Rudolph Michael Schindler, Wolfe House, Santa Catalina Island, USA, 1928
Rudolph Michael Schindler, Wolfe House, 124 Chimes Tower Road, Avalon,Santa Catalina Island, USA, 1928
About the architect
Rudolph Michael Schindler (1887 Vienna – 1953 Los Angeles) was an Austrian-born American architect whose most important works were built in or near Los Angeles during the early to mid-twentieth century.
About the house
The plan read, “Summer House for E. Wolfe Catalina.” The mezzanine level was the street level and included the garage, small bedroom with full bath, kitchen, terrace, and living room with fireplace. The second floor was one below the mezzanine, and contained an ample guest room, with its own entry, kitchen, dressing room/bath, multi-purpose living area/sleeping space and terrace. (It could have functioned as a rental unit, if desired. The first floor also was a living/sleeping room space with bath; this floor consisted mostly of a porch on the southeast corner. The roof served as a terrace and had its own hearth.
Wolfe House was torn down in 2002, creating a scandal within the preservation community in Southern California.
Schindler designed the Wolfe house’s three stories and roof terrace to step down its steep hillside site. This was one of Schindler’s most interesting floor plans, and a great loss from a preservationist’s standpoint.
References
reviewed by XiaoLiu