Architects stand by vision for house in Mar Vista

AS the architects of the Coconut House, which received prominent attention in last week’s cover story [“Marvel or Monster?” (Sept. 21)] about the so-called architectural redos in Mar Vista, we believe that our project was severely misrepresented.

First, the photography did not do justice to the qualities of the residence. When designing the Coconut House, which at 1,800 square feet is rather modestly proportioned, our goal was to create a space that provided the owner with not only a sense of openness and transparency but also privacy and seclusion.

In our opinion, there is no other house on this street that is more open and inviting than the Coconut House, and none that is as affordable, sustainable and built to last.

Second, the Coconut House is not designed to blend in. This neighborhood is not a historic bungalow neighborhood, which one might find in Venice or Santa Monica. Most homes on this street are outdated and are of extremely poor quality.

Sooner or later they will be torn down, and nobody will replace them with 600 square feet. Everybody will go up with a two-story design.

Finally, to address the bigger question: Do architects have an obligation to blend their designs with the surrounding neighborhoods? Yes, they do -- and our office has shown its ability to do this (in Europe, for instance, where we have successfully worked on projects that incorporate medieval, Roman and modern designs).

But on this particular street, there is simply nothing worthy of blending. The Coconut House is what future residences on this street should look like. Building codes should be adjusted to allow for quality homes in a more dense arrangement. We do not need 3-foot side yards on this kind of street.

Row houses, like those found in San Francisco, on the East Coast and in many European neighborhoods, should be built here instead, and with thoughtful planning, there is plenty of space to provide for more housing units and to increase the quality of life along this street.

This is the challenge that both architects and residents of Southern California face. We have to fight the urban sprawl that is extending to our cities in the desert, where it is now fashionable to build prefab houses with 5,000 square feet and solar panels.

We do not need more housing units built for speculators but architectural dwellings that are reasonably sized and will enable young families to live in places like Mar Vista.

And Mar Vista needs to wake up, get urbanized and enable its children to live where they are born. We need streets of Coconut Houses -- rows of them, in fact. That way we can provide not only the residents of Mar Vista, but those who wish to move here, with a comfortable, updated and affordable place to live.

STEPHAN MUNDWILER

Lee + Mundwiler Architects

Santa Monica

AS a member on the board of directors of the Architecture and Design Museum, which recently featured Lee + Mundwiler’s work in an exhibit of 40 of the most innovative young architects in Los Angeles, I find it especially grievous to see homeowner gossip in the guise of writing about architecture.

Since when has an 1,800-square-foot house fallen into the general category of mansionization? And since when does a newspaper reporter understand and know more about architecture and urban design than the American Institute of Architects jury that found this particular house worthy of its highest honor?

ANN VIDERIKSEN

Los Angeles

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AS a Mar Vista resident, I see large teardowns every day. While I sympathize with those who have lost views, I have little time for those who wish to impose stultifying homogeneity in the name of “context.” The flip side of “visual order” is suffocating conformity: There is plenty of “visual order” in “master-planned” south Orange County subdivisions.

The authors rightly acknowledge the class issues that color the situation. Land prices have made Mar Vista into an upper-class community, and there is nothing that any “anti-mansionization” law can do about that. The only way to keep Mar Vista affordable to the working class is to increase density, but I have a feeling that most of the old-timers around here would rather have a “Coconut House” on every block than allow more multifamily housing.

PETER MCFERRIN

Los Angeles

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THANK you for bringing to light the extremes of architecture in Mar Vista. There are newly constructed homes next to each other resembling structures such as a Russian nuclear plant and a refuge from a Sahara sandstorm. Why can’t we have an architectural board review plans when they are submitted for approval, as required in Bel-Air?

EDITH WARREN DAVIE

Mar Vista

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I want to thank you for the article, which was excellent. It covers several very important issues for many people throughout Los Angeles.

Many of these large homes block direct sunlight. As we move to rooftop photovoltaic systems and solar hot water systems, neighbors will not be able to get the sunlight these systems need during winter months. It is a small thing now, but it should be something in the city’s interest that our zoning codes protect.

Your comments on awards panels also struck a nerve. In my neighborhood in Venice is one of these huge, new houses. It is not an eyesore but it does not fit in. The owner then bought the lot next to him and added to his new house so now he has a 5,000-plus-square-foot house for his family of four on two lots.

His house has won environmental awards, but they fail to mention that 5,000-plus square feet for four people is environmentally excessive.

RICHARD STANGER

Venice

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MY wife and I enjoyed your article very much. We would love to have the new homes you depicted in our neighborhood. Instead we are witnessing an influx of the most ugly, out-of-place monstrosities one can imagine.

These are the behemoths springing up all over Tarzana and the surrounding areas. These houses are enormous from lot line to lot line, with a backyard barely larger than a postage stamp. Giant pillars in the front, all kinds of scroll work, some with stained glass and on and on and on. There are at least a dozen in various stages of construction.

We have lived in our house for 40 years and have never seen anything like this. We are not alone. Many of our longtime neighbors feel the same way.

MARVIN BIERS

Tarzana

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I have lived in Mar Vista all my life. When my parents built our house in 1953, it was on a dirt road surrounded by lima bean fields and a goat farm. Things have changed. We plan to live in Mar Vista the rest of our lives. We are awaiting a permit to expand the size of our home.

A neighbor was building an 1,800-square-foot guesthouse on the rear of his property. When it was 80% completed, the building department realized it should never have allowed him the permit because the structure is bigger and taller than the front house. This building department mistake has cost him many thousands of dollars.

CARL GROOMS

Mar Vista