Erich Mendelsohn, Russell House, San Francisco, 1952, drawing by Rod Henmi, AIA.Timelessness as applied to the built environment is a particularly charged concept in California, whose tectonic temperament alone dictates that we not get too attached to any one address. These buildings and constructions endure, having stood the test of time both physically and romantically. They are highlighted in our collective consciousness as much as any map grid: we individually won’t experience every site, yet we all celebrate the fact that they exist.
A list crafted by committee—as this one was by the Editorial Board during a meeting at, aptly, the Gamble House, and then through e-mail—is intrinsically subjective. Something escaped us. Perhaps a place so aligned with our sense of structural California that it (nonliterally) fell through the cracks for its obviousness. Perhaps a place so far off the design radar screen that even a group of architects and writers wouldn’t have come up with it. Aiming for both preservation diligence and general awareness, our intent is to establish and disseminate a definitive, if necessarily fluid, roster. Amend it as you will.
Chapel of the Chimes, Oakland, Julia Morgan, 1928
Sheats-Goldstein House, Los Angeles, John Lautner, 1963; 1980-95
Wind Farms, Altamont Pass, San Gorgonio Pass, U.S. Department of Energy, 1970s
Condominium I, The Sea Ranch, Moore Lyndon Turnbull Whitaker, 1965
Wigwam Motel, Rialto, F. A. Radford, c, 1948
Fort Point, San Francisco, U.S. Army Engineers, 1853
Capitol Records Building, Hollywood, Welton Becket and Associates, 1954 ·
California Hall, Balboa Park, San Diego, Bertram G. Goodhue, 1914
Lovell House, Los Angeles, Richard Neutra, 1929
Case Study House #23, Naples, Killingsworth, Brady and Smith, 1962
Southampton Lighthouse, Tinsley Island, architect unknown, 1880s
Sonoma Barracks, Sonoma, General Vallejo, 1836
V. C. Morris Store (now Xanadu Tribal Arts), San Francisco, Frank Lloyd Wright, 1948
Mission Inn, Riverside, Benton, Hunt, Grey and Wilson, 1902-14
Virginia Dare Winery (ruin), Cucamonga, Arthur Benton, c, 1900
Central Library, Los Angeles, Bertram G. Goodhue, 1926
Giant Dipper Rollercoaster, Santa Cruz, Arthur Loaf, 1924
Mission San Antonio de Padua, Jolon, Junipero Serra, 1810-13
Ahwahnee Hotel, Yosemite, Gilbert Stanley Underwood, 1927
Griffith Observatory & Planetarium, Los Angeles, John C. Austin and F. M. Ashley, 1935
Eichler Homes, San Francisco Bay Area I Los Angeles, Anshen and Allen; Jones & Emmons; Claude Oakland & Associates, 1949-65
Santa Fe Depot, San Diego, Bakewell & Brown, 1915
Camera Obscura, San Francisco, Floyd Jennings, 1946
Santa Barbara County Courthouse, Santa Barbara, William Mooser, 1929
Salk Institute, La Jolla, Louis L Kahn, 1964-66
Venice Canals, Venice, Abbot Kinney, 1904
Los Angeles City Hall, Los Angeles, J. C. Austin, J. & D. Parkinson, A. C. Martin, Sr., 1926·28
California Memorial Stadium, U.C. Berkeley, John Galen Howard, 1923
Wayfarers’ Chapel, Rancho Palos Verdes, Lloyd Wright, 1951 and after
Oakland Museum, Oakland, Kevin Roche John Dinkeloo & Associates, 1969
Gehry House, Santa Monica, Frank 0. Gehry, 1979
Hallidie Building, San Francisco, Willis Polk, 1917
Tramway Gas Station (now Montana St. Martin Gallery), Palm Springs, Albert Frey, 1965
Watts Towers, Los Angeles, Simon Rodia, 1921·54
California Aquaduct, Central Valley, State Water Project (SWP), 1963·68
Chemosphere, Los Angeles, John Lautner, 1960
Department of Water & Power Building, Los Angeles, A. C. Martin and Associates, 1965
La Miniatura, Pasadena, Frank Lloyd Wright, 1923
Textile Block Houses, Hollywood, West Hollywood, Pasadena, Frank Lloyd Wright, 1917·24
Disneyland, Anaheim, Walter E. Disney, 1955
Stanford University Quad, Palo Alto, Shepley, Rutan & Coolidge, 1891
Russell House, San Francisco, Erich Mendelsohn, 1952
Arroyo Seco Parkway (now Pasadena Freeway), Pasadena, California Department of Transportation, 1938·53
Larkin House, Monterey, architect unknown, 1834
Union Station, Los Angeles, John and Donald Parkinson; J. H. Christie, H. L. Gilman, R. J. Wirth, 1934· 39
Fort Ross, Sonoma County, Russian-American Trading Company, 1812
Mar Vista Housing, Mar Vista, Gregory Ain, 1947
Moffett Field Dirigible Hangars, Mountain View, U.S. Navy, 1931·32
Eames House, Santa Monica, Charles and Ray Eames, 1947·49
Golden Gate Park, San Francisco, William H. Hall and John Mclaren, 1871-77 and after
Houses: Riviera Ranch Road, Brentwood, Cliff May, 1940s
Hotel Del Coronado, Coronado, Reid & Reid, 1888
Colorado Street Bridge, Pasadena, John Drake Mercereau, 1913
Biltmore Hotel, Los Angeles, Schultze and Weaver, 1922·23; 1928
Carson House, Eureka, Samuel and Joseph C. Newsom, 1884·86
Stuart Pharmaceuticals (now Cal-Start), Pasadena, Edward Durrell Stone, 1958
Theme Building, LAX, Paul R. Williams; Pereira & Luckman and Welton Becket, 1959-62
Palace Hotel, San Francisco. Trowbridge & Livingston, 1909
Kaufmann House, Palm Springs, Richard Neutra, 1946
Kings Road House, West Hollywood, R. M. Schindler, 1922
Village Green (originally Baldwin Hills Village), Los Angeles, Robert E. Alexander, Reginald D. Johnson, Wilson and Merrill; Fred Barlow and Fred Edmonson, 1940-41
First Church of Christ Scientist, Berkeley, Bernard Maybeck, 1927
Gamble House, Pasadena. Greene and Greene, 1908
Paramount Theater, Oakland, Miller & Pflueger, 1931
The Stack (4-Level Interchange), Pasadena. California Department of Transportation, 1948
Lovell Beach House, Balboa, R. M. Schindler, 1926
Casino, Avalon, Webber and Sumner, 1929
Cake bread Cellars, Rutherford, William Turnbull Associates, 1980
Third Street Bridge, San Francisco, Joseph Strauss, 1933
Hansen House, Silver Lake, Harwell H. Harris, 1951
Granada Building, Los Angeles. Franklin Harper, 1927
Kappe House, Santa Monica, Kappe and Lotto, 1968
ARCO Plaza, Los Angeles. Albert C. Martin and Associates, 1971
Tail o’ the Pup, West Hollywood, Milton J. Black, 1938
Pellissier (Wiltern) Building, Los Angeles, Morgan, Walls and Clements; G. A. Lansburgh, 1930
Gregory Farmhouse, Santa Cruz Mountains. William Wurster, 1928
Art Center College of Design, Pasadena, Craig Ellwood Associates, 1976
Old Saint Hilary’s Church, Tiburon, architect unknown, 1888
Frey House II, Palm Springs, Albert Frey, 1963
Crown Zellerbach Building, San Francisco, Skidmore Owings & Merrill; Hertzka & Knowles, 1959
Buck House, Los Angeles, R. M. Schindler, 1934
Pacific Design Center, West Hollywood, Cesar Pelli; Gruen Associates, 1975
Houses: 3200 Block of Pacific Avenue, San Francisco, Bruce Porter, Willis Polk, Bernard Maybeck. William F. Knowles, Ernest Coxhead, 1901-09
Donnell Pool and Garden, Sonoma, Thomas D. Church, 1948-49
Hollywood Sign, Hollywood, Hollywoodland Development Co., 1923 and after
Caltech Athenaeum, Pasadena, Gordon B. Kaufmann, 1930
Caltech Campus, Pasadena. M. Hunt and E. Grey, 1908-1 0; B. G. Goodhue, 1915
Hearst Castle, San Simeon. Julia Morgan, 1919·42
Case Study House #22, Los Angeles, Pierre Koenig, 1959
Haas-Lilienthal House, San Francisco, Peter Schmidt, 1886
Villa D’Este Apartments, West Hollywood, Pierpont and Walter S. Davis, 1928
Anderson House, Pacific Palisades, Craig Ellwood, 1950
Hearst Mining Building, U.C. Berkeley, John Galen Howard, 1902-07
Abbey San Encino, Highland Park, Clyde Brown, 1909-25
Bradbury Building, Los Angeles. George H. Wyman, 1893
Wrigley Memorial, Catalina Island, Bennett, Parsons and Frost, 1934
Neutra House, Silver Lake, Richard Neutra, 1933, 1964
Marin County Civic Center, Santa Venetia. Frank Lloyd Wright, 1957-72
Horatio West Court, Santa Monica, Irving Gill, 1919
Gemini G.E.L. Studios, Los Angeles, Frank O. Gehry, 1976
Ghirardelli Square, San Francisco. William Mooser 1893-95; Wurster Bernardi & Emmons; Lawrence Halprin, 1962-67
Hollywood Bowl, Hollywood, Lloyd Wright and others, 1921 and after
Shasta Dam, Shasta County, U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, 1938-45
First Church of Christ Scientist, Belvedere, Charles Warren Callister, 1952
Heverton House, Santa Barbara, George Washington Smith, 1916
Point Fermin Lighthouse, San Pedro, architect unknown, 187 4
Oviatt Building, Los Angeles, Walker and Eisen, 1927-28
Kresge College, U.C. Santa Cruz, Moore Lyndon Turnbull Whitaker, 1966-73
Bungalow Courts, Pasadena, Arthur S. and Alfred Heineman, 1909-39
Lloyd Wright House, West Hollywood, Lloyd Wright, 1928
Tuna Club I Yacht Club, Avalon, members-built, 1916; 1924
Golden Gate Bridge, San Francisco, Irving Morrow and Joseph Strauss, 1937
The Bishops School, La Jolla, Irving Gill, 1909-16
Andalusia Apartments, West Hollywood, Arthur and Nina Zwebell, 1926
Steel Development Houses, Palm Springs, Wexler and Harrison, 1962
Vincent Thomas Bridge, San Pedro, California Department of Transportation, 1963
Malaga Cove Plaza, Palos Verdes Estates, Olmsted Brothers; Charles H. Cheney; Webber Staunton and Spaulding, 1925 and after
[Originally published in early 2000, in arcCA 00.1, “Zoning Time.”]
