Tag: losangelesarchitecture

Thank you to Sunset Magazine for including me in an article on the 100 Years of L.A. Architecture. Not only is it a pleasure to sell these wonderful homes, but it’s exciting to know there’s an audience that appreciates them. We hope these special homes in Los Angeles and beyond can last for many years into the future.

Right before the 1940s, both the city and the nation saw a number of people immigrating from Europe. This brought over architectural ideas that began on the continent. Brian Courville, director of the Architectural Division at Compass, names Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and Walter Gropius as integral to the rise of early modernism and the Minimal Traditional style. Mies and Gropius served as director and founder of the Bauhaus School, respectively. The Bauhaus School “embraced the idea that form follows function,” according to Courville.

While war was raging and resources were limited, design turned away from the complexities of the previous decades and toward very functional or minimal design. Courville says Richard Neutra and Rudolph Schindler were important figures of the movement, and sought to discover materials and processes that made building and owning homes as cost-effective as possible.

Courville says the design styles of the 1940s were also the “the design catalyst” of mid-century modern. Building on the simplicity of the early modernism and the Minimal Traditional style, this movement brought about simply designed homes with intentional connection to the surrounding landscape.

Brian Linder, a licensed architect and real estate broker, describes “open floor plans, large windows, the integration of indoor and outdoor spaces, and flat roofs” as primary features of the style. The recovery period following World War II meant people were still looking for the most cost-effective ways to live. The Case Study House program, which sponsored and commissioned architects to create inexpensive model homes, launched in 1945 but really took off in the 1950s.

Modern Living LA is a real estate team that specializes in well-designed homes filled with character and style, including architectural, historic, and classic Los Angeles homes.