"Inside LA's Most Famous House Built on the Edge of a Cliff" | Architectural Digest

For my recurring series of Famous Homes, I wrote about the Stahl House in a post here, back in 2017 (was it really that long ago?).

The Stahl House--or Case House Study #22--was built in 1959 by Pierre Koenig in the Hollywood Hills area of Los Angeles as part of the Case Study House program sponsored by Arts & Architecture magazine (previous prestigious homes in that series include the Charles and Ray Eames House or Case Study House #8, previously here). The Stahl family commissioned Koenig to build their dream house on the lot they had purchased four years earlier.

Recently, Architectural Digest made a short film in which siblings Bruce Stahl and Shari Gronwald share the remarkable story of growing up inside Pierre Koenig's iconic mid-century modern masterpiece, from its ambitious construction and groundbreaking steel design to Julius Shulman's world-famous photograph that helped define California modernism. Take a look!

As Bruce and Shari talk about in the video, the Stahl house has been featured in so many advertisements, films and television shows over the years. Films include "Smog" (1962); "The First Power" (1990); "The Marrying Man" (1991); "Corrina, Corrina" (1994); "Playing by Heart" (1998), where Jon Stewart’s character lived; "Why Do Fools Fall In Love" (1998); "Galaxy Quest" (1999), where Tim Allen's character lived; "The Thirteenth Floor" (1999); "Nurse Betty" (2000); and "Where the Truth Lies" (2005). Television shows include "Adam-12"; "Emergency!"; and "Columbo." The house can also be seen in the music videos for "I Don't Wanna Stop" (2003) by ATB, "Missing Cleveland" by Scott Weiland, and "Release Me" by Wilson Phillips.

Here is a shot from the "Columbo" episode...

...and it even showed up on an episode of "The Simpsons!"

The Stahl House was declared a Historic-Cultural landmark of the City of Los Angeles in 1999. In 2007, the American Institute of Architects listed the Stahl House as one of the top 150 structures on their “America’s Favorite Architecture” list, one of only 11 in Southern California. The house was included in a list of all time top 10 houses in Los Angeles in a Los Angeles Times survey of experts in December 2008. In 2013, the Stahl House became listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

You can visit this historic landmark on guided tours offered by the Stahl House, Inc.
Visit http://stahlhouse.com/ for more information.

Happy designing!

History of Furniture: Art Deco

When people say Art Deco in terms of the History of Furniture, they are often referring to a style of design that is more technically known as Streamline Moderne which I covered in a previous post here.

Streamline Moderne features the recognizably smooth, rounded shapes we have come to associate with Art Deco. Evolving in the 1930s, the style reflected the burgeoning train and ocean liner travel industry. It featured objects that looked as if they were speeding along tracks or cutting through waves, at great speed. Interiors of homes and commercial spaces reflected the interiors of luxury ocean liners as well.

But Art Deco precedes Streamline Moderne by over a decade. Its roots can be traced back to the early 1920s, but the real moment came at an event in Paris in 1925 called the International Exhibition of Modern Decorative and Industrial Arts. In French, it was l'Exposition internationale des arts décoratifs et industriels modernes, and it is that first descriptor that gave the movement its name: Arts Décoratifs became Art Deco. The term was not used immediately however but first appeared in 1966!

The start of what would become Art Deco can be traced back to a reaction to and against Art Nouveau, which I covered in a post here. In short, Art Nouveau concerned itself with sinuous, flowing designs from nature. This was originally inspired by the floral designs of English designer William Morris and his followers who developed the Arts and Crafts philosophy (previously here).

While there are entire courses and tomes about the history of Art Deco, I will try to keep it brief for the our purposes here. Since Art Deco is the bridge between Art Nouveau and Streamline Moderne, you would surmise correctly that it introduced design elements that moved away from natural curves toward geometrics and definitive shapes. It was influenced by Cubism, a movement in painting, sculpture, music, literature, and architecture. In Cubist painting and sculpture, artists took subjects and broke them up into geometric facets, showing not just one perspective but many at the same time. Advancements in new materials such as chrome plating, stainless steel, and plastics like Bakelite helped Art Deco in its goals but mostly we see luxurious materials like rare and exotic stones and marbles, bone, and exotic wood species including ebony.

When we think of Art Deco architecture, there are a few iconic examples. Two of them are located in New York City.

The Chrysler Building is a gorgeous example of Art Deco architecture with its radiating terraced arches and triangular windows at the crown, and Cubist eagles perched like gargoyles at the corners of the 61st floor.

Chrysler Building by David Shankbone

Chrysler Building by Carol M. Highsmith

Close up of the Chrysler Building crown

Stainless steel eagle gargoyles on the 61st floor of the Chrysler Building

Elevators in the lobby of the Chrysler Building by Eisa Rolle

Stunning parquetry elevator doors in the Chrysler Building

The other iconic Art Deco example is the beautiful stepped slilmness of the Rockefeller Center; construction of its 14 original Art Deco buildings began in 1931. I am sure we all recognize Paul Manship's sculpture of Prometheus that dominates the sunken plaza, and exquisite Art Deco art adorns many portals to the building: Lee Lawrie's Wisdom, A Voice From the Clouds flanked by Sound on the left and Light on the right top the main entrance to 30 Rockefeller Plaza, and the entrance at 1230 Avenue of the Americas features a staggeringly large mosaic mural (79 feet by 14 feet) called Intelligence Awakening Mankind by Barry Faulkner.

GE Building at Rockefeller Center by David Shankbone

Prometheus by Paul Manship, 1934 at Rockefeller Center

Sound by Lee Lawrie

Wisdom by Lee Lawrie

Light by Lee Lawrie

Intelligence Awakening Mankind by Barry Faulkner at 1230 Avenue of the Americas

There are many more internationally famous Art Deco buildings but let's turn our attention from the exterior to the interior. Furniture and furnishings in an Art Deco style are exactly what you would expect...more geometric shapes, Cubist silhouettes, sleek applications, and a lovely array of luxe materials.

Here is a perfect example of an Art Deco interior...it is a preserved study by the New York office of the Paris design firm Alavoine, now in the Brooklyn Museum. It is from the Weil-Worgelt apartments on Park Avenue, ca. 1928-1930

Study by Alavoine, located in the Brooklyn Museum

Over on the West Coast, the ladies Smoking Room at the Paramount Theater in Oakland is a thing of beauty...

Ladies Smoking Room, Paramount Theater, Oakland, CA

Perhaps the best-known designer of Art Deco furniture, furnishings, and interiors is the legendary Émile-Jacques Ruhlmann (1879 - 1933). He learned about interiors through his father, the owner of a successful business painting and wallpapering homes for the wealthy. After this father died, he took over the family business and began making exquisite pieces of furniture, seen below. Look at how the shapes are simple yet exotic, expertly bringing together a pared down sensibility and luxury in one object.

And finally, here is the suite of furniture Ruhlmann designed for the sculptor Joseph Bernard's home and studio.

Ruhlmann furniture in the home of Joseph Bernard, currently at the Musée des Années Trente, photo by Jean-Pierre Dalbéra

Happy designing!

History of Furniture: Streamline Moderne

It has been my experience that when people speak of the Art Deco movement that happened in the early part of the 20th century, particularly in interior design, what they really mean is a sub-genre of Art Deco actually known as Streamline Moderne.

Emerging in the 1930s from the modern (at the time) aerodynamic design principles developed for airplanes, trains, and especially ocean liners, Streamline Moderne was applied to architecture as well as interiors, products, furniture, and furnishings. It was a sleeker, pared down version of the decorative elements of Art Deco.

Objects made in the Streamline Moderne style have several important elements in common: they tend to have smooth, polished surfaces--almost always curved--with a strong emphasis on horizontal line.

As I mentioned, ocean liners played a large role in shaping the look of Streamline Moderne. Interiors deliberately looked like rooms and deluxe suites on cruise ships of the period. Metallics, chrome, colored mirrors, and silver leaf were abundant.

A good example of Streamline Moderne furniture can be found in the work of Irish furniture designer and architect Eileen Gray. Starting in 1925, Gray created her villa, the E-1027 house at Cap Martin, France, Roquebrune which is between Monaco and Menton. She designed it to look like an ocean liner at sea, and she furnished it with some of her best known creations: the Transat chair (previously here) made to look like a deck chair on a ship, and the iconic E-1027 Side Table (previously here).

And in architecture, we can see the influence of Streamline Moderne in simple buildings like gas stations, train stations, and restaurants...

..along with two landmarks local to me: the Maritime Museum in the former Aquatic Park Bathhouse Building, as well as the Golden Gate Bridge (the largest example of Streamline Moderne architecture and the only Streamline Moderne bridge in the world!).

Happy designing!