Front View of the House |
Original Floor Planing of the first House Along with Model |
A little bit of history of this home and its architect:
Richard
Neutra’s architectural career had immediately taken flight after the Lowell
Health House project; Dutch business man Cornelius
Van der Leeuw immediately approach Neutra and wanted become one of his patron. Seeing that Mr. Neutra and his
family were living in rented studio in Echo Park Van der Leeuw offered him a
gracious loan for Neutra to design a spacious home for himself however Neutra
lowered the sum down to a humble $3,000 and relied the rest on commercializing. Neutra
selected a plot of land near Silver Lake in California that’s sixty by seventy
feet and despite far exceeding the budge (like any architectural project) the house was first completed in 1932. The
project was named V.D.L. House after his patron and housed Neutra’s family until 1963.
Thirty-two
years after construction the V.D.L. House caught on fire while the Neutra was
away in the midwest. The main building where he and his wife lived in was
completely destroyed while the separate garden house and a few trees were left
intact. Neutra’s son, Dion, managed to collect all of his important documents
and plans which were the only valuable belongs that escaped the flames. Falling
into depression when he saw the wreckage he claimed that the house was utterly
lost and cannot be rebuilt; however, Dion manage to obtain a special permit
which would allow for their home to be rebuilt to it former condition with him overseeing
the project. By 1966 V.D.L was restored, with some modification, and then
dubbed as V.D.L. House II. Thirty years later the keys were handed to Cal Poly
Pomona College and its doors were open for all to see its modernistic design.
Upstairs Living Room |
Upstairs Dining Room/ Hallway |
The nature of house
is to capture the scenic surrounding from the outside and incorporates it to
the inside. Neutra’s home was specifically built in front of Silver Lake and
when seated on his low balcony or the upstairs living room only the lake is in
your view. This concept is also carried through to the upstairs dining room by
Neutra’s wife request. His wife requested for there to be a patio dining area
and therefore specifically designed to mimic an open space while still being a room.
This house is unlike any typical home here in Los Angeles. All homes for the most part completely shut themselves away from the world which is understandable if you're a very private person. The VDL House invites its surrounding into itself, carefully selecting only non-industrial aspects, and gives the home owners a sense of being outdoors. It is also a notable aspect that this home was built in a small plot of land yet still manages to not feel stuffy.