Curbed LA, a real estate blog, has an entry up on 1553 E. Altadena Drive, a mid-century modern house. We are famously not fans of the modernist aesthetic (look! Plywood walls! An absolutely uncomfortable-looking Eames sofa!) But some of the comments are highly amusing!
(thx to political power broker Bikinginla)
Snow said…
Not only the comments, but the lead paragraph – “If you can do Altadena”. Ummm, what?
Thursday, March 19, 2009 at 07:52 AM
Jamie Bissner said…
Tim,
I was raised in a MCM home on Winrock off of Loma Alta architected by father, Harold Bissner, Jr. He and my grandfather did many of these designs from Palm Springs to Sherman Oaks, every one sited distinctively to capture the milieu. Peter Doms resides at my childhood home now and loves it.
With walls of glass, clean lines, warm wood interiors, floor plans unencumbered with a minimum of partitions and doors, and, yes, Eames furnishings, I found it far more comfortable than the homes of many of my peers.
The concept emanated from pre war immigrant architects fleeing oppression and bringing with them their sense of environment and economy. The concept was minimalist to promote affordability by way of reducing the size of the floor plan while creating the illusion of space, among other things. For the period these homes were environmentally correct permitting natural light when desired, free flow of cool night air and heated with inslab radiant water pipes allowing for an economical and comfortable home environment. Radiant heat warms objects, not air, and contributes to better health. I concur that some of these styles done by over reaching designers resulted in an antiseptic product but, hey, I’ve worked on homes of every genre and encountered some that were poorly executed. You need to spend a spring afternoon relaxing in one of these and I bet it would grow on you.
Thursday, March 19, 2009 at 09:15 AM
Altadenablog said…
I respect your point of view, Jamie, and there’s much to like about the whole modernist/international style, including its “green” touches before there were such things — but I’m afraid I’ve been tainted by reading Tom Wolfe’s From Bauhaus to Our House! For starters, the flat roofs retain water, which just stains the stucco exterior — I haven’t seen a Modernist building that didn’t have exterior water damage visible!
In our former neighborhood in West Pasadena, there were a lot of great examples of this style among our neighbors, but I always felt that the balance of aesthetics vs. humanity always deferred to aesthetics. Many of these modernist houses with their stairs, sunken rooms, etc. were just not accommodating to the handicapped, infirm, or children, who occupy a big part of my life. One of my favorite houses had an open bridge over a dry moat as the entrance — I liked the idea, but I couldn’t imagine raising children in a place with the daily danger of a 15-foot drop!
It can be done, of course, but I’ve always felt that modernism was more about mathematical concepts of design rather than real human living. I have spent the afternoon in our modernist library, and I haven’t felt as comfortable there as in the grand old Beaux Arts Pasadena Main Library. It’s just our taste — your mileage may vary!
Thursday, March 19, 2009 at 12:31 PM