Raphael Soriano / Glen Lukens House
The Glen Lukens house by Raphael Soriano (1940) is up for sale. Listed at nearly $2 million, it has been fully restored by Barry Milofsky of M2A Architects. It's on a huge beautifully-landscaped lot in the historic West Adams neighborhood of Los Angeles.
It's an important house beyond the architecture. There is no way to overstate the importance of Glen Lukens (1887-1967) in the world of California ceramics. It was commissioned when Lukens was teaching ceramics and metalwork at USC. Soriano had graduated from USC in 1934 and later returned as a lecturer in the architecture program, where Lukens was teaching metalwork.
Lukens lived in the house from 1940 to 1959. In addition to his innovative glaze work, while at USC he led the ceramics department where Laura Andreson, Susan Peterson, Carlton Ball, Harrison McIntosh, Beatrice Wood, Doyle Lane and Vivika and Otto Heino were all a part of.
Frank Gehry also took a Lukens ceramics class at USC. It was 1940 and young Gehry was invited to visit the site while the house was being built. Gehry has been quoted saying “I do know a light bulb went off when I saw Soriano.” “There was Soriano in a black beret, blackshirt, black jacket." “He was kind of a prima donna. He was talking about his architecture, and he (Lukens) saw my eyes light up in a way he hadn't seen. And he said, 'I think you should try it." Gehry later recalled that he believed Lukens was helping him because he didn't believe he would make a great ceramicist. So not only is this house a big deal because it belonged to Lukens, but it's where Frank Gehry decided to be an architect.
Photo: Ceramics Monthly, 1962
Here is the figure of St. Francis by Merril Gage that sat in the corner of Luken's living room. It can be seen in the photo above. What looks like a Lukens bowl is in the foreground.
Source: Los Angeles Times, 1949
At the open house I spoke to the owner and asked if there was any remnants of Lukens in the house. These tiles were the only thing. Besides the glaze and the obvious GL initials connecting it to Lukens, it's unclear who actually made the tiles.
As evident in this 1940 photo, we do know they were installed when the house was built. The solid wall of sandblasted glass sure was incredible but it was removed when the area was enclosed. The pond is gone too. Down further in the post is a photo from 2010 that shows a lot more than that was covered up before it was restored.
Source: Julius Shulman, © J. Paul Getty Trust. Getty Research Institute, Los Angeles (2004.R.10)
Part of the front terrace and the pond were covered up to expand the work room.
Original floor plan
The updated floor plan shows changes in the kitchen/dining area and there's a new master bedroom where the work room and terrace were.
The house originally had a lot of built-ins.
Source: Julius Shulman, © J. Paul Getty Trust. Getty Research Institute, Los Angeles (2004.R.10)
This included a table with a record player and lamp incorporated into it, which was attached to the sofa. The door and wall in the background were removed to open up the kitchen.
A Lukens bowl!
To left of the fireplace is the new entrance to the master bedroom.
The opened-up kitchen. Considering most of the original components were probably wrecked, this was a smart move.
Barney Reid in the bathroom.
In 1947 Lukens hosted a group of artists in that huge backyard.
In addition to being a professor at USC, he went out into the community in Los Angeles and the world teaching ceramics. He had a special connection with Haiti and took leave from USC to teach locals how to make ceramic vessels for food. In 1945 he took an extended leave from USC when the Haiti government asked him to return to help them develop a ceramics industry. In 1964 he also worked with Susan Peterson on a Peace Corps project.
Upon his death in 1967, this is what Peterson had to say about him:
"It is evident that this was a loved man, a generous man, a gentle man, with insight for his time. That he could comprehend, though not approach himself, the new work in ceramics, that he understood though did not use the attitudes of today, that he had the wisdom to pursue his own search and not become involved in that of others, prove his worth to the several generations he spanned."
Source: Julius Shulman, © J. Paul Getty Trust. Getty Research Institute, Los Angeles (2004.R.10)
The glass on the door lines up with the steel frame ribbon windows.
Sweet detail.
This is where it bumps up to line up where the dinette was.
This is what it looked like in 2010. In 2007, it became a historic-cultural monument after it was under threat of demolition by the City. It was a total wreck inside and out. Squatters had been living in the house and the structure had fire and water damage. It went up for sale in 2010 and sold for $285,000, to the current owner. He did a wonderful job restoring it and surely spent more than the purchase price to get it to look the way it does now. The project received multiple preservation awards.
Image: SRK1941
Luken's studio was in the backyard.
Image: Kimberly Burnett
Here he is at work in that studio.
Source: Los Angeles Times, 1949
The glass greenhouse predates the Soriano house. It dates from the early 1900s and was part of the adjacent Lindsay Estate. It has been restored and now serves as an outdoor dining area.
Of the 50 building designed by Soriano, this is one of the twelve still in existence.