Still Mourning for a Lost Neutra Landmark

First we would like to commend you for the excellent article by Kathy Bryant (“When a Neutra Landmark Becomes a Tear-Down,” April 11). When Bryant reached us, we did not fully have a chance to put our point of view across, and we would like to make the following comments:

We had no prior relationship whatsoever with the buyer, Richard Rotenberg of Hopkins, Minn. We feel totally deceived by Mr. Rotenberg, who told us he was just going to do minor alterations to the house and bring it up to earthquake standards. If we had known the truth, we never would have sold him the house. He was well aware of the fact that it was a Neutra house.

It had been our sole desire to protect the house when we sold it. That is why we hired Sotheby’s realty and added one of the L.A. experts in vintage houses to help with the sale, and why we put a price of $850,000 above the appraised value of the house.

We cannot overstate how devastated we are by this loss. This house was in pristine condition. To our knowledge, it was the last remaining Neutra house built and lived in by the original owners. Nothing was changed or modified since it was built in 1962. Tours by every museum in the country came through. Many came expressly to Rancho Mirage to see the house.

To think that a wanton act of violence to this house in one day could destroy what the family for 40 years has tried to protect is very sad.

In the last six months, we have lost my mother and sister, and my wife’s father, all of whom spent many years of pleasure in this house. In many ways, the loss of the house is the cruelest and most senseless death of all.

JIM and LAURA MASLON

Marina del Rey

Jim Maslon is the son of Luella and Samuel Maslon, who commissioned the Neutra home in Rancho Mirage, which was torn down in March.

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Luckily the Maslons’ art collection didn’t come with the house, or we would be reading about some amateur painter that decided that a Matisse or Lichtenstein would make a great canvas to paint over, or that a Henry Moore sculpture could be ground up for gravel.

What a tragedy and loss for architecture.

DAVID ROSE

Redondo Beach

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While I was distressed to read of the destruction of the Maslon House, I was equally distressed to see all of the blame placed on the new owner, Richard J. Rotenberg. Some responsibility falls on the shoulders of Samuel and Luella Maslon for not making any provisions in their estate to protect the building they created and supposedly loved.

There are many things the Maslons could have down in their lifetime to prevent the “architectural terrorism” that occurred in Rancho Mirage. Having the building declared a historic landmark usually keeps away people who would do it harm. They could have made a provision in their wills that the house could be sold only to someone who would live in it. A variety of alternatives existed for the Maslons other than to do nothing and hope that nothing bad would happen to the building. When you care about architecture, you need to protect it, not hope others will read your mind after you are dead.

RODNEY KEMERER

Beverly Hills

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I don’t know what’s worse--the mind-set that destroys the unique and irreplaceable or the city government that permits it. If you don’t like or can’t appreciate something, don’t buy it.

What a dark and depressing legacy for a city once so bright and beautiful. The true mirage in this wealthy desert city is Neutra’s once sublime Maslon House, now a murky image in the minds of those lucky enough to have seen it.

PETER B. MCDONALD

Los Angeles