Comments (0) BEST HOUSE OF DICK - 2009
Neutra VDL Research House
2300 Silver Lake Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90039
323-644-5480
The best way to truly experience the work of great architects is to step inside the home they've designed for themselves. Unfortunately, Schindler's home was left unfurnished, and the best view most of us will get of Charles and Ray Eames' place is with a nose pressed up to the window. But tucked into the shore of the Silver Lake Reservoir is Richard Neutra's residence and studio, the Neutra VDL Research House, an elegant stack of glass and beams, its signature louvers plunging down into an entryway pond. For $10 — all of it contributing to the ongoing renovation — you can see it much like it was when Neutra lived and worked here, beginning in 1932. (A renovation after a 1963 fire was completed by Neutra's son Dion.) Every Saturday, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., Cal Poly Pomona students give 30-minute tours. Take the last one of the day and position yourself upstairs to catch the afternoon light on the penthouse reflecting pool, which appears to fade imperceptibly into the water of the reservoir beyond. 2300 Silver Lake Blvd., L.A. (323) 644-5480, neutra-vdl.org.
—Alissa Walker
