Los Angeles: The Land of Fabulous Buildings (Act One, Scene Two)

The Dash bus is only a quarter, but was worth at least a dollar for the ride. It whisked me out of the touristy Hollywood district to West Hollywood where the Schindler house awaited my arrival.

I was the only one visiting that day (I guess it's not on the popular LA circuit) and I got to spend a good deal of time absorbing the house and grounds. Unfortunately, it's not furnished and there's an art installation at the moment that flips through old slides that are projected on the wall. Even after reading the artist's mission, I still didn't quite get it. However, the house was pretty interesting and I could totally see why this is considered one of Schindler's finest buildings.

It's a modest house and is built into the landscape that is surrounded by high-rise apartment buildings and the rather large homes (compounds) in West Hollywood. I never would have found it if there hadn't been a sign leading me down an ambiguous alley to the welcome center. The house was designed in 1922 as a communal studio space where Schindler and his wife lived with another professional couple. At the time, Schindler was working for Frank Lloyd Wright on the Barnsdall (Hollyhock) House, which is also in LA.

I think one of the things that stunned me the most was how Schindler (and Wright for that matter) was totally on the fringe of the architectural movements at the time. This was probably a huge factor in why many of his designs were just too experimental to get a lot of recognition. I mean, seeing a house like this being built in America in the 1920s must have had the neighbors whispering. The contrast of redwood and concrete punctured by windows was really quite stunning. The windows filled the space (that was arguably quite stark) with a warm light that felt almost cozy -- only in LA right? It made the wheels in my head turn and realized that this is quite possibly modern architecture at its best.

Anyway, I spent almost an hour just walking around the house and taking in the beautiful views and nooks around every corner. I soaked in a little LA sun from the rooftop of the house that was accessed by a set of narrow stairs. I'm so happy that I found the property and had as much time as I wanted to take in its greatness.

I totally dorked out for the rest of the afternoon and walked up and down the streets of West Hollywood gazing at all of the amazing apartments and houses tucked behind giant hedges and walls. I'm glad I was alone, because I'd never get away with this much neighborhood gazing otherwise.

However, my dork-filled afternoon was not yet over. Inspired by Schindler's design for his own house, I felt it was my duty to head over to the Hollyhock house, which was largely supervised (and a number of details completed) by Schindler himself. It's only proper that the Hollyhock house get it's own post, so don't miss out on:

Los Angeles: The Land of Fabulous Buildings (Act One, Scene Three).