Author: Ed Baran
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Stahl House (Case Study House #22): Modernist Icon Above Los Angeles
The Stahl House, also known as Case Study House #22, is a steel and glass masterpiece perched above Los Angeles. Designed by Pierre Koenig in 1960, it became an icon of mid century modernism and one of the most photographed homes in the world, immortalized by Julius Shulman’s legendary nighttime image.
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Lovell Health House (1929): Richard Neutra’s Modernist Breakthrough in Los Feliz
The Lovell Health House is Richard Neutra’s groundbreaking 1929 steel-frame masterpiece perched above Los Feliz. Designed for Dr. Philip Lovell, the home introduced International Style modernism to Los Angeles with its floating volumes, ribbon windows, and radical health-driven design. It remains one of the most influential modernist homes in the world.
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Greystone Mansion (1928): The Doheny Estate Above Beverly Hills
Greystone Mansion is a 1928 Tudor Revival estate built for the Doheny family, one of Los Angeles’ early oil dynasties. With its limestone facade, grand staircases, tragic family history, and sprawling terraced gardens, it stands as one of the most important and cinematic historic homes in Beverly Hills.
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The Ennis House (1924): Frank Lloyd Wright’s Mayan Revival Masterwork Above Los Feliz
The Ennis House, designed by Frank Lloyd Wright in 1924, is the pinnacle of his textile-block experiments. Perched above Los Feliz with sweeping city views, the house blends Mayan Revival geometry, cast concrete blocks, and cinematic presence, making it one of Wright’s most iconic and influential Los Angeles works.
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The Cedars (1926): Hollywood’s Gothic Masterpiece in Los Feliz
The Cedars, designed for filmmaker Maurice Tourneur in 1923, is a Mediterranean Revival landmark overlooking Los Feliz. Its grand terraces, sweeping arches, and Hollywood lineage have made it a magnet for actors, musicians, and legends for over a century, capturing the spirit of early cinematic Los Angeles.
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The DeMille Estate (1913): Old Hollywood’s Grand Hilltop in Laughlin Park
The DeMille Estate in Laughlin Park, built in 1914 for filmmaker Cecil B. DeMille, is one of the earliest Hollywood power homes. With its Italianate architecture, sweeping gardens, and rich film history, the estate reflects the birth of Hollywood itself and the rise of Los Angeles as a cultural capital.
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Sowden House (1926): Lloyd Wright’s Mayan Revival Showplace in Los Feliz
The Sowden House in Los Feliz, designed by Lloyd Wright in 1926, is one of Los Angeles’s most striking examples of Mayan Revival architecture. Its geometric concrete blocks, dramatic courtyard, and long cultural shadow have made it a landmark of Hollywood mystique, architectural experimentation, and enduring speculation.
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Castillo del Lago (1926): A Spanish-Colonial Castle in the Hollywood Hills
Castillo del Lago is one of the most recognizable homes in the Hollywood Hills, a 1926 Spanish-Moorish landmark built for oil heiress Aline Barnsdall’s circle and later transformed into a bold, colorful showpiece by Madonna in the 1990s. With its tower, terraces, and dramatic hillside presence, the house reflects a century of Hollywood glamour, reinvention,…
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Moorcrest: The Enchanted Hollywood Hills Mansion
Moorcrest is one of the most imaginative and theatrical homes in the Hollywood Hills, designed in 1921 for the Krotona Colony and later home to icons like Charlie Chaplin and Mary Astor. With its stained glass, domed ceilings, Art Nouveau detailing, and mystical Theosophical symbolism, the house stands as a rare fusion of spiritual idealism…