craftsman

#145: Venice Beach House (Venice)

#145: Venice Beach House (Venice)

March 29, 2023
Architecture
This historic craftsman house has stood in the same spot in Venice since 1911, back when this area was just white sand dunes. It was the summer home of LA Daily Journal editor Warren Wilson, an important early settler of Venice whose daughters married into the family of Venice founder Abbot Kinney. The house was a popular stopover for local politicians, businessmen and the cultural elite. These days it's a posh B&B, beautifully restored with much of the original woodwork and craftsman detailing intact.
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#143: Louise C. Bentz House (Pasadena – Greene & Greene)

#143: Louise C. Bentz House (Pasadena – Greene & Greene)

March 17, 2023
Architecture
This house is a minor marvel from the craftsman starchitects Charles & Henry Greene. It was commissioned in 1906 by Asian art importer John C. Bentz, one of the developers of the fashionable Prospect Park Tract in Pasadena. The house was the very first built on the tract, and it set a sky high quality standard for the neighborhood. It's also a great example of how Greene & Greene could work with more modest budgets and still showcase their architectural mastery.
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#140: The Lanterman House (La Cañada Flintridge)

#140: The Lanterman House (La Cañada Flintridge)

March 2, 2023
Architecture
The unique kinda-sorta craftsman home was one of the first houses in Los Angeles made of reinforced concrete. It was the home of Roy and Emily Lanterman, scions of La Cañada Flintridge's first family. One of their two sons, Frank Lanterman, would establish a legendary career in the California State Assembly.
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#130: Jennie A. Reeve House (Greene & Greene – Long Beach)

#130: Jennie A. Reeve House (Greene & Greene – Long Beach)

December 15, 2022
Architecture
This 1904 commission in Long Beach was a significant one for architects Charles & Henry Greene, because it integrated so many of the creative features that they had experimented with but never harmonized into a single building. Their approach here pointed the way to later masterpieces like the Gamble House, Blacker House and Thorsen House.
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#129: The Lummis House/”El Alisal” (Highland Park)

#129: The Lummis House/”El Alisal” (Highland Park)

December 9, 2022
Architecture
The Lummis House (aka El Alisal) in Highland Park is a playful castle-like structure of stone, cement and telephone poles (!), hand-built by one of the most colorful figures in LA history, Charles Lummis. You can appreciate it for its architectural uniqueness, or as a 3D manifestation of Lummis's philosophy. Either way, it's one of my favorite LA landmarks.
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