Lautner Harpel house restoration

[SDR]

Another angel's gift to LA -- and to the world ?


http://www.archdaily.com/tag/lautner-harpel-house

http://www.theblog.parsonarchitecture.c ... Plan-2.jpg

SDR

[Craig]

And a Futuro guest house!

[SDR]

Yes. Pretty cool. I'm trying to find the red car, which looks like a Maserati to me.

http://steffienelson.com/2007/10/01/nat ... pel-house/

http://www.markhaddawy.com/projects/completed/

SDR

[peterm]

With the Sturges house, one feels as though it could just as easily be located somewhere in the Midwest. This house, like most Lautner houses, epitomizes the ideal of Southern California living. The owner sums it up well; the Miesian box is enormously attractive conceptually, but who wouldn't rather luxuriate in this environment?

It's very LA right now to see Jean Prouve's furniture in almost every modernist setting. I guess it's because it works...

Futuro house... (On a personal note...being of Finnish descent, we named our son Matti.) Architect Matti Suuronen:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Futuro

[SDR]

All quite true. It could be said, by way of elaboration, that the "public" facade of the Harpel house comes closer to a European architectural expression, with its planar colonnade of cylindrical posts, than does any other Lautner house. The plan, of course, reveals that this is anything but a Greek or Roman temple . . .!

The spare interiors strike me, despite the warmth of material, as coming closer to a rationalized-yet-informal Case Study design, as well. One thing that is certain: Lautner tried out many approaches to enclosing residential space; indicative of a relatively sparse portfolio, he gave each idea one go (with the exception of the Polin/Jacobsen duo and the structurally-related Carling house) before moving on to the next structural concept.

Lautner says of the Harpel exercise that the house "is a giant trellis over virtually the entire property, partially closed off for living and entertaining. Since it was a filled lot, concrete caissons were used for the foundation. The caissons on a hexagonal module were continued as columns for the roof frame." Leave it to the architect to define the essence of his design.

SDR

[Roderick Grant]

SDR, according to the text, the car is a '64 Ferrari that once belonged to Steve McQueen.

The complexity of this house, derived from a very simple plan, is brilliant, Lautner at full throttle.

Note also, on the Mark Haddawy site, what a fine job he did resurrecting one of Schindler's Pueblo Ribera Cottages.

[SDR]

McQueen's Machines: The Cars and Bikes of a Hollywood Icon, 2010,
by Matt Stone (Author), Chad McQueen (Foreword)

This book lists three Ferraris in the index; there is no mention of Maseratis or Lamborghinis in McQueen's collection. But something is wrong; none of those cars is from 1964. There is a 1963 car which doesn't resemble the Haddawy car; there is a 1967 275 GTS, which is a Spyder (roadster). Elsewhere two photos of other closed Ferraris which McQueen supposedly owned can be found, one of which, a 1967 275 GTB4, is close to the Haddawy car but which has a different rear end. The small tail-lights of Haddawy's coupe evoke the body-builder Zagato from the period, but I can't find a Zagato Ferrari which matches the subject car.

SDR

[Rood]

It's a fascinating one-bedroom house, alright, but i sure wish it were possible to understand how the kitchen "works".

[SDR]

Yes -- the plan is illegible to me, there. It looks like there's a lot more kitchen than there needs to be ?

I guess the "studio" is a second bedroom ? Mr Harpel was a radio announcer, Lautner tells us. He did a lot of the work on the house, including pouring all the concrete. He would work eight hours at his job, then come home and work eight more hours on his house -- happy as a clam.

SDR

[egads]

I saw this house twice, both on MAK center tours. The first time they were literally camped out in a construction site. There was no kitchen at all, the coffee maker & microwave were on the floor. A couple of years later it was as finished as you see here. Lautner's discription is exactly how I experienced this place. A trellis grid with some parts enclosed. The view is spectacular, and the lot is private enough that one could make coffee in the buff looking out at the view. That's how the kitchen works.

[Craig]

If you look under the "PRESS" link and select Dwell magazine you can see some photos of the kitchen. There is a free-standing work area which houses both the sink and cooktop. Appears to be a wonderful, open space in which to prepare a meal.

One of my biggest complaints in many of the new kitchens I see is that either the sink or cooktop (or even worse - both) are facing a blank wall. These may look nice in magazine photos but are not meant for those who actually enjoy cooking with friends gathered around.

[SDR]

Right. What page is the Press option found on, Craig ?

What's the consensus here on downdraft ventilators for the cooktop ? Do they work ?

SDR

[Roderick Grant]

A glimpse of the kitchen from 2:43 to 2:57 doesn't show much. The main counter is 8' long, 3.5' wide. The walk between it and the structure that separates it from the dining area is about 27" to 30" wide. The 'fridge is the square next to the cooktop. The arrangement doesn't look cook-friendly at all. The distance between the three main elements of a kitchen should be minimal, and it should be easy to move from one to another without having to 'round the bend, as is the case in this room.

[Roderick Grant]

A kitchen sink with a view is always nice, but if a cooktop is in a counter along a wall, placing a view window above it would result in a greasy mess. This house seems to have a pleasant arrangement, but I have never come across a downdraft ventilator that I would want in my kitchen. They tend to be noisy and inefficient.

[goffmachine]

Various views can be seen from the model on this webpage: http://ashelford.net/Harpel3.html