument.

In 1995, Villa Aurora once again became an international meeting place for artists and intellectuals. Its artists-in-residence program hosts up to 16 writers, visual artists, composers, playwrights and filmmakers annually who stay at the villa for three months at a time. Also offered are a wide range of public lectures, concerts and performances.

Los Angeles declared Villa Aurora a Historic Cultural Monument in 1994. Visits are welcome by appointment. Contact: 454-4231 or www.villa-aurora.org.