Every Fixture Tells a Story: Neutra’s Reunion House
Cindy Olnick 0:00
Today on Save As …
Brannon Smithwick 0:01
I was sitting there, like this is so cool. The fact that we’re even here like I’m freaking out on the inside, you know like trying to be professional and maintain composure but also like, Oh, this is so awesome.
Cindy Olnick 0:20
Welcome to Save As, a podcast that glimpses the future of heritage conservation through the work of graduate students at the University of Southern California. I’m Cindy Olnick.
Trudi Sandmeier 0:29
And I’m Trudi Sandmeier. So Cindy…
Cindy Olnick 0:33
Yes Trudi.
Trudi Sandmeier 0:34
It’s the season finale of season two.
Cindy Olnick 0:36
Say it isn’t so!
Trudi Sandmeier 0:38
Well, it’s true. And today we’re going to go back to basics and talk about materials conservation, some of the bedrock principles that we talk about in the heritage conservation program. And this is one of the core courses that all of our students are required to take. And so every time they take it, we go study a different site. So this time, the students went and studied Reunion House,
Cindy Olnick 1:06
Yes, Reunion House, designed by the master architect, Richard Neutra. This house is near and dear to my heart. It’s in the Silver Lake neighborhood of Los Angeles, and that’s where my husband and I lived right after we moved out here. And I actually interned for Richard Neutra’s son, Dion, also an architect who lived at Reunion House, as you will hear. But you know, every week I’d pack up my little lunch and walk around the reservoir from our apartment to this great house and, you know, hang out with Dion and help him with projects and just sort of marvel in the Neutra aura, and seeing his absolutely fearless, fierce, tireless, passionate work for preserving and promoting the Neutra legacy. So it was amazing working with Dion. And after a long and fruitful life he passed away a few years ago. And now the house is in the hands of the institute that his father founded.
Trudi Sandmeier 2:16
The Neutra Institute for Survival Through Design is the full name. And the president of that Institute now is Richard Neutra’s son, Raymond Neutra. And so we worked with him and with the board, to facilitate this process to have our students be able to come and investigate the house. And then at the end of the day, we give all of the results of their work back to the Institute, which is kind of a great way of everybody gets something it’s kind of a win win situation.
Cindy Olnick 2:50
It’s news you can use.
Trudi Sandmeier 2:53
Exactly.
Cindy Olnick 2:54
So you know, a lot of what students do in this program is more about intangible heritage, cultural heritage, things that may not have as much to do with materials. But but really more the stories of places. And you may think that a class on materials could be boring, let’s say you get an assignment to study the plumbing. But the instructor Peyton Hall, who you’ll hear from in a minute, makes it so interesting, because it’s still about stories. It’s just telling stories through the materials themselves.
Trudi Sandmeier 3:29
So let’s get to that news. You had an opportunity to chat with the instructor and a few of the folks involved in the project. So let’s hear from you and your guests.
Cindy Olnick 3:43
Welcome back, Peyton. Please say hello to the Save As universe.
Peyton Hall 3:47
My pleasure to be here. I’m Peyton Hall. I’m an adjunct professor in the School of Architecture at the University of Southern California, where I’ve been teaching in the heritage conservation program since 2001. And my other day job, I am principal architect emeritus of Historic Resources Group in Pasadena, where I’ve been working on real projects in the real world.
Cindy Olnick 4:17
You’ve done a few, and you’re so much more, but we’ll leave it at that for the moment. So the course you teach is Conservation Methods and Materials. At the risk of mastering the obvious, what is the point of this course?
Peyton Hall 4:29
The course examines characteristics and treatments for commonly used building materials. And remember, we have a lot of really great students who are not all architects, engineers or building scientists. So we need to introduce them to all materials and systems in a period of 16 weeks. We have a great building science program at USC and there are more things that we can do and talk about together. But one thing that is a standout in heritage conservation and this course is understanding the values aspect such that, you know, all materials are not created equal from a cultural standpoint. So, in order to understand what to do about these materials, we also have to understand their value in a cultural sense.
Cindy Olnick 5:24
So, yeah, so you take students out into the field and work on a real life historic place. So, tell me about your site for this semester.
Peyton Hall 5:32
This year, we had, I proudly say, yet another really interesting case study, which is the Reunion House that was designed by Richard Neutra, and both modified and lived in by his partner and architect son Dion Neutra, until his recent passing in 2019. So, this is really touching for me, not only that, we were really up close with a house designed by Neutra that has an interesting story in itself. But we’re in the house where Dion Neutra lived, and actually where Richard Neutra lived and practiced for three years, while the VDL house was being rebuilt after a fire in the 60s.
Cindy Olnick 6:25
And for those who don’t know, the VDL Research House, it’s a very significant building that served is Richard Neutra’s studio and home and then it burned down in 1963. It’s right down the street from Reunion House. We also have with us today, the client for this project, whom our loyal Save As listeners may remember from a previous episode,
Sian Winship 6:48
I’m Sian Winship, I am here in the capacity as board member for the Neutra Institute for Survival Through Design. But I am also a proud graduate of the USC heritage conservation program from 2011.
Cindy Olnick 7:01
Fantastic. And tell me a little bit about this Institute.
Sian Winship 7:06
The Institute was established in 1962 by Richard J. Neutra, the architect, as a vehicle for attracting funding for environmental psychology, and neuroscience research for the architecture and design community. Our mission is to preserve and use the Neutra legacy to promote creative research and design that benefits people in the planet.
Cindy Olnick 7:27
People know Southern California modernism is a connection between the indoors and out. But Neutra he really took it a little further than that, right. I mean, he really knew that there was like science behind it.
Sian Winship 7:39
One-hundred percent. He was very interested in neuroscience before it was actually ever really a field itself. And then he was very interested in how the physical environment would play on the senses and play on the spatial relationship that a person had through architecture. And so the Institute was originally created to fund research into that kind of information that would be given to architects and to the design community.
Cindy Olnick 8:05
Because it really was, I mean, the Institute is called the Institute for Survival Through Design. Now, that’s a pretty catchy title. And it’s pretty, you know, it says something. I mean, it says that if we’re going to survive, we need to design better.
Sian Winship 8:19
Well, I think the last two years has shown us that in spades, actually. The Institute is in the process of releasing a brand new annotated version of Neutra’s own manifesto Survival Through Design. And that will be coming out later this year. The exciting thing about that version is that again, it will be annotated, so it’ll be a lot easier to read by the layperson. And it’ll also have photographs that illustrate many of Neutra’s principles, and how they’re, you know, demonstrated through his work.
Cindy Olnick 8:50
It’ll be a graphic novel right?
Sian Winship 8:52
It should be.
Cindy Olnick 8:54
So does the Institute own the Reunion House?
Sian Winship 8:58
We do now. We were willed three properties as part of Dion’s trust: the Neutra office building, which is by Richard Neutra, from 1950. Reunion House, also by Richard Neutra from 1950, and the triplex called Treetops. And all of these are right in the Neutra colony right in the heart of Silver Lake. So when earlier this year, when Reunion House actually came into the ownership of the Institute, one of the first orders of business was to look at deferred maintenance, to look at opportunities to restore the property. And it was just a natural symbiosis to have Peyton’s class come and work in the house with us on that. And then for me personally, it was actually quite bittersweet because in 2009, or something like that, I was a student in Peyton’s class. It all came full circle to now be in a position to, you know, frankly, sort of be the client and watch all these kids come in and transform from the beginning where you could tell they didn’t really know much about methods and materials to the end of the class when they were giving really quite comprehensive and professional presentations about the house.
Cindy Olnick 10:06
Yeah, let’s talk about the house. Why is it called Reunion House?
Sian Winship 10:10
So when the house was originally designed in 1950 for Arthur L. Johnson, it was designed as a spec house. And Mr. Neutra wanted a program to design to, he didn’t design spec houses. So he suggested that he would develop a profile of a family that he would design the house for. And the profile of that family was an older couple who had grown children and grandchildren. And that periodically, the grown children and grandchildren would return to this house to reunite with the family and spend time together. And his observation was that the grandparents might not want to be directly next to the grandchildren that there might need to be some buffer space between that and potentially rambunctious grandchildren. And so that is why the plan, which Barbara Lamprecht correctly identifies as a barbell plan, has the master bedroom at one end, and then the children’s rooms at the far other end of the house. It had a few different owners before Dione purchased the property. And that was shortly after the fire at VDL. And so that’s when the Neutra family came to live at Reunion House.
Cindy Olnick 11:33
You mentioned two remarkable women. Barbara Lamprecht is an esteemed architectural historian and the preeminent scholar on Richard Neutra. And Dione was Richard Neutra’s wife, an accomplished musician and instrumental to his work and his legacy. So Peyton, in addition to all these stories, what makes this house special?
Peyton Hall 11:55
It’s a small house, but has such richness of like a wall and glass and view, and open structure and beautiful warm wood. It’s a house set into a hillside, taking advantage of landscape and views. Beautiful, simple expression of structure that really opens out into the landscape with the largest sliding glass door I have ever seen facing Silver Lake. One of my minor claims to fame, and I say that with tongue in cheek, is having worked for an architect for three years in Los Angeles who worked in Neutra’s studio before starting his own firm.
Cindy Olnick 12:36
Who was that?
Peyton Hall 12:37
David Huynh.
Cindy Olnick 12:38
Oh, yeah, okay.
Peyton Hall 12:40
One of the early Korean American architects practicing in the 50s. Little tidbit from David, is how hard they worked drawing and redrawing and redrawing the simplest of details to satisfy Mr. Neutra. It also, it was in sync with, you know, my having had to sit at a drawing board and work out details to realize that making things look simple is hard. And also prepares you for looking closely at a house like the Reunion House, or any Neutra house and seeing how there are no unresolved corners or details, the materials, the windows, the frames, it all comes together beautifully. And that’s no mistake or accident. It’s a lot of work goes into making any house and a house that small so good, really.
Cindy Olnick 13:43
Let’s talk about the materials in this house. Why does it matter that they’re old?
Peyton Hall 13:48
All buildings teach us about their time, the designer and the builder. In this case, we have Richard Neutra, you know, one of the leading architects in the world of the 20th century, living just up the street.
Cindy Olnick 14:05
Yep.
Peyton Hall 14:06
This has to be a hands on Richard Neutra house. It matters that we see, from a technical standpoint, how people built a house that was finished in 1951. But also, the decisions that Neutra himself made in design and construction. When I can lean on the fireplace or the wood paneling or lay eyes on the beautiful wood ceilings, which are somewhat unusual, I think I’m touching, or I’m inches away from Richard Neutra. And that matters. That’s cultural value of design and of human beings.
Cindy Olnick 14:51
Yeah, especially in this case, because he lived there. And Dion lived there and they both made changes to the house as well during their time there. So did that have an effect on what the students were examining or how they considered the materials?
Peyton Hall 15:07
We have a house that was finished in 1951, had a substantial addition in 1969, but it was also along the way occupied by Mr. Neutra and then by Dion and his wife. Past 2019, then, with all those little changes, you know, what about the faucets in the bathroom sink and the little things in the kitchen? Do you think everything that was touched by the Neutras through 2019 is significant or not? I don’t want to speak for the Institute, but this is what I believe, is that period of significance ends in 1969. Because that’s when Dion Neutra added a second floor to the garage, and the house as we know it and as it would be assessed as historic and important, that’s pretty much 1951 to 1969. So let’s put our guard rails there work within that. Now, what does that mean to students? It means when they’re looking at a lighting fixture, and I’m asking them to make a judgment whether it’s significant or not, the question is, did it exist in the house as of 1969? And if it didn’t, you can kiss it goodbye, if you want to, you don’t have to take it out. But how are we going to make decisions about what to repair or what to replace? Or what to restore if you don’t have those guardrails?
Cindy Olnick 16:43
So what kind of materials did the students investigate?
Peyton Hall 16:48
Imagine that you are consultant and you have to assess all the materials and systems in a house. And not only how they exist independently, but how they interact. We had eight students and therefore necessarily we had eight topics. And those topics are wood, ceilings, floors, walls, windows and doors, lighting, also including mechanical and electrical, roof and water. And finally hardscape and landscape, the outside. I have informed the students with all of the drawing, photographic, archival narrative information, I can possibly dump on them. And told them they need to do their homework before they look at the building. So each of those students, in addition to studying all of the above in classroom, are asked to survey, document, describe condition and make recommendations for each of those topics. And then we put it all together into a report that we present to the owner and we like to think we’re helping them and we’re certainly learning from their their building.
Cindy Olnick 18:31
All right, well, let’s hear from a couple of students about what they learned. Let’s start with Brannon.
Brannon Smithwick 18:37
Yeah, my name is Brannon Smithwick. I am a dual degree student at USC studying both urban planning in the School of Public Policy and heritage conservation in the School of Architecture.
Cindy Olnick 18:48
So what was your, what was your system Brannon?
Brannon Smithwick 18:52
Peyton, our instructor said, you know, if anybody has special interests in anything, let me know, I’d you know, I’d be happy to help accommodate. And with me, I have a really big interest in interior architecture and interior design. So when I saw the list of all of the different options of what he’d be assigning immediately, lighting fixtures stood out to me. So I was really lucky that I got that assignment and it actually expanded as well into the mechanical, electrical and plumbing, all of the mechanical fixtures all of the light switches and base plates and all of the plumbing fixtures, the bathtubs and the showerheads.
Cindy Olnick 19:30
How did you know if something was historic?
Brannon Smithwick 19:33
We did a survey on our first visit, and I just observed the building, I, you know, did an inventory and a photograph of everything that I spotted throughout the house. If there was like a brand on a pipe, I would photograph that and then try to look up that brand and historic evidence of that. So that part was really fun for me. I love looking especially with the lighting fixtures. I had a great time photographing and then determining the type of lens and the type of, you know, frame, and then looking at old lighting catalogs and things like that to try and cross-reference and see if I could identify what the fixture was.
Cindy Olnick 20:08
Tell me about these lighting fixtures.
Brannon Smithwick 20:09
There’s kind of two that are recurring throughout the house that I thought were the most interesting and the most character-defining for the house itself. And the first were these round lens recessed can lights that were in the ceiling, and they had these fresnel lenses, which are basically concentric circles in the glass. So they have this very historic like mid-century modern character to them. And they had squared trim frames that were made of a ferrous metal. So one thing that was really fun for my aspect of the project is determining these metals and if they were ferrous, meaning type of iron metal, or nonferrous, which would be something like copper or aluminum, they require different treatments for you know, keeping them from oxidizing from deteriorating over time.
Cindy Olnick 21:02
So it’s not like one is more important, it’s just that you have to treat them differently.
Brannon Smithwick 21:06
Exactly, yeah. And the way you test that is with a magnet. So anything that is ferrous is magnetic. And anything that is non-ferrous is not magnetic. So I had my little magnet that Peyton gave me, walking around the house, you know, magnetizing things. And so it was great. My favorite fixtures that are recessed into the ceiling are recessed into the custom wood slanted ceiling that was made for the house and designed by Neutra so they’re really interesting the way they fit into the like, original architecture of the home. And those were all in really great condition. And they had beautiful trims. And the other one I really enjoyed were these linear, they almost just look like fluorescent lights, just these linear valances that were attached to the walls of the home. And those kind of acted as picture lights and sconces. And they were really cool too.
Cindy Olnick 21:54
Do they still make bulbs for those?
Brannon Smithwick 21:56
They do. But that’s a good point because it is sort of phasing out especially in California because of the energy conservation measures we have here. That was one thing I had talked to Peyton about. But he said, you know, because this is a historic home, you can comply with the California historic building code, which allows you to still use those older fixtures because they remain characteristic to the house.
Cindy Olnick 22:18
Also the house is now part of the Institute for Survival Through Design. There’s a close attachment to the environment here and to Neutra’s whole philosophy. Is there a responsibility even to increase the operational efficiency of these buildings, no matter how important they are? Or historic?
Brannon Smithwick 22:38
Yeah, that’s a really good question. And I think it’s a question that historic preservationists and heritage conservationists kind of struggle with a lot, you know, is figuring out where’s the balance between energy efficiency and historic character. And that’s something Peyton was really enforcing within us throughout the classes. You always want to try and balance, but at a certain point, you know, energy conservation in a light bulb is more important than, you know, a potential fire from an older light bulb, you know.
Cindy Olnick 23:06
Yeah, I’d side with him on that, for sure. You looked at the lighting fixtures, but there’s also like the switch plates and stuff. So where was any of that considered historic?
Brannon Smithwick 23:17
Yeah. And that’s something that I had to talk to Peyton and say, you know, what am I really looking at? And he walked me around the house and pointed out the switch plates? And he said, does that look historic to you? Or does that look like something you would see in your house today? And I said, not really, these are all, you know, chrome-plated with black switches, and, you know, have those different, like a small toggles on them, and those older push button fixtures as well. So those things that are really characteristic of a historic home. And I said, no, those aren’t in my house. And he said, so that’s kind of what we’re looking at is these are things that I believe, add to the character of the home, even though people don’t necessarily always think of them. And those were actually things that I felt were in poorer condition. And I recommended more treatment just because of the years of wear and tear. You know, there were scratch marks and things and so I got to talk to Peyton and do my own research and figure out what are kind of the best ways to restore those things using what we call the gentlest means possible. So you know, the less abrasive materials, chemical solutions, etc, to try and bring those back to their historic character.
Cindy Olnick 24:24
With this particular home, we have the luxury of owners who have the utmost interest in keeping this home conserved. But what do you say to somebody who points to a scratched up switch plate and says, Well, that’s gotta go. Why on earth would you keep that?
Brannon Smithwick 24:44
For sure. This is actually another kind of contentious point, even in the field itself. I think there’s layers of heritage that acquire over time you know, who’s been touching this light switch for 50 years, how has that changed the character of the house and evolved it over time through the patina and through, you know, the corrosion that sometimes has really interesting patterns. So, you know, I definitely think there’s a middle ground. I think at a certain point, you have to ask yourself, is this completely distracting and detracting from what it was supposed to be? Or does this just add a little extra to it? You know, and kind of make it interesting with that with me still knowing what this was supposed to be and what its current function is.
Cindy Olnick 25:24
Thanks so much, Brannon. All right. Now, let’s hear from another student.
Jesus Barba 25:28
My name is Jesus Barba and I go by Chuy, everyone calls me Chuy. I’m about to start my second year in the program of heritage conservation, at USC. And I work at Page & Turnball here in Los Angeles. And I am also a board member of Docomomo US.
Cindy Olnick 25:54
You are an architect already right, Chuy?
Jesus Barba 25:58
I am, yes. I studied in Mexico, and I moved here to California 10 years ago.
Cindy Olnick 26:06
Okay, and why heritage conservation? Why did you go to the program?
Jesus Barba 26:10
So I always loved history. And I I grew up in Zacatecas which is World Heritage city by UNESCO. It’s an amazing colonial mining town. And, I always wanted to be an architect. So heritage conservation just did a blend for me.
Cindy Olnick 26:32
So what material or system did you have? What was your assignment?
Jesus Barba 26:37
So my assignment was a roof. And it was really fun to do.
Cindy Olnick 26:43
What makes it fun? You like climbing on the roof, right?
Jesus Barba 26:46
I love climbing up on the roof and going above, checking the flashings and looking for water coming into the houses and everything. That is so much fun.
Cindy Olnick 27:01
Did you find any frisbees up there pizzas or anything?
Jesus Barba 27:03
No.
Cindy Olnick 27:04
Okay.
Jesus Barba 27:05
Lots of debris, though.
Cindy Olnick 27:06
What’s the diagnosis doctor? What’s going on up there?
Jesus Barba 27:09
It’s actually in a fair shape, it needs to be changed, just because it’s really all and there’s 90% chances that there are leakages, but it’s very well preserved, surprisingly. And the details are just amazing. Nuetra was a master of detailing, I started looking at the plans that he came up to, for that roof is really well done. And that is probably why it’s still in really, really good shape. The whole composition of the house fits in and you know, you have the spider legs, which are a staple of Nuetra. It’s a beam that sticks out of the flat roof. And then it’s supported by a post on the other side. So it looks like a spider leg.
Cindy Olnick 28:03
Did you see any real spiders on the roof by the way?
Jesus Barba 28:06
I did not. And I’m actually arachnophobia. So I’m really, really, really happy I didn’t see any.
Cindy Olnick 28:13
Oh my gosh, me too. Because it’s a historic roof, does it need to be fully replaced? Can you ever repair and keep some of the original materials? Or do you pretty much have to just replace the whole thing?
Jesus Barba 28:27
So it is a tricky question. Because the roof needs to be replaced for its own nature. If the roof is leaking, it needs to be replaced. And this is important because what’s beneath it is also important. If you try to keep what it up there, you may lose more trying to preserve that piece. Also, roofs are where you can make a really good headway on sustainability. If you have enough insulation, if you have a good system that can save energy, which is also very important to today’s generations and to our society, then, I think, and this is my personal opinion that replacing the roof is, it’s a really good opportunity. And we’re talking about a modern house where we will still have the materials around.
Cindy Olnick 29:30
But apparently as the project went on, you realized that the materials you were working with were connected to each other.
Jesus Barba 29:40
So yes, all the systems, of course, in the house are interconnected. And that is that is the beauty of architecture, in my opinion, like how to make everything work together. And each one of us had a different assignment or a system to look at. And at the end of the day, we started realizing that the same thing that was affecting one was affecting the other. Dani, she was doing landscaping, and I was doing water infiltration and there’s a concrete pad on the back of the house that’s been lifted by the roots of a tree. And that’s causing the wall to get water in it. So we both, Dani and I, started looking at that tree and how we could mitigate the impact to it. And, with Brannon, she was looking at light fixtures and electric systems. And as we were talking about the spider legs, there’s a beautiful linear light on the spider leg that at the time made the house look like it was glowing. And at the beginning, she couldn’t find it. And when I was looking at the spider, like I told her, Hey, did you see this picture here? And she’s like, Oh, my God, yes, it’s there.
Cindy Olnick 30:57
There you go. Mystery solved. You know, I bet the project really benefited from everybody’s different skills and backgrounds.
Jesus Barba 31:05
The class is so diverse. There’s literally people from all backgrounds there. We have people from all over the country, and also from China and Mexico myself. We have people that it’s in landscape architecture, we have anthropologists, we have English majors, we have masters in architecture. It’s just a little bit of everything. And it’s great to see how everything just makes us to the great good. In this case, the Neutra house.
Cindy Olnick 31:40
Just like the house itself, all the systems come together. Yeah, that’s great. So this project is actually different from your practice?
Jesus Barba 31:47
It’s similar.
Cindy Olnick 31:48
When you work on historic buildings. do you do this type of materials research or have you yet?
Jesus Barba 31:55
I’m always doing all sorts of conditions assessments. But this is something that I can totally apply to my day-to-day life. And a lot of what I learned with Peyton, in this class, has helped me like to even tell my co workers when they’re looking for a how to fix a concrete or how to, putty that you can put on windows, a sealant. He gave us so many tools that are so good.
Cindy Olnick 32:21
That’s great. All right. Now, here’s a question for you both Chuy and Brannon. During the project, so you’re not just in this incredible house, but you are with a superstar team. I mean, Peyton who knows more about preservation architecture and materials than like anybody else in the world. Sian, who’s an amazing architectural historian resource, overall human. And you even had a virtual lecture by Barbara Lamprecht, who literally wrote the book on Neutra. Did you guys realize at the time the magnitude of all this? I mean, did it feel special while you were there?
Jesus Barba 32:57
Yes. From day one, just because first of all, it was a Nuetra house. It was the Reunion House, it was his house. That was humongous.
Brannon Smithwick 33:08
I definitely did, for sure. I was sitting there like this is so cool. The fact that we’re even here, like I’m freaking out on the inside, you know, like trying to be professional and maintain composure, but also like, Oh, this is so awesome. So I think we all felt that way. For sure.
Cindy Olnick 33:23
I’m so glad you and your classmates had that experience. And thanks so much to both of you for sharing some of it with us here on Save As.
Jesus Barba 33:31
Thank you,
Brannon Smithwick 33:32
For sure. Thank you so much for having me. I really appreciate it.
Cindy Olnick 33:54
All right, now let’s see how this experience will be put to good use. Back to you Sian. How’s the Institute going to use all the information you get?
Sian Winship 34:02
Oh, it’s going to be invaluable. We will take the spreadsheets, which itemize virtually every aspect of the ten systems that the students investigated. And we will attempt to create a prioritization list of things that need to happen to protect the safety of the house, as well as restore the house back to a bit more of its authentic self than it is right now. But I think one of the greatest contributions that Peyton’s class made to the Institute was helping us identify a period of significance. So the Institute was very interested in high level thinking about what is the appropriate period of significance. How do we restore what we need to restore? How do we do that in a way that honors both Richard Nuetra’s legacy and Dion Nuetra’s legacy?
Cindy Olnick 34:52
I love how Dione is part of the story too. She’s often not included in the conversation, but we wouldn’t have hardly any of what we have now without her, you know,
Sian Winship 35:02
I couldn’t agree more.
Cindy Olnick 35:03
So how will you use the house?
Sian Winship 35:05
One very perceptive student at one point during like the third visit said to me, so what are you going to use the house for? I thought, no one’s asked that question. And it, you know, it very likely influenced how she made her treatment recommendations. So the assumption on the part of, I think, some students was that it was simply going to be a house museum. And the Institute is dedicated to making sure that it’s more than just a house museum. Reunion House will definitely be open to the public periodically for tours, but we hope its primary reason for being will be as a scholars-in-residence location for scholars who are working in the area of neuroscience or preservation, or even sustainable design, and that they will have an enhanced living experience and perhaps spark some new ideas from just actually being in the house for a long period.
Cindy Olnick 36:02
All right, there’s one more story about this house that we have to mention. And it’s a love story. If you’ll remember dear listeners, Nuetra designed this house is a spec house. So the client, Arthur Johnson didn’t intend to live there.
Sian Winship 36:16
That is correct. But Arthur Johnson ended up living there. But what he didn’t plan on was that he met another Neutra owner down the street, the widow, Kay Koblick of the Koblick residence.
Cindy Olnick 36:30
Right.
Sian Winship 36:31
Now, Kay and her husband had built that house and he passed away so very suddenly from a heart attack. And the neighborhood kids and neighbors decided they would fix up these two Neutra lovers. And Arthur Johnson ended up marrying Kay Koblick on the hearth at Reunion House. So now we’re working with the family members to bring some of Kay’s original artwork, because she was an artist in her own right, back into the house so that we can tell the story of Kay. The woman that was lucky enough to live in two Neutras in Silver Lake.
Cindy Olnick 37:07
Wow. We love romance here at Save As. All right. There you have it, folks, the power of good architecture. Thanks so much Sian. And thanks to you, Peyton for sharing your time and insight. Any final thoughts Peyton, we’ll leave it with you.
Peyton Hall 37:23
The Reunion House really illustrates to me how modernism in the hands of one of America’s, really the world’s leading architects of the 20th century, can become much more than a monument but also a really comfortable domestic atmosphere that illustrates also life in Los Angeles. Views, indoor/outdoor, small scale, a building designed at a sustainable, I think, domestic scale that is so comfortable and yet is not a McMansion. It certainly demonstrates, I think the best that Neutra and Los Angeles had to offer in 1951. But it’s not a bad model to look to going forward, compared to so much construction that we see on the city and the region.
Cindy Olnick 37:49
Hear hear!
Trudi Sandmeier 38:29
Well, Cindy, that was fun. And you know, a little trip around the rooftops and into the intricacies of the lighting systems and switchplates; who doesn’t love a little romp through historic resources? Well, my friends, the time has come. We are signing off for season two, but we have a few more things we need to talk about before we do that. One really important piece of business that we need to take care of is that we have an announcement to make about the lucky winner of a Save As mug. Congratulations to our survey participant who won his own Save As mug, Chris Alexander in Washington, DC you are the winner.
Cindy Olnick 39:21
Fantastic, Chris. Thank you. Thank you for listening. Thank you for doing our survey. And thank you for taking our mugs bi-coastal.
Trudi Sandmeier 39:29
That’s right, spreading the Save As word all across the United States.
Cindy Olnick 39:34
Tomorrow the world.
Trudi Sandmeier 39:35
We have something for you to listen to over the summer, which is from our friends at the USC Huntington Institute for California and the West, is a podcast called Western Addition. And here is a little preview.
Bill Deverell 39:52
The Chinatown neighborhood in downtown Los Angeles is a popular tourist destination with traditional restaurants, trendy bars, gift shops and art galleries. And below the surface is a rich and complicated history. And it’s a history we’re still uncovering.
Speaker 40:05
And I think that’s one reason why many people are so involved in this history research is because a lot of it has been hidden from us.
Bill Deverell 40:13
Hi, I’m Bill Deverell. I’m the director of the Huntington USC Institute on California and the West. Join us for season two of Western Addition, as we explore the past, present and future of Chinatown.
Speaker 40:25
I think a lot of people look at Chinatown and they see a blank canvas. But I think that’s not looking deeply enough.
It’s a community of immigrants who came together and supporting each other in moving ahead and finding a place in American society.
Bill Deverell 40:41
Listen for Western Addition, Season Two: LA Chinatown, launching May 24 2022.
Cindy Olnick 40:59
Thanks for joining us for this episode and this season of Save As: Next Gen Heritage Conservation. For photos links more information and other episodes, please visit the website at saveas.place. This in every episode was produced by the great Willa Seidenberg with help from Trudi and me. We’d like to thank everyone who made Save As what it was, and is, this season. All of the guests who share their time and insight with us. Students Chloe Cuffel and Brannon Smithwick for helping on specific episodes. Melissa Miller, Keiko McNally Lenore Lowen, and everyone who helps to spread the word about Save As. Stephen Jones and the students of his Advanced Strategic Public Relations class at the USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism. Stephen Conley for our original theme music, Tom Davies for the music in this episode, and ongoing technical assistance. And most of all, thank you our Save As listeners, because it doesn’t mean anything if nobody hears it.
Trudi Sandmeier 42:08
I will add my last thanks and remind everyone that Save As is a production of the heritage conservation program in the School of Architecture at the University of Southern California. Have a great summer.
