Case Study Houses

The Case Study Houses were experiments in American residential architecture sponsored by Arts & Architecture magazine, which commissioned major architects of the day to design and build inexpensive and efficient model homes for the United States residential housing boom caused by the end of World War II and the return of millions of soldiers. The program yielded 36 designs and 25 constructed homes, concentrated in Southern California.

The Stahl House, Case Study House #22

History

The "Case Study" House program, spearheaded by Arts & Architecture editor John Entenza, was announced in the January 1945 issue of the magazine.^[1] The magazine initially commissioned eight nationally known architects to create contemporary single-family homes within a specified budget, with the magazine itself serving as the "client" for each project.^[2]

The program was envisioned as a creative response to the impending building boom expected to follow the housing shortages of the Great Depression and World War II. The initial program announcement stated that "each house must be capable of duplication and in no sense be an individual performance" and that "the overall program will be general enough to be of practical assistance to the average American in search of a home in which he can afford to live."^[2] Entenza encouraged participating architects to use donated materials from industry and manufacturers to create low-cost, modern housing prototypes that might foster a dialogue between architectural professionals and laymen.

The first eight architects commissioned and profiled in the January 1945 announcement of the program were JR Davidson, Sumner Spaulding, Richard Neutra, Eero Saarinen, William Wilson Wurster, Charles Eames, and Ralph Rapson.^[2] The program employed a "design-build-publish" model,^[3] publishing the prototypes alongside the architects' comments.^[2] JR Davidson's design was the first feature of the series, with the exteriors and interiors appearing in the February and March 1945 edition of Arts & Architecture, respectively. Davidson's design was labeled Case Study House #1, thus inaugurating the numbering convention, which refers to the order in which designs were published, rather than constructed.

As outlined in the program announcement, construction was intended to commence immediately following the World War II moratorium on domestic housing construction. Case Study House #11, also designed by Davidson, was the first house constructed, and was permitted in December 1945.^[4] Construction on Case Study House #11 began on January 9, 1946, prompting the design for the home to precede the publication of Case Study House #10.^[5]

The program announcement called for each house to be open to the public for a six to eight weeks upon the conclusion of construction. Houses were to be furnished "under a working arrangement between the architect, the designer, and the furniture manufacturer".^[2] By January 1949, the magazine had published designs, models, for 19 houses. Of the 19 profiled, nine houses were complete and five were "in various stages of construction."^[6] Several houses were not constructed for unspecified reasons beyond the control of the magazine and architects.^[6]

In January 1949, the magazine announced "having come this far with it, we feel that we have proved our point to the extent that we need no longer be so ambitious as to numbers," and pivoted to sponsoring one house each year, starting with Case Study House 1949.^[6] By July 1954, the program had yielded 16 constructed houses.

In total, the program commissioned 36 prototypes, including single-family homes, multi-family homes, and apartments, of which 25 were constructed.^[1][7] The majority of the constructed houses were built in Los Angeles County. Additional case study houses were built in San Rafael, California;^[8] San Diego, California;^[9] and Phoenix, Arizona.^[10] Of the unbuilt houses, #19 was to have been built in Atherton, California, while #27 was to have been built in Smoke Rise, New Jersey.

The Eames House was added as a stand-alone site to the National Register in 2006.^[11] In 2013, a group of 10 case study houses, all located in Southern California, were added to the National Register of Historic Places, while House #23A was determined eligible for the registry, but not officially listed due to an objection by the owner.^[12][13]

Schulman Photographs

A number of the houses appeared in the magazine in iconic black-and-white photographs by architectural photographer Julius Shulman.^[14] Schulman's May 1960 photo of the Stahl House is widely regarded as one of the most famous architectural photos of Los Angeles, and is one of Schulman's most reproduced photos.^[15][16]

In 1989 Shulman's photographs of the Case Study Houses were exhibited at the Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art in an exhibit titled "Blueprints for Modern Living."

Stylistic Commonalities

Houses in the program shared common design elements, including open floor plans, clean lines, floor to ceiling glass, steel framing, and a flat roof.^[17][18] Most of the houses were "predominately modular in design,"^[19] featuring exposed structures. Virtually all of the homes featured open floor plans.

Houses

House	Alternate Name	Architect(s)	Status	Address	Arts & Architecture Publications
					Content	Edition
1		JR Davidson	Extant	10152 Toluca Lake Avenue, Los Angeles, CA	Plan	February 1945
					Model	March 1945
					Restudy	May 1948
2		Sumner Spaulding, John Rex	Extant	857 Chapea Road, Pasadena, CA	Plan	April 1945
					Model	May 1945
					Restudy	October/November 1946
					Completion	August 1947
3		William Wurster, Theodore Bernardi	Demolished	13187 Chalon Road, Los Angeles, CA	Plan	June 1945
					Model	July 1945
					Completion	March 1949
4	Greenbelt House	Ralph Rapson	Unbuilt		Plan	August 1945
					Model	September 1945
5	Loggia House	Whitney R. Smith	Unbuilt		Plan	September 1945
					Model	April 1946
6	Omega	Richard Neutra	Unbuilt		Plan, Model	October 1945
7		Thornton Abell	Extant	6236 N Deerfield Avenue, San Gabriel, CA	Plan	November 1945
					Model	May 1946
					Restudy	April 1947
					Construction	June 1948
					Completion	July 1948
8	Eames House	Charles Eames, Ray Eames	Extant	203 Chautauqua Way, Pacific Palisades, CA 90272	Plan	December 1945
					Model	March 1948
					Site	February 1949
					Framing	March 1949
					Plan	May 1949
					Merit Specified Products	July 1949
					Merit Specified Products	August 1949
					Interiors	September 1949
					Completion	December 1949
9	Entenza House	Charles Eames, Eero Saarinen	Extant	205 Chautauqua Way, Pacific Palisades, CA 90272	Plan	December 1945
					Model	March 1948
					Construction	January 1949
					Merit Specified Products	July 1949
					Merit Specified Products	August 1949
					Merit Specified Products, Completion	July 1950
10		Kemper Nomland, Kemper Nomland Jr.	Significantly Altered[20]	711 San Rafael Avenue, Pasadena, CA 91105	Completion	October 1947
11		JR Davidson	Demolished	540 S Barrington Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90049	Plan, Model	January 1946
					Completion	July 1946
					Tenancy Study	March 1947
12	Lath House	Whitney R. Smith	Unbuilt		Plan	February 1946
					Model	December 1946
13	Alpha	Richard Neutra	Unbuilt[21]		Plan, Model	March 1946
15		JR Davidson	Extant	4755 Lasheart Drive, La Cañada Flintridge, CA 91011	Plan, Construction	January 1947
16		Rodney Walker	Demolished	9945 Beverly Grove Drive, Beverly Hills, CA 90210	Plan, Construction	June 1946
					Garden	August 1946
					Model	September 1946
					Completion	February 1947
16 [Ellwood]	Salzman House, Case Study House 1953	Craig Ellwood	Extant	1811 Bel Air Rd, Los Angeles, CA 90077	Merit Specifications	August 1951
					Merit Specifications	April 1952
					Merit Specifications	May 1952
					Merit Specifications	June 1952
					Merit Specifications	July 1952
					Merit Specifications	August 1952
					Merit Specifications	September 1952
					Merit Specifications	November 1952
					Merit Specifications	December 1952
					Construction	February 1953
					Merit Specifications	March 1953
					Merit Specifications	April 1953
					Completion, Merit Specifications	June 1953
					Heating	July 1953
17 [Walker]		Rodney Walker	Extant	7861 Woodrow Wilson Drive, Hollywood, CA 90046	Plan, Model	September 1946
					Completion	July 1947
17 [Ellwood]		Craig Ellwood	Remodeled beyond recognition	9554 Hidden Valley Road, Beverly Hills, CA 90210	Announcement	July 1954
					Plan	August 1954
					Plan	September 1954
					Plan	November 1954
					Landscaping	March 1955
					Plan, Merit Specifications	May 1955
					Construction, Merit Specifications	June 1955
					Construction, Merit Specifications	September 1955
					Announcement	February 1956
					Completion, Merit Specifications	March 1953
18 [Walker]	West House	Rodney Walker	Extant	199 Chautauqua Way, Pacific Palisades, CA 90272	Plan	November 1947
					Completion	February 1948
18 [Ellwood]	Fields House	Craig Ellwood	Remodeled Beyond Recognition	1129 Miradero Rd Beverly Hills, CA 90210	Plan	February 1956
					Specifications	May 1956
					Plan	April 1957
					Plan	August 1957
					Merit Specifications	September 1957
					Merit Specifications	October 1957
					Construction	November 1957
					Landscape	February 1958
					Construction	March 1958
					Completion	May 1958
					Completion, Merit Specifications	June 1958
19		Don Knorr	Unbuilt		Plan	May 1957
					Plan	August 1957
					Plan	September 1957
					Landscape	December 1957
					Merit Specifications	October 1957
20 [Neutra]	Stuart Bailey House	Richard Neutra	Extant	219 Chautauqua Boulevard, Pacific Palisades, CA 90272	Plan	November 1947
					Completion	December 1948
					Construction
20 [Buff, Straub, Hensman]	Bass House	C. Buff, C. Straub, D. Hensman	Extant	2257 North Santa Rosa Avenue, Altadena, CA 91001	Model	January 1958
					Construction	July 1958
					Construction	September 1958
					Completion, Merit Specifications	November 1958
21 [Neutra]		Richard Neutra	Unbuilt		Plan	May 1947
21 [Koenig]	Walter Bailey House	Pierre Koenig	Extant	9038 Wonderland Park Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90046	Plan	May 1958
					Construction	August 1958
					Construction	November 1958
					Completion	January 1959
					Completion	February 1959
1950		Raphael Soriano	Demolished	1080 Ravoli Dr, Pacific Palisades, CA 90272	Introduction	December 1949
					Merit Specifications	February 1950
					Merit Specifications	March 1950
					Plan	April 1950
					Merit Specifications	June 1950
					Plan	August 1950
					Construction	September 1950
					Objects, Merit Speficiations	October 1950
					Completion	November 1950
					Completion, Merit Specifications	December 1950
22	Stahl House	Pierre Koenig	Extant	1635 Woods Drive, Los Angeles, CA 90069	Plan	May 1959
					Construction	October 1959
					Construction, Merit Specifications	February 1960
					Completion, Merit Specifications	May 1960
					Completion, Merit Specifications	June 1960
23A	Triad	Killingsworth, Brady, Smith & Assoc.	Extant	2342 Rue de Anne, La Jolla, CA 92037	Merit Specifications	September 1959
					Plan	October 1959
					Merit Specifications	December 1959
					Merit Specifications	January 1960
					Construction	April 1960
					Construction, Merit Specifications	July 1960
					Landscaping, Merit Specifications	August 1960
					Merit Specifications	September 1960
					Construction	October 1960
					Completion, Merit Specifications	March 1961
23B			Remodeled beyond recognition	2343 Rue de Anne, La Jolla, CA 92037	Merit Specifications	September 1959
					Plan	October 1959
					Merit Specifications	December 1959
					Merit Specifications	January 1960
					Construction	April 1960
					Construction, Merit Specifications	July 1960
					Landscaping, Merit Specifications	August 1960
					Merit Specifications	September 1960
					Construction	October 1960
					Completion, Merit Specifications	March 1961
23C			Extant	2329 Rue de Anne, La Jolla, CA 92037	Merit Specifications	September 1959
					Plan	October 1959
					Merit Specifications	December 1959
					Merit Specifications	January 1960
					Construction	April 1960
					Construction, Merit Specifications	July 1960
					Landscaping, Merit Specifications	August 1960
					Merit Specifications	September 1960
					Construction	October 1960
					Completion, Merit Specifications	March 1961
24	Eichler Homes	A. Quincy Jones and Frederick E. Emmons	Unbuilt		Plan	July 1961
					Plan, Merit Specifications	September 1961
					Model, Merit Specifications	December 1961
25	Frank House	Killingsworth, Brady, Smith & Associates	Extant	82 Rivo Alto Canal, Long Beach, CA 90803	Plan, Merit Specifications	January 1962
					Plan, Construction, Merit Specifications	March 1962
					Construction, Merit Specifications	May 1962
					Construction, Merit Specifications	August 1962
					Completion, Merit Specifications	May 1962
26	Harrison House	Beverley "David" Thorne	Extant	177 San Marino Drive, San Rafael, CA 94903	Plan, Construction, Merit Specifications	October 1962
					Plan, Merit Specifications	November 1962
					Completion, Merit Specifications	January 1963
					Addition	July 1963
27		Campbell and Wong	Unbuilt		Plan	June 1963
28	Janss/Pacific Case Study House	C. Buff and D. Hensman	Extant	489 Oak Creek Drive, Thousand Oaks, CA 91361	Plan	July 1965
					Model, Construction	December 1965
					Completion	September 1966
Apt 1		Alfred N. Beadle, Alan A. Dailey	Extant		Plan	November 1963
					Completion	September 1964
Apt 2	Whitmore Apartments	Killingsworth, Brady, Smith & Assoc.	Unbuilt		Plan	May 1964
					Merit Specifications	June 1964
					Merit Specifications	July 1964