(Click on images to enlarge).
Left: California Arts & Architecture, July-August 1932, front cover. Right: "Exhibition of the New Architecture by Richard J. Neutra, Ibid., p. 31. Photo courtesy of the Museum of Modern Art.
Richard Neutra had to make a world-wide career-making voyage to finally be recognized on the pages of the above July-August issue California Arts & Architecture (CA&A). He and former landlord R. M. Schindler had been published frequently in the national Architectural Record by visionary editor A. Lawrence Kocher beginning as early as 1928. The editorship of CA&A was then still under Harris C. Allen for the above issue in which he authored "Simplicity Receives Recognition" describing the Biennial Exhibition of the Northern California Chapter of the A.I.A. in San Francisco featuring work by William Wurster and Thomas Church, Miller & Pfleuger and many others. He had as yet to include any modern architecture until in this issue which also included Richard Neutra's "Exhibition of the New Architecture" which first opened at New York's fledgling Museum of Modern Art the previous February. Neutra's article included a half-page photo of his "Steel-built Residence for Dr. P. M. Lovell, Los Angeles" completed in 1929 before embarking on his world-wide lecture tour. (See "A. Lawrence Kocher, Architectural Record" for example. Author's note: Schindler and Neutra's pre-1932 publicity, except for Kocher's Architectural Record, was as described in my "Pauline Gibling Schindler: Vagabond Agent for Modernism" and "Taliesin Class of 1924: A Case Study in Publicity and Fame."
Right: California Arts & Architecture, January 1935 front cover. Left: Architect and Engineer, December 1935, front cover, Oliver House, R. M. Schindler, Architect. Both issues were guest-edited by Pauline Schindler.
Prior to 1935 Richard Neutra and R. M. Schindler relied more heavily on visionary editor A. Lawrence Kocher's Architectural Record for journalistic style and national publicity for their vision of modern architecture. Neutra's time in New York in 1931 also helped pave the way for an entree into the previously mentioned Museum of Modern Art's now iconic 1932 "International Style" and 1935 "Modern Architecture in California" exhibitions. (See my earlier article "A. Lawrence Kocher, Architectural Record, Richard Neutra, R. M. Schindler, Frank Lloyd Wright, Albert Frey and the Evolution of Modern Architecture in New York and Southern California.").
Their publisher of choice seemed to become much more balanced around 1935 also sharing their focus with editor Kenneth Stowell's Architectural Forum and a blend of regional magazines based on the West Coast including new editor George Oyer's Los Angeles-based California Arts & Architecture and the San Francisco-based Architect and Engineer and, significantly, the also San Francisco-based California Homes. (See my "California Arts & Architecture: A Stepping Stone to Fame.").
California Arts & Architecture (CAA) editor George Oyer published the first ever all modern issue January of 1935. Oyer's courageous January editorial,
"California - As We See It" read,
"For some months we have been considering the advisability of recording some of the work of our California modern designers. To the layman, the term modern applies to any house or building with dominating horizontal or vertical lines: to any shop front with polished aluminum or bronze wainscoting. The term modern applied to architecture and interior furnishings has but a vague meaning....It is quite impossible to show all of the distinctive work of our outstanding architects, nor are we able to include in this issue the work of all of our California modernists. In the selection of photographs and articles we are grateful to Miss Pauline Schindler for her able assistance. Whether or not you like it, is beside the point. It is here so we acknowledge it."
Left: California Arts & Architecture, January 1935. Cover lithograph of Boulder Dam by William Woolett. Right: "Gibling Residence, Westwood by R. M. Schindler, Architect, Ibid., p. 11.
Pauline Schindler carefully planned the contents of the first issue on the West Coast totally dedicated to what she considered a truly new style of modernism. She ended her introductory editorial with:
""Modern" and "Modernistic" are not to be thought of as describing the same architectures. "Modernistic" labels a superficial stylism, a fashion of empty geometrizing, fortunately already waning, and comparable perhaps to "art nouveau" of the Victorian period. Contemporary Creative Architecture, which for lack of a truly definitive word we call "modern", is organic, based upon principles of structure and spirit profoundly realized. Between "modernistic" and "modern" there is the difference which separates the distorted echo from the authentic voice."
Besides an article which paid homage to Frank Lloyd Wright "Modern Architecture Acknowledges the Light Which Kindled It," Pauline Schindler, who was since 1930 acting as the publicity agent for a close-knit group of Southern California modernists, featured the work of her husband R. M. Schindler (Oliver House in Los Angeles, Gibling House in Westwood, Wolfe House in Catalina) and his former partner and tenant Richard Neutra (V. D. L. Research House in Silver Lake with Gregory Ain, Lovell House in Los Angeles, Sten-Frenke House in Pacific Palisades, Koblick House in Atherton, Mosk House in Hollywood, and Beard House in Altadena), Lloyd Wright, Kem Weber, Jock Peters (Shepard Residence in San Marino), J. R. Davidson (Wilshire Blvd. Shops), and Harwell Hamilton Harris (Lowe House in Pasadena). For more on this see my "Pauline Gibling Schindler: Vagabond Agent For Modernism.").
Left: "Space Architecture, A Summer House at Catalina for Mr. and Mrs. E. Wolfe, R. M. Schindler, AArchitect, Ibid., p. 18. Right: "The V. D. L. Research House, Richard J. Neutra, Architect, Gregory Ain, Associate, Ibid., p. 27.
Left: Teaser for the December issue of Architect and Engineer featuring a photo of R. M. Schindler's Wolfe House on Catalina, November 1935, p. 76. Right: Architect and Egineer, December 1935, featuring on the cover R. M. Schindler's Oliver House.
Perhaps with an introduction by Richard Neutra who had already appeared many times in its pages, Pauline Schindler later in the year arranged with Frederick W. Jones, editor of the San Francisco-based journal Architect and Engineer, to guest-edit the December number which was to be totally dedicated to modern architecture for the first time in its history. In a 400 -word Table of Contents sidebar in the October issue Pauline previewed what was coming. The material she planned to present was meant to clarify much confusion with the term "modernistic" which she labeled "...a fugitive and empty imitation" as opposed to the new style"... whose roots lie in the generation of the great Louis Sullivan." She then spoke of "...a bastard pseudo-modernism has sprung up, with a surface of manner, a self-conscious and sterile stylism." She ended with "And the typographic design, done by Pauline Schindler, editor of the issue, will further carry out the spirit of the whole." She also placed an ad in the back matter to briefly restate her message. A slightly modified full-page ad also appeared as a teaser in the back matter of the November issue. Teasers for the December issue also appeared in the September and October issues. (See above).
In December Pauline included a photo of Frank Lloyd Wright on the Table of Contents page and followed with "Notes and Comments" which referenced Wright's exclusion from Chicago's recent Century of Progress Exposition. She also commented upon a recent teaser rendering of the upcoming San Francisco Exposition.
"Yes it does tease us. The sketch announces in a preliminary way the general intent on the part of the commission that the architecture of the exposition shall be "modern." Unfortunately, it is less modern as here shown, than "modernistic."
Left: The Book of Small Houses by the Editors of Architectural Forum, Simon & Schuster, New York, 1936. Right: "No. 61 Week-End House, Northport, Long Island, A. Lawrence Kocher & Albert Frey, Architects, Architectural Forum, October 1935, p. 354. From my collection.
The trend to publish regional home-buying guides was perhaps inspired by Architectural Forum's The Book of Small Houses series which was published bi-annually from 1936 to 1940. The above 1936 book contained examples by Architectural Record editor A. Lawrence Kocher and his erstwhile partner Albert Frey with their $982 Week-End House on Long Island and also featured on the front cover, former Richard Neutra apprentice Harwell Hamilton Harris with his $3,900 House for Pauline Lowe in Altadena and Richard Neutra for his House for Actress Anna Sten and Dr. Eugen Frenke in Santa Monica Canyon. The first two houses were among the forty-six houses included under $5,000.
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No. 106. House for Anna Sten and Dr. Eugen Frenke, Santa Monica Canyon, California, Richard J. Neutra, Architect, The Book of Small Houses, the editors of Architectural Forum, 1936, pp. 232-3.
Sixty-nine additional houses were included for homes over $5,000 broken down into three categories as follows: 27 houses cost between $5,000 and $10,000; 26 house between $10,000 and $15,000 and 16 between $15,000 and $20,000. Neutra's above Sten-Frenke House construction price was listed only as from $4.50 to $5.00 per sq. ft. of net floor area which judging by the scale under the floor plans of the two-story house likely exceeded 4,000 sq. ft. making it easily the most expensive house in the book at close to $20,000. Using the FHA financial table in the book for a $20,000 house and a 20 year loan meant that the monthly payments including mortgage interest and service charges, fire insurance, and property taxes came to $200 per month.
Left: California Homes Spring Home Planning Number, April 1936. Right: California Homes Small Homes Number, August 1936. From my collection.
California Homes editor and publisher Francis W. Brown began his efforts to promote the building of low cost homes in 1935 at the height of the Great Depression after the passage by Congress of the 1934 National Housing Act. The bill established mechanisms for borrowing and insuring home mortgages for the average American. He also obviously used his magazine to sell ads to the building industry. In the above right August 1936 issue, for example, he published the results of judging in the magazine's Small Homes Competition which he included in a portfolio of the fifty best homes divided into two classes; Group A for homes costing from $3,000 to $5,000 and Group B for homes costing less than $3,000. He allowed readers to vote for their favorites and awarded cash prizes to the winners in each category which were announced in the October issue. (See below left for example).
Left: "California Homes Portfolio of Home Plans and Building Costs, California Homes, August 1936, pp. 34-35. Right: "California Homes Cost Chart," Ibid., pp. 48-49.
Brown's portfolio for each of the fifty selected houses included, besides the name of the architect and builder, a brief description of the property, a floor plan, a photo of the house, the total construction cost, and a table outlining the monthly total costs for the loan. Brown also included in the issue a two-page loan table comparing loan mortgage costs for 10, 15, and 20 years for loans ranging from $3,000 all the way up to $20,000. This was intended to educate potential home-buyers what they could be facing in the way of monthly costs for loans of various lengths and total amount, including mortgage insurance, bank service charges, fire insurance and property taxes. For example, the monthly cost for the Group B $2,000 house illustrated at the above bottom left by William Wurster would total $18.28 per month for a 20-year loan.
The issue was also useful to the potential home buyer because of the inclusion of a list of close to 100 "Free Booklets For the Home Owner and Modernizer," a lengthy list of California Banks and other financial institutions and a digest of the National Housing Act. The monthly issues were so successful that Brown began publishing annual issues in 1937.
Left: California Homes Plan Book, 1937. Right: California Homes Plan Book, 1938. From my collection.
Not to miss a beat in promoting his architecture, Richard Neutra began to be regularly included in the annual California Homes Plan Book starting with the first annual 1937 issue which included his $4700 Richter House in Pasadena, his prize-winning $6000 Beard Residence in Altadena and his own much publicized $12,000 V.D.L. Research House in Silver Lake. The 1938 second annual issue contained four more Neutra projects: the Plan No. 12, $7000 Miller House in Palm Springs, the Plan No. 33, the $4000 Koblick House in Atherton, the Plan No. 74, $3000 Malcalmson Residence in Santa Monica and the Plan No. 75, $3500 Galka Scheyer Residence in Hollywood. Neutra's former landlord R. M Schindler was also included with his $8000 Plan No. 11, Fitzpatrick Residence in Hollywood.
The 1938 book also included Hugh Comstock's Plan No. 28, $5400 house on Carmel Point which was previously published in the below July 1938 issue of California Homes as Plan No. 355 and a half-page "Hugh W. Comstock Builder" ad indicating some sharing of houses and ads between the monthly and annual issues. (See below for example).
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Rishard Neutra was prominently represented by four houses appearing in the Spring 1941 issue. His D-1, D-2 and D-3 houses on a half-acre compound in Los Altos, California included three photos and a site plan for three homes in 1939 for Jacqueline Johnson and Clayton Stafford with Otto Winkler listed as collaborator and Ensor Buel as builder. Neutra's D-12 house was built for client Philip Gill in Glendale in 1938 by builder Eric Nelson. (See both below).
World War II had a chilling affect on residential housing causing massive shortages in building materials. Architectural Forum sponsored an issue which featured designing housing while experiencing these wartime conditions. Richard Neutra included a four-page article on his "Diatalum Dwellings" and intimated that they were being used in his then two very large wartime housing projects Avion Village and Channel Heights while including Julius Shulman photos of the same models published earlier above in Housing. (See below right and three below.). See also my "A. Lawrence Kocher, Architectural Record, Richard Neutra, R. M. Schindler, Frank Lloyd Wright, Albert Frey and the Evolution of Modern Architecture in New York and Southern California.").
Neutra's first appearance in Sunset was in the July 1936 issue with his Plywood Demonstration House at the California Homes and Garden Exposition on Wilshire Blvd. in Los Angeles. Neutra appeared in Sunset more than thirty times over the next thirty years with most of the articles featuring Julius Shulman photos. Schindler appeared around 10 times. Shulman's photos appeared in over 260 Sunset articles with architects and landscape architects including at least 15 highly prized covers. (See above for example).
For more information on other regional journals and magazines see my:
Left: Plan No. 11, Fitzpatrick House, Hollywood by R. M. Schindler, Architect, California Plan Book, 1938, p. 21. Center: Plan No. 12, Miller House, Palm Springs by Richard Neutra, Architect, Ibid., p. 23. Right: Plan No. 74, Malcolmson House, Santa Monica by Richard Neutra, Architect and Plan No. 75, Galka Scheyer Residence, Hollywood by Richard Neutra, Architect, Ibid., p. 101.
Left: California Homes, June 1938. Center: California Homes, Early Fall (July), 1938. Right: Bitudobe Homes ad, Los Altos House by Mario Corbett, Architect, Ibid., p. 8.
The July 1938 monthly issue of California Homes contained an article "How to Build and Adobe Home" and included at least two Hugh Comstock projects Plan Nos. 354 and 355 in Carmel on p. 10 and a Comstock full-page ad featuring modern adobe homes on p. 19 as well as a Mario Corbett house in Los Altos and another full-page Bitudobe ad featuring the same house Plan No. 353 in Los Altos on pp. 8-9. (See above right).
Left: The 1938 Book of Small Houses by the Editors of Architectural Forum, Simon and Schuster, New York. From my collection. Right: "No. 43. House for W. E. Oliver, Los Angeles, California, R. M. Schindler, Architect," Ibid., pp. 62-64.
The 1938 Book of Small Houses continued Architectural Forum's bi-annual series publishing R. M. Schindler's $5,000 No. 43 Oliver House in Los Angeles on the front cover as well as a three page internal spread, his $3,000 No. 8 House for Dr. Sasha Kaun in Richmond on the shore of San Francisco Bay and his $7,200 No. 72 House for V. McAlmon in Los Angeles. Richard Neutra was also represented with three houses including his $3,500 No. 18 Guest House for David Malcomson in Santa Monica Canyon, the No. 28 $4,700 House for Dr. Charles Richter in Pasadena and his No. 42 under $5,000 Plywood Demonstration House in Los Angeles from the 1936 California House and Garden Exhibition. (Author's note: Neutra's Malcomson and Richter Houses also appeared in The California Homes Plan Book for 1938 seen earlier above. Neutra's Plywood House was accompanied by Paul Williams' two contributions from the 1936 California House and Garden Exhibition, the No. 39 "Better-Home" Cottage and the No. 40 French Cottage. All three houses were previously published in the July 1936 issue of Architectural Forum.).
Left: "No 72. House for V. McAlmon, Los Angeles, Calif., R. M. Schindler, Architect, Ibid., pp. 100-1. Right: "No. 42. Plywood House, Richard J. Neutra, Architect, Ibid., pp. 60-61.
Left: California Homes Plan Book, 1939. Right: Residential Architecture in Southern California, 1939 by Paul Robinson Hunter and Walter L. Reichardt, Hennessey and Ingalls reprint, 1998.
Neutra was again well represented in the California Homes Plan Book for 1939 with four projects, i.e., Plan Nos. C3, C-12, C-13 and C-54 representing his Koblick House, Kaufman House in Westwood, Darling House in San Francisco, and Davis House in Bakersfield respectively. The same year witnessed the publication of the book Residential Architecture in Southern California which included Neutra's Miller House in Palm Springs and Schindler's Buck House in Los Angeles evidenced by the above right cover of the Hennessey and Ingalls 1998 reprint edition.
Left: "Plan No. C-12, Westwood, Richard J. Neutra, Architect, Peter Pfisterer, Assistant," California Homes Plan Book, 1939, p. 24. Right: Plan No. C-13, San Francisco, Richard J. Neutra, Architect, Otto Winkler, Assistant, Ibid. p. 25.
The 1940 Book of Small Houses by the Editors of Architectural Forum, New York, Simon & Schuster, 1939. From my collection.
The third and last of the Forum's series of national home-buying guides was an impressive compilation of homes formerly published in Architectural Forum, Life magazine, and a competitions sponsored by Ladie's Home Journal and the American Gas Association. Neutra's Plywood Demonstration House was awarded a $1,000 prize in the Ladie's Home Journal Small House Design Competion while his "All Over Ground" design won honorable mention in Class 1 of the American Gas Association design competition. Other notable houses included a three-page spread in the "Portfolio Of Houses" of the John Entenza House in Santa Monica by former Richard Neutra apprentice Harwell Hamilton Harris. (See above right).
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Left: California Arts & Architecture, March 1940 front cover featuring the Havens House in Berkeley by Harwell Hamilton Harris, Architect. Right: Ibid. April 1940, Sturges House in Los Angeles by Frank Lloyd Wright, Architect.
John Entenza took over as editor and publisher of California Arts & Architecture two months after Neutra's new photographer Julius Shulman's first cover appeared on the January 1940 issue. An elevation of Harwell Hamilton Harris's Havens House in Berkeley was Entenza's first cover but marked Harris's second to last appearance in the magazine due to a falling out over the regime change in the magazine. (For much more on this see my "California Arts & Architecture: A Steppingstone to Fame: Harwell Hamilton Harris and John Entenza: Two Case Studies").
Left: "The Residence of Mr. and Mrs. George D. Sturges, Brentwood, Calif. by Frank Lloyd Wright, Architect, California Arts & Architecture, April 1940, pp. 14-15. Right: "The Greta Granstedt Residence, Hollywood, California by Harwell Hamilton Harris, Architect," Ibid. pp. 19-19.
Harris's last appearance in new editor Entenza's magazine was in the April 1940 issue in which Frank Lloyd Wright's Sturges House made the cover. Harris's Greta Granstedt Residence was also included along with a house by William Wurster and an article on photographer Edward Weston by Mexican artist Jean Charlot.
Left: California Arts & Architecture, September 1940 front cover featuring Richard Neutra's Albert Lewin Residence in Santa Monica. Right: "A House and the Sea, Residence for Mr. and Mrs. Albert Lewin, Santa Monica, Architect Richard Neutra, Staff Captain, Peter Pfisterer, Ibid., pp. 22-23.
A few months later Neutra appeared on the cover of the September 1940 issue with his Albert Lewin Residence. Lewin was a noted film producer for Paramount Studios in Hollywood. The article was illustrated by Arthur Luckhaus photos. Julius Shulman and Arthur Luckhaus were both photographing for Neutra in the late 1930s and early 1940s. Again William Wurster accompanied Neutra in the issue.
Left: "An Eastern Critic Looks at Western Architecture" by Henry-Russell Hitchcock, CA&A, December 1940, pp. 21-23, 40-41. Right: "Pennvernon Window Glass ad featuring Richard Neutra's V.D.L. Research House seen earlier on p. 24, Ibid. p. 36.
The December 1940 issue of CA&A was notable in that it contained a lengthy review by Henry-Russell Hitchcock, "An Eastern Critic Looks at Western Architecture" which he chose to illustrate with seven photos of Richard Neutra's Jan de Graaff Residence in Portland. He referred to the work of numerous West Coast modernists including Portland's Pietro Belluschi, John Yeon, and Van Evera Bailey which he mentioned was Neutra's local supervisor for the Van de Graff House. Architects in the Bay Area receiving nods from Hitchcock included William Wurster, Gardener Dailey, Timothy Pfleuger, Funk and McCarthy.Hitchcock then inserted nostalgic references to the historic work of Bernard Maybeck, Greene & Greene and Frank Lloyd Wright mentioning that his Millard House in Pasadena was one of his finest things.
When it came to Southern California Hitchcock expounded at length of Neutra's work writing,
"In the work of the last decade of Neutra stands out not merely as a local or even a national but properly as an international phenomenon. .. The quantity, quality and variety of Neutra's work and that of his group required not a paragraph but an extended article. The eastern visitor is ill prepared by photographs or by the Brown House on Fisher's Island for Neutra's work in California."
He also favorably mentioned Lezcase's C.B.S. Building
The article was illustrated with seven photos of Neutra's Van de Graaff House in Portland. That article was followed by a piece on the additon to Richard Neutra's V.D.L. Research House in Silver Lake that included four images by Julius Shulman. Hitchcock favorably mentioned Lescaze's C.B.S. Building, Lloyd Wright, J. R. Davidson, and Neutra apprentices Harwell Hamilton Harris, Gregory Ain and Rafael Soriano.
Hitchcock included a lengthy paragrah extolling the virtues of Frank Lloyd Wright and apprentice John Lautner:
"...who had the advantage of a full Taliesin training during Wright's period of brilliant renewal during the last six years. The Wright influence may be too marked in certain details of Lautner's house, but it is, in general, a remarkably successful thing, less of a virtuoso performance than Wright's own Sturges House, which Lautner supervised, and simple in plan and econmical in execution as Wright has rarely had occasion to be except in his Jacob House. To the manner born, if not bred, Lautner uses diagonals more cleanly and less arbitrarily than Harris and has for wooden construction an advancing more than a semi-traditional feeling. Here in Los Angeles his work can unashamedly stand comparison with that of his master. I have not attempted to include a discussion of Wright's Sturges House, preferring to restrict myself to the work of architects settled in California."
The issue also featured the work of William Wurster, Gregory Ain and Paul Laszlo and included numerous full-page ads of work by Neutra and one of the Rodakiewicz House by Schindler of whom Hitchcock opined,
"The case of Schindler I do not profess to understand. There is certainly advanced vitality perhaps somewhat lacking among many of the best modern architects of the Pacific Coast. But this vitality seems in general to lead to arbitrary and brutal effects. Even his work of the last few years reminds one inevitably of the extreme Expressionist and Neo-plastic work of the mid-twenties. Schindler's manner does not seem to mature. His continued reflection of the somewhat hectic psycholigical air of the region, from which all the others have attempted to protect themselves, still produces something of the look of the sets for a "Wellsian" film of the future. ... The quality of Neutra's architectural brain is obviously of the first order. He is established here because in the last dozen years there was more opportunity to work in this area than elsewhere; fewer inhibitions; more building of all sorts; and in the midst of the expression of all sorts of architectural whims, a certain real appreciation of a man who knew exactly what he meant to do and through the years continued with continued with obviously ever-increasing success to do it. ... Neutra, whose critical sensitivity is greater than one might at first suppose, has always put first things first in architecture, and has mastered a method of building suited to Southern California which assures economy in various types of structure, ordered if frequently somewhat monotonous design, and able, if at times idiosyncratic planning."
Left: Housing, The Magazine of Low Cost Homes, October 1939. Right: Housing, Magazine of Homes & Gardens, October 1941. Both from my collection.
Another California San Francisco Bay-based magazine Housing under the editorship of John Pitsker commenced publication in the late 1930's and ran until January of 1942. At first it published only houses from the Bay Area but branched out in its later life to include Southern California and beyond in the early years of World War II when it concentrated on defense housing in its last issues.
Left: Housing's Book of Homes & Plans, Spring 1941. Right Housing Book of Homes No 4., 1941 Both from my collection.
Rishard Neutra was prominently represented by four houses appearing in the Spring 1941 issue. His D-1, D-2 and D-3 houses on a half-acre compound in Los Altos, California included three photos and a site plan for three homes in 1939 for Jacqueline Johnson and Clayton Stafford with Otto Winkler listed as collaborator and Ensor Buel as builder. Neutra's D-12 house was built for client Philip Gill in Glendale in 1938 by builder Eric Nelson. (See both below).
Left: "Western Architects, No. D-1, D-2, D-3, Los Altos, California, Richard Neutra, Architect, Otto Winkler, Collaborator," Housing, Spring 1941, pp. 12-13. Right: D-12, Philip Gill House, Glendale, California, Richard Neutra, Architect, Ibid., p. 21.
Left: "Housing for Defense and Peace" by Richard J. Neutra, A.I.A., Housing Book of Homes No. 4, 1941, pp. 12-14. Right: "Avion Village (Grand Prairie, Texas)" planned by Richard J. Neutra, Ibid., p. 45.
Neutra was heavily represented in one of Housing's last issues in 1941 specifically dedicated to National Defense. (See cover earlier above right and articles above and below). An article penned by Neutra featured two of his apartment buildings in Westwood, Strathmore and Landfair, near the campus of UCLA. Other articles featured his National Youth Authority Resident Center in San Luis Obispo (see below) and his housing project in Avion, Texas for defense workers at North American Aviation plant near Dallas, Texas. (See above right). Also included as part of an article "A Selected Group of Architect Designed Homes That Meet the O. P. M. Priority Requirements," Neutra's Philip Gill House in Glendale was earlier published in Housing (see two above), Architectural Forum and many other journals and magazines.
Left: "National Youth Authority Resident Centers," Ibid., pp. 38-9. Photos by Julius Shulman. Right: "The San Luis Obispo Resident Center, Richard Neutra, Architect, 1941. Cover photo by Julius Shulman.
Left: California Arts & Architecture, August 1941, cover with Richard Neutra's Davey House in Monterey, California. Sybil Anikeef photo. Right: California Arts & Architecture, November 1941, cover with a Julius Shulman photo of Richard Neutra's Emerson Junior High School in Westwood, California.
The August 1941 issue of California Arts & Architecture (CA&A) featured Richard Neutra's Davey House in Monterey, California and was illustrated by 4 images of former Edward Weston muse and apprentice Sybil Anikeef. In November of 1941's issue Neutra's article "Modern School" described in detail his design of Emerson Junior High School in Westwood, California. It was illustrated by three Arthur Luckhaus images and the cover and 10 article photos by Julius Shulman including two of the auditorium which was also featured in a full-page Gold Bond Acoustex ad.
The January 1942 issue of CA&A included in Entenza's monthly editorial "Notes in Passing" a full-page 1100-word discourse by Richard Neutra of the California State Planning Board on Housing, Defense and Post-War Planning on the status of the Federal Defense Housing Program. Near the end of his article Neutra wrote,
"No speed must be lost, if each of those agencies - U.S.H.A., Defense Housing, Reconstruction Finance, Mutual Ownership, F.H.A. - are inflamed by the ambition to expand to their very best in efficiency and labor in peaceful competition."
Left: California Arts & Architecture, February 1942. Front cover designed by Alvin Lustig. Right: "Story House on a San Francisco Hill (Mr. and Mrs. Sidney Kahn Residence) by Richard Neutra, Architect and Otto Winkler, Collaborator), Ibid., pp. 22-23).
The February 1942 issue of CA&A marked the inaugural graphic design of the newly named art editor Alvin Lustig and the inclusion of Richard Neutra onto the masthead on the editorial advisory board joining William Wurster, Grace McCann Morley, Charles Eames and fellow apprentices Gregory Ain and Harwell Hamilton Harris. Also notable were the deemphasis of California from the title on the cover and the inclusion of Neutra's Kahn House in San Francisco illustrated with five Julius Shulman photos and four floor plans. (See above left and right for example).
California Arts & Architecture, September 1942, Plywood form designed by Ray Rames on the cover.
The September 1942 issue featured a cover of a plywood form designed by fellow editorial advisory board member with Richard Neutra, Ray Eames, who was then living with her husband Charles in Neutra's Strathmore Apartments in Westwood. The issue also included Richard Neutra's Mr. and Mrs. Ted Bonnet House illustrated with 8 Julius Shulman photos, an interior rendering and a plot/floorplan.
Neutra continued to make many appearances in CA&A and later after Entenza completely dropped California from the title in 1943. Neutra ended up appearing at least 55 times under the former title and 110 times under the masthead Arts & Architecture (A&A)ending in the early 1960s. Shulman's photos graced 90 CA&A and 280 A&A articles respectively.
Left: "The New House, 194X," Architectural Forum, September 1942 cover. Right: "15- Diatalum Dwellings," Ibid., p. 108.
Left: "15 - Diatalum Dwellings," Richard Neutra, Architect, Ibid., p. 109. Right: Diatalum Factory and Models of Channel Heights and Avion Village, Ricard J. Neutra, Architect. Ibid., p. 110. Photos by Julius Shulman.
The September 1942 issue of Architectural Forum also included John Porter Clark & Albert Frey's personal houses alongside Albert Frey's "New Architectural Elements." (See below).
Left: "No. 22 - New Architectural Elements, Frey House I, Palm Springs, John Porter Clark & Albert Frey, Architects, Ibid., p. 124. Center: "No. 22 - New Architectural Elements, Albert Frey, Architect, Ibid., p. 125. Right: "No. 22 - John Porter Clark House, Palm Springs, Albert Frey an John Porter Clark, Architects, Ibid., p. 127. (Author's note: For much more on Frey and his partnership with A. Lawrence Kocher see my "Architectural Record, Kocher, Neutra Frey."
Left: California Arts & Architecture, January 1943. Cover Design by Ray Eames. Right: California Arts & Architecture, August 1943. Cover Design by Ray Eames.
"Housing: A Definition" by Richard J. Neutra, Architect, California Arts & Architecture, January 1943, pp. 30-31.
The January 1943 issue of CA&A included a two-page article on R. M. Schindler's Harris House and a two-page spread on Richard Neutra's Channel Heights Housing project accompanied by a lengthy piece by Neutra defing the housing situation. (See above and below).
Left and Right: "Mountain House for Rose L. Harris, Los Angeles, R. M. Schindler, Architect," California Arts & Architecture, January 1943, pp. 32-33.
In the August 1943 issue Entenza's Editorial Advisory Board members Richard Neutra, Charles Eames, John Rex and former Neutra collaborator Gregory Ain were on the selection jury for the the magazine's "Designs for Post-War Living" competition which named Ain's fellow Neutra apprentice Raphael Soriano as winner of third prize. Ain's commentary on the second prize winning entry of I. M. Pei read,
"The design which was awarded second prize, although not exciting, was nevertheless a workable plan. In what respect was it rendered superior to the rejected "cliche"? It was composed of factory-built elements. But we need no reiteration of the inevitability of prefabrication: we do need plans worth prefabricating."
California Monthly, November 1945. House in San Lorenzo Village, front cover.
California residential architecture was all the rage across the nation in both the pre- and post-war years and was highlighted in the above November 1945 issue of California Monthly, the Cal-Berkeley alumni rag. The below article proudly trumpeted the prize-winning works of fellow former students Bernard Maybeck, William W. Wurster and Harvey Wiley Corbett, Michael Goodman, Ernest Kump and John Bakewell and the landscape architecture of alums Arthur Brown, Mark Daniels, Charles Gibbs Adams, John William Gregg and Thomas D. Church among others.
"Californians in Architecture and Landscape Architecture," Ibid, pp. 8-9.
Left: The Small Home of Tomorrow by Paul R. Williams, Murray & Gee, Hollywood, 1945. Right: New Small Homes of Today by Paul R. Williams, Murray & Gee, Hollywood, 1946.
Neutra and Paul Williams were friendly enough collaborators for Williams to publish one of Neutra's houses in his first book, The Small Home of Tomorrow. In a few other publications Neutra labeled the same residence the "Four-Courter House." Williams and Neutra were first published together as participants in the 1936 California House and Gardens Exhibition where Williams had two houses on display and Neutra exhibited his widely publicized Plywood Demonstration House. "The Neutra (Four-Courter) Home" can be seen below.
"The Neutra Home," Richard J. Neutra, Architect, The Small Home of Tomorrow, Ibid., pp. 66-67.
Left: California Homes Book No. 2, Home Book Publishers, San Francisco, 1945. Cover photo of Post-War Demonstration House, Wudeman & Becket, Architects, Fritz Burns, Builder, photo by Maynard Parker. Right: "The First Postwar House," House Beautiful, May 1946. Cover photo by Maynard Parker.
After nearly a five-year war-induced hiatus, Home Book Publishes re-introduced California Homes to the housing-starved California public. The First demonstration House of the post-war era designed by Walter Wurdeman and Welton Becket graced the covers of both the above publications. The house was built on the southeast corner of Wilshire Blvd. and Highland Ave. in Los Angeles and was intended to be a laboratory to try out new products, materials, and methods. Nearly 100 makers of house materials and equipment collaborated on this showcase which was furnished and decorated by Bullock's Department Store. House Beautiful devoted over 40-pages to their May 1946 issue illustrated them with nearly 100 color and black & white Maynard Parker photos of Wudeman & Becket's creation.
Left: "Plan M-11 (Gill House, Glendale), Richard J. Neutra, Architect, Eric Nelson, Builder," California Homes, Book No. 2, , 1946, p. 13. Right: "Plan M-12 (Frey House I, Palm Springs), Clark & Frey, Architects, William Marte, Builder, Ibid., p. 14.
Richard Neutra had three projects in California Homes Book No. 2. The first, Plan M-11, was the Gill Residence in Glendale which appeared across the fold from Plan M-12, Albert Frey's Frey House I in Palm Springs. Neutra's Gill House was previously published as project D-12 in the Spring 1941 issue of Housing seen earlier above. Albert Frey's Frey House I was earlier published in the September 1942 issue of Architectural Forum also seen earlier above.
Left: "Plan M-14 (Ward-Berger House, Hollywood), Richard J. Neutra, Architect, Eric Nelson, Builder, Ibid., p. 16. Right: Plan M-18 (Unbuilt), Richard J. Neutra, Architect, Ibid., p. 18.
Left: California Plan Book for 1945, Home Book Publishers, San Francisco, 1945. Julius Shulman cover photo of Richard Neutra's Nesbitt House in Los Angeles. Right: "Plan 12 - (Van Dekker House), Canoga Park, R. M. Schindler, Architect, Ibid., p., 22.
The above California Plan Book for 1945 also included, besides Neutra's Nesbitt house on the cover, his Ward-Berger House in Hollywood as Plan 5, his Beckstrand House in Palos Verdes as Plan 6 (see both below) and his unbuilt Plan 51-C entitled "California Modern."
Left: "Plan 5 (Ward-Berger House) Hollywood, Richard Neutra, Architect, Eric Nelson, Builder," Ibid., p. 16. Right: Plan 6 (Beckstrand Residence) Palos Verdes, Richard J. Neutra, Architect, Ibid., p. 17.
R. M. Schindler was also represented three time with his below Plan 12 (Van Dekker House) in Canoga Park, his Plan 52 (Rodakiewicz House) in Beverly Hills and Plan 68 (Harris House) in Los Angeles. (See below left and right).
Left: "Plan 12 (Van Dekker Residence) Canoga Park, R. M. Schindler, Architect," Ibid., p. 22. Right: "Plan 52 (Rodakiewicz Residence) Beverly Hills, R. M. Schindler, Architect," Ibid. p. 75.
Left: "Plan 9 and 10 (John Porter Clark House) Palm Springs, Clark & Frey, Architects, Wilson & Sorum, Builders," Ibid., p. 20. Right: "Plan 11 (Frey House I) Palm Springs, Clark & Frey, Architects, William Marte, Builder," Ibid., p. 21.
John Porter Clark and Albert Frey were represented with Plans 9, 10 and 11 representing the Clark House and Frey House I which also appeared in a later issue of California Homes. Both houses previously appeared in the September 1942 issue of Architectural Forum earlier above. William Wurster, Mario Corbett and other noted architects were also represented in the issue.
Left: California Plan Book, First 1946-1947 Issue. Right: California Book of Homes for 1947 (Book One).
The above left 1946-7 California Plan Book contained two projects by R. M. Schindler and three by Richard Neutra. Schindler's "Plan 2 Studio Home by R. M. Schindler" (Mildred Southall Residence and Studio) and "Plan 51 (Bennatti Cabin) Lake Arrowhead were published alongside Neutra's "Post Modern Homes at Modest Cost," Plans 5 (unidentified), 6 (Gill House in Glendale also shown earlier above) and 7 "Brentwood" (Maxwell House). "Plan 19, The Post-War House" by Walter Wurdeman and Welton Becket, as it was in the 40-page article in the earlier above May 1946 issue of House Beautiful, was a major 10-page spread article.
Left: "Plan 2 Studio Home (Mildred Southall Residence), Los Angeles by R. M. Schindler," California Plan Book, 1946-7, p.21. Center: Plan 51 (Bennati Cabin) Lake Arrowhead byR. M. Schindler, Archiyect, Ibid., p. 86. Right: "Post Modern Homes At Modest Cost, Plans 5, 6 and 7 (Unidentified, Gill House in Glendale, Maxwell House in Brentwood), Ibid. pp. 24-25.
Left: "Plan 7 (Maxwell House), Brentwood, Richard J. Neutra, Architect, W. R. Groschan, Builder," Ibid., p. 25. Right: "Plan 19 The Post-War House, Walter Wurdeman and Welton Becket, Architects," Ibid., pp. 35-45, 47.
Left: California Book of Homes for 1947, Julius Shulman cover photo of Plan C-3, Hollywood by Harold J. Bissner and Harold B. Zook, Architects. Right: "Plan C-1 (Druckman House) Los Angeles, R. M. Schindler, Architect, Ibid., p. 21.
The California Book of Homes for 1947 featured a rare Julius Shulman color photo on the cover of a house designed by Harold Bissner and Harold Zook. The work of R. M. Schindler showcasing his Druckman House (Plan C-1) was also included. The Editorial Advisory Board deemed the 1,960 sq. ft. Outpost Drive Hollywood house as "...one of the most interesting of all the houses selected for publication." Schindler also supervised Richard Lind in the design of Plans C-7 and C-8 (Spec Houses in Inglewood) seen below left and right. The Editorial Advisory Board "...voted the plans pictured on these pages as some of the most outstanding of the entire group."
Sunset Homes for Western Living, Lane Publishing Co., San Francisco, 1947. Maxime Van Cleef Residence by Richard J. Neutra, Architect. Photo by Julius Shulman.
Left: California Book of Homes for 1948 (Book Two). Right: "Presenting the California Book of Homes for 1949," Ibid., p. 21.
Richard Neutra did not have any homes selected in the 1948 issue of California Book of Homes, likely because he was on the selection committee for the annual issue. (See above right). In his introductory editorial "Ten Years of California Homes," Francis W. Brown trumpeted the development of Western architecture since his early issues a decade ago.
"Some architects, however, had the vision and the courage to do some "modern," or "contemporary" dwellings; there were some by Dailey, Neutra, Corbett and Wurster.. ... The trend has been so unusual, so astounding and finally, so practical, that every architectural and home magazine in America has come to the West for ideas. California architects, with few exceptions, have set the pace for the two most popular types of homes built in America today; the ranch house and the contemporary. "California ranch houses" are advertised on the Sunday real estate pages of the Chicago Tribune; one of Architect Neutra's "modern" houses has been built by one of the first families of New England on an island off Rhode Island." ("Ten Years of California Homes" by Francis W. Brown, California Book of Homes for 1948, p. 21.
Left: "Plan D-6 (V. D. L. Research House Guest Studio), Los Angeles, Richard J. Neutra, Architect, Eric F. Nelson, Builder, Ibid., pp28-9. Photos by Julius Shulman. Right: "Landscape Architecture Section," Ibid., p. 79. Photo of Burton Schutt Garden in Southern California by Julius Shulman.
Later in the issue Brown's article "Presenting the California Book of Homes for 1948" introduced his new editorial advisory board who were responsible for the selection of homes in this issue. Brown voiced his intention to "prevent any sectional strife from rising up to smite our plan, the Board membership is rotated between Northern and Southern California in succession. Neutra was named for 1948 along with Brown, John Christie, George B. Allison and Col. Richard F. King. By this time Julius Shulman was Neutra's photographer of choice and his work began to make regular appearances in Brown's series of not only with Neutra, but many other modern architects of Southern California as well as evidenced by the above right image of a Burton Schutt garden.
Left: Time Magazine, August 15, 1949, Architect Richard Neutra on the cover
In 1949 Neutra finally acheived national notoriety by following his 1924 Taliesin mentor Frank Lloyd Wright who first appeared on the cover of Time in 1938. His blueprints of the recently completed E. J. Kaufmann House in Palm Springs aped the appearance of Wright's rendering of Falling Water for the same client.
Photographer Julius Shulman and architect Richard Neutra at the Tremaine House in Santa Barbara, ca. 1948.
Left: California Book of Homes, Book Six, 1951, Richard Neutra's Reunion House in Silver Lake on the cover. Right: California Book of Homes, Book Seven, 1952.
Neutra's houses continued to be published into the 1950s with his Julius Shulman cover image of his Reunion House gracing the cover of the 1951 issue seen above left. His Plan J-13 (Wilkins House in South Pasadena) was illustrated by 8 Julius Shulman photos and a plot/floor plan was published in the 1952 issue seen above right and below. Also appearing was his Plan J-18 (Milton Scott House) in Santa Monica Canyon with two photos by Julius Shulman. Shulman images were prominent throughout the issue illustrating besides Neutra, two projects by Eugene Kinn Choy and one by John Rex.
Left: "Plan J-13 (Wilkins House) South Pasadena, Richard J. Neutra, Architect, S. Harrison, Landscape Architect, Roland M. Foreman, Builder," California Book of Homes, Book Seven. Right: "Economy Through Simplicity, Plan J-18 (Milton Scott House) Santa Monica, Richard J. Neutra, Architect, Clements Construction Company, Builders," Ibid.
All in all Neutra had almost 25 projects publicized in either the California Plan Books or Book of Homes between 1936 and 1956 while Shulman had close to fifty over the same time span. Schindler had ten.
