Richard Neutra’s Kun House

The Hollywood Hills house, originally designed for journalist Josef Kun, is back in the public sphere, thanks to preservationist James Rega, Christopher Steele and Gerald Casale (of the band Devo). The three have returned the home to the way it was in 1936.  (Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times)

Owner Gerald Casale walks from the living room to the dining room. The floors are finished with wax and oil instead of modern polyurethane.  (Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times)

Views include the city and, some days, even the ocean from the living room of the Richard Neutra house in the Hollywood Hills.  (Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times)

An Alvar Aalto Paimio chair and an Alvar Aalto tea trolley in the living room.  (Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times)

Detail of the metal beams across the wood plank ceiling over the veranda.  (Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times)

A Julius Shulman photograph of the home covers a panel that’s used to conceal a flat-screen TV. Marcel Breuer tubular metal shelf by Thonet holds components. The house was originally designed in 1936 for journalist Josef Kun.  (Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times)

Built-in drawers, a model of the Von Sternberg house (1936) and a custom nickel-plated return air grill, which is a replica of what Neutra fabricated during this period.  (Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times)

Furniture is in keeping with the style and era of the house, with some pieces more midcentury.   (Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times)

In the living room, an Adolph Loos Thebes stool made by Liberty of London.  (Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times)

Reproductions of Luckhaus photographs and an Alvar Aalto Scroll chair in the bedroom.  (Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times)

Owner and wine aficionado Gerald Casale enjoys a glass in the living room of his Richard Neutra house. The wood floors are oiled and waxed.  (Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times)

Cabinetry hides a modern refrigerator and dishwasher in the house.  (Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times)

A light fixture in the kitchen.  (Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times)

Period Bakelite knobs on the oven. All details of the house were returned to an early 20th century aesthetic.  (Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times)

A Man Ray photo hangs on the wall.  (Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times)

The floors were restored to the original linoleum, seen as you enter the front door. The floor used to be wood.  (Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times)

The outside doorknob is chrome and the inside knob is nickel, as per Neutra’s plan.  (Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times)

Owner Gerald Casale watches the sunset from the top-floor patio of a Richard Neutra house originally designed for journalist Josef Kun.  (Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times)

A view of the city to the ocean from the Richard Neutra house in the Hollywood Hills.  (Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times)

The house’s entrance in the Hollywood Hills.  (Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times)

The bedroom.  (Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times)

All the bathroom’s fixtures and showerhead are period-appropriate. The mirror is intentionally old-looking and the legs of the sink cabinet are modeled after the Von Sternberg house by Neutra.  (Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times)

Nicole Branch watches the sunset from the top-floor patio.  (Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times)