Visiting The Stahl House

A couple of weeks ago I was in Palm Springs for Modernism Week's preview weekend. Both of my sisters joined me for the semi-work/semi-vacation trip and we scheduled a visit to the much-adored, Stahl House in Los Angeles.

Victoria and I had the opportunity to visit Case Study House #8, The Eames House, in June of 2014, so we made it a priority to get up to Los Angeles while we were on the west coast to see Case Study House #22.

We arrived ahead of schedule and grabbed some mochi at Trader Joe's before heading up the hill to park inside their carport. It gave me a bit of time to admire the unique breeze block pattern with teak wood used between blocks instead of mortar. We had a few others join us on the tour - I think there were 15 people in total, but the group of eight was running late, and left before our hour-long time frame was up.

Our docent, Scott, was on hand to give us some history on the house & family, and also tell us what the plans are to continue restoring the property, which the Stahl Family still owns today. It was close to 100* that day, and this pregnant lady wanted to "accidentally" fall into the pool to cool myself off!

Just a note - no "real" cameras are allowed on the property (unless you're a professional who has set up an approved photo shoot), so these are all iPhone photos .

When the door from the carport opens, and you walk thru the breeze block entryway, it's literally jaw-dropping; I couldn't believe how gorgeous it was from up there! You walk right into the pool area, and the house is an "L" shape which all opens up to the pool. When we arrived it was full sun, but as you can tell from the photos below, it gets darker as we are there. I asked Scott if he could turn the giant globe lights on, which was no problem.

If you're ever in the area, or possibly live in the area and have NOT be there, go. No excuses. It's $35, which goes to funding future restorations on the property. More info on the Stahl House website here.

Now, here are my photos I snapped to capture the home, the pool, and the views from the Hollywood Hills!

The breeze blocks were such a great feature on either side of the entry door from the carport.The amount of glass sliders used was quite unbelievable! I personally loved the plywood kitchen & peanut brittle fireplace - two features most people would "update" in a home today. The views of downtown L.A. are insane.A better view of the kitchen & dining area.The famous corner of the home - probably the most photographedMy sister, Victoria, 'gramming a sweet photo, I'm sure. Then I asked her to look natural, and then I asked her to laugh - love this serious of her.A panoramic view of the house. Just stunning with those globes on! It was SUCH a fun time.

Visiting Los Angeles

In June, my sister and I went to Los Angeles for a long weekend of fun. The main reason for the trip was to attend Dwell on Design, but we also fit in a visit to the Eames House, spent a bit of time at our rooftop pool at The Standard, and enjoyed plenty of sushi & mojitos along the way. I have never taken a trip with just Victoria, but I must say we had a great time and I'm looking forward to doing so again.



We arrived on Thursday after a long day of travel, and checked into our hotel. Friday morning, we walked over to Dwell on Design and explored the conference floor. We sat in on a couple different lectures, and I enjoyed everything about this conference.




Saturday we woke up early and headed to the Dwell Home Tours. Because they were all over the city, we only made it to three of the five open homes before ditching the tour and heading to Member's Appreciation Day at the Eames House. I only snapped a couple of photos, and the one above was certainly my favorite master bedroom on the tour. You just can't go wrong with glass walls and a million dollar views.




The highlight of the trip for me was visiting Case Study House #8, aka, the Eames House, in Pacific Palisades, just outside of Santa Monica. Actually, you can spot the Santa Monica Pier from the home's large yard overlooking Highway 1. Just spectacular!




As member's of the foundation, we were invited to actually step inside and listen to stories about Ray & Charles from various docents. While no interior photos are allowed, it's hard not to (kinda) see inside with all the glass on the exterior.



We spent a lot of time walking around the home & the meadow. Plus, we got to meet Ray & Charles' grandson, Eames Demetrios, and their granddaughter, Lucia Atwood.



Views from the yard, which they call the "meadow" were second to none!



While enjoying the afternoon, we were invited to write a postcard rebus-style, to someone, which was something the Eames family did. Mine was a bit basic, but it was pretty fun! We also played a game toward the end of the visit with all the other members. The winner, sadly not either of us!, won a brand new shell chair from Herman Miller in their choice of color. It was hilariously fun to watch all of us adults try SO hard to win that chair :)



While there, I had Eames Demetrios sign a copy of his book to my son, Eames. It was a sweet keepsake to hold on to, and I've read most of it already. Mr. Demetrios also gifted me a set of "House of Cards" during the afternoon because I was "cool enough to name my son Eames". I was SO darn excited!


Sunday morning was spent at the pool, and then I headed back to the conference center after brunch for a couple of more loops around the floor, and a few more lectures.

Monday we split ways - I headed back to Chicago and ultimately home to Grand Haven, while Victoria continued on to San Francisco for work.