Los Angeles is home to Frank Gehry's magnificent Walt Disney Concert Hall, the space-age marvel that is the LAX Theme Building, and the vinyl needlepile that is the Capitol Records building. For some design geeks, however, the heart and soul of LA's architecture lies not just in its museums and office towers, but also in its lofty, often otherworldly homes.
These homes—particularly those designed by midcentury greats such as John Lautner, Richard Neutra, Ray Kappe, and Charles and Ray Eames—were the obsession of those who tracked the threats of firestorms that ravaged the forested ravines and grassy hillsides, providing picturesque backdrops for these residences.
Popular landmarks by Frank Lloyd Wright, Rudolph Schindler and others are outside the immediate fire danger, but other notable homes weren't so lucky. Here is a partial listing of confirmed losses:
Zane Gray Estate, Altadena: Featuring elements of Spanish, Missionary and Mediterranean Revival design, this home on 1.2 acres west of Lake Avenue was built in 1907 by architects Myron Hunt and Elmer Gray for Chicago office equipment manufacturer Arthur Herbert Woodward. At the time of its construction, it was considered the first fireproof structure in Altadena, as it was constructed of reinforced concrete. (Woodward's wife had witnessed the devastating fire at Chicago's Iroquois Theater in 1903, which broke out during a performance and killed more than 600 people.) Author Zane Gray bought the house in 1920 and he and his wife built a 3,500-square-foot one Cultivation. including a library and an office where Gray used to write. The 7,240-square-foot home was listed for sale in 2020 for around $4 million and is said to have eight bedrooms, four bathrooms, a commercial kitchen with a 15-foot ceiling, as well as a main kitchen, a wine cellar, and a huge basement. The home, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, retains its original cast-iron sconces, iron handrails and chandeliers.
The Andrew McNally House: Architect Frederick L. Roehrig built this Queen Anne-style mansion in 1887 for Rand McNally Publishing co-founder and president Andrew McNally. McNally paid Roehrig $15,000 to design the mansion at East Mariposa Street and Santa Rosa Avenue, in an area that would soon be called Millionaire's Row. The house featured a three-story rotunda overlooking the San Gabriel Mountains, and McNally kept a private railroad car there. He had a gardener who tended the deodar cedars along a section of Santa Rosa that became known as Christmas Tree Lane.
The Keeler House: In 1990, modernist architect Ray Kappe remodeled a house for jazz singer Anne Keeler and her then-husband Gordon Melcher. The 4,142-square-foot cantilevered post-and-beam structure, nestled in a wooded hillside overlooking the canyon and coastline, came on the market in April for $12 million. The home has four bedrooms and three bathrooms and features concrete walls and floors complemented by a palette of redwood, teak, fir and glass brick. Kappe founded the Southern California Institute of Architecture in 1972 and died in 2019 at the age of 92.
Jane's Village: This collection of historic English cottages was built between 1924 and 1926 by architect Elisha P. Janes (known professionally as EP Janes). Janes built at least 270 English and Spanish style cottages in the area. These were mostly single-story, stucco-clad, six-room houses arranged in one of four floor plans and priced to be accessible to the middle class.
Gregory Ain's Park Planned Homes: Designed by Ain in 1948 with the help of the era's leading modernist landscape architect, Garrett Eckbo, this strip of 28 midcentury modern homes was built as part of a social experiment by a modernist architect focused on low-cost, prefabricated design for working people . The area was laid out like a park, without front fences and with continuous landscaping. The houses had side garages, courtyards and glass walls, making them look a bit like mini-estates.
Bridge house: Anyone who has driven along Sunset Boulevard toward the coast will remember architect Robert Bridges' brutalist Bridges House. After working on houses, including his own, Bridges became a professor of real estate finance at the USC Marshall School of Business, where he is professor emeritus. His striking house towered over the boulevard, its wood and glass structure cantilevered over a concrete base.
Will Rogers' Home: The actor's ranch house, part of Will Rogers State Historic Park, was destroyed in the Palisades fire. In the 1920s, Rogers built a 31-room, 11-bathroom residence, a guest house, a golf course, stables and a corral on approximately 360 acres of land. In 1944, the grounds and grounds became a park and museum after his widow, Betty, donated them to the state. “The Rogers family is devastated by the loss of the California ranch and the overwhelming loss of the community,” Jennifer Rogers-Etcheverry, the actor’s great-granddaughter, said in a statement. “Our thoughts are with all the neighbors who lost their homes.”