A Tour of Streamlined Silver Lake

It is no coincidence that when the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and the Los Angeles Conservancy wanted to sponsor an architectural tour in conjunction with the Machine Age exhibit now on display at the museum they focused on the sylvan community of Silver Lake.

Perched in a cozy cluster of hills above Sunset Boulevard between Hyperion Avenue and Glendale Boulevard, Silver Lake has a marvelous collection of houses designed in the 1930s in the so-called Streamline Moderne style that dominated the Machine Age.

As applied to houses, the style features rounded corners and curved wings that when molded to the horizontal volumes of stucco structures make them appear sleek and ready for takeoff. It is distinguished by a generally pristine look; glass brick and pipe railing mark the detailing.

Among the Moderne houses on the tour to be conducted by the conservancy Sunday, Oct. 4, are three that were designed and built by William Kesling. For details about the tour and reservations, please contact the conservancy by calling (213) 623-CITY.

Before striking out on his own in 1935, Kesling had been a contractor on several projects designed by architect R.M. Schindler, who in turn had been a construction supervisor 15 years earlier for Frank Lloyd Wright. And as Schindler had learned from Wright, Kesling learned from Schindler, adapting his preference for open interior plans and such elements as built-ins.

But while Schindler was wedded to the more severe International Modern style, Kesling preferred the more sinuous Moderne style. Between 1935 and 1937, Kesling built 26 variations on the style in the Silver Lake and Los Feliz areas. The three that will be on display next week are at 1519, 1530 and 1536 Easterly Terrace.

The houses can be viewed from the street, as can a broad collection of other distinctive designs in the Moderne and Modern styles of the 1930s, ‘40s and ‘50s. It is this collection that marks the community and makes it an architectural buff’s delight to tour, anytime.

A twisting, curving block above Easterly Terrace and its cluster of Kesling structures is Silverwood Terrace, where at 1816-1818 is a well-sited house, built in 1937 and designed by Modernist master Richard Neutra. Neutra had been enticed to Los Angeles from Vienna by Schindler, and for awhile they were partners.

Other Neutra homes of note nearby are at 2226, 2232, 2238, 2242 and 2250 Silver Lake Boulevard, each a sculptural variation on the Modernist theme of horizontal planes set into a vertical, verdant landscape. Neutra’s own home, which he built in 1933 and which was sensitively rebuilt in part by his son Dion after a fire in 1963, is at 2300 Silver Lake Blvd. The three-story structure is a monument to the Modern style Neutra and Schindler championed.

One of Schindler’s most distinctive Silver Lake designs is the Falk apartments at the northeast corner of Lucille and Carnation avenues. Designed in 1942 when building materials were scarce, the structure is built frugally into a hillside. Its angles give each apartment a view, a garden and privacy, while creating an engaging geometric sculpture.

Among the single-family structures Schindler designed in the area is the Westby House at 1805 Maltman Ave. and the more complex and shapely Olive House at 2236 Micheltorena St.

And if you are wondering what that is at the top of the street at 2138 Micheltorena, it is Silvertop, a spaceship of a house designed in 1957 with an engineering fancy by John Lautner. Today, 30 years after it was built, the house still looks as if it is 30 years ahead of its time.

As for the house Lautner built for himself in 1939, it is a relatively modest exercise perched calmly on a cliff at 2007 Micheltorena St.

Micheltorena also has a variety of other interesting Modern style houses. These include number 1856, designed by Gregory Ain in 1939; 2265, designed by Harwell Harris in 1940, and 2323 and 2404, both designed by Ain in 1940 and 1941, respectively. Built with inexpensive materials on relatively small, awkward sites, the houses--though now nearly 50 years old--all appear functional and attractive, blending in well with the landscape while commanding views.

Because of their age, Modern perhaps is no longer the appropriate description. And somehow International , a synonym for Modern, just does not fit either, given the uniquely Los Angeles setting. Perhaps then it is time to christen the look the Silver Lake style.