Esoteric Survey

A reunion was held last weekend to bring together everyone who was involved in the Architectural Pottery: Ceramics for a Modern Landscape book and AMOCA exhibition . It was held at the home of Architectural Pottery co-founders Rita and Max Lawrence. Damon Lawrence and his wife now call it home and were amazing hosts. When Rita and Max Lawrence began their involvement with Architectural Pottery, they lived in a Gregory Ain house in the Mar Vista tract. They previously lived in the Ain Altadena tract and the Dunsmuir Flats apartments, where Damon was born. As Jeffrey states in the AP book, it was Ain who introduced the Lawrences to modernism.  The Lawrences were working with Ain to design a new home for the family in Bel Air, but were having issues with the City. In 1953 they moved into a Spanish Revival house in Bel Air, where the reunion was held. It was designed by Carleton Winslow Sr. He was part of  Bertram Goodhue's firm that designed the Los Angeles Central Library. On a...

  Trays by Artek and La Gardo Tackett. Martz and nice round weed pot. Lisa Larson Bulldog Not a banner weekend on the junk front.

This was my first visit to the Stahl House / Case Study House 22 by Pierre Koenig. As you most likely know, it's for sale. Unfortunately, I don't have a Rothko to sell, so I'm not a buyer. However, I thought it would be a good time to visit in case a new owner wouldn't be as generous with tours as the Stahl family has been. It was a beautiful day.  Buck and Carlotta Stahl did not set out to live in a modern architecture icon. As a young married couple, they were renting an apartment with a view of the Hollywood hills. In 1954, with the dream of building a home but not really having the money to do it, they ended up buying what many thought to be an unbuildable lot. The deal was made on a handshake from property owner George Beha, from La Jolla, who agreed to carry the $13,500 mortgage. During the four years it took them to pay off the mortgage, Buck collected discarded concrete material from construction sites around Los Angeles and built up a terrace around the edge of...