MODERN CALIFORNIA HOUSES
CASE STUDY HOUSES 1945-1962

Esther McCoy

Esther McCoy: MODERN CALIFORNIA HOUSES: CASE STUDY HOUSES 1945-1962.NYC: Reinhold Publishing, 1962. First Edition. Oblong quarto. Tan cloth stamped in brown. Photographically printed dust jacket. Stylish black endpapers. 216 pp. 150 black and white photographs. 110 floor and site plans. This book is virtually unknown in its original edition -- but Hennessey and Ingalls reprinted it as a paperback in 1997. This is the original edition from 1962 --a truly scarce title. Textblock edges lightly spotted. Orange dust jacket sun-faded to spine [as usual]. Spine crown chipped. Edges lightly worn with a couple of small chips and a few tiny closed tears. A very good copy.

10.25 x 7.25 hardcover book with 216 pages and 150 captioned b/w photographs, 110 floor and site plans. 90 percent of the photography is by Julius Shulman. Foreward by Thomas Creighton. No disrespect to Hennessey or Ingalls, but their reprint cannot do justice to the beauty of this original edition's beautiful reproductions, binding and design! An amazing vintage relic that must be seen to be truly appreciated.

As a contributing editor to ARTS & ARCHITECTURE magazine, Esther McCoy was in a unique position to chronicle the brilliant trajectory of the Case Study house program. Her insider status gave her unparalleled access to the key figures in the program, and this original 1962 first edition remains the definitive work on the CSH program.

The Case Study House program (1945-66) was an exceptional, innovative event in the history of American architecture and remains unique to this day. The Los Angeles area program oversaw the design of 36 prototype homes, sought to make available plans for modern residences that could be easily and cheaply constructed during the postwar building boom.

The program's chief motivating force was ARTS & ARCHITECTURE editor John Entenza, a champion of modernism who had all the right connections to attract some of architecture's greatest talents, such as Richard Neutra, Charles and Ray Eames, and Eero Saarinen. Highly experimental, the program generated houses that were designed to re-define the modern home, and thus had a pronounced influence on architecture - American and international - both during the program's existence and even to this day.

This volume contains extensive information and photographs of the following designers and architects work: Thornton M. Abell, Conrad Buff III, Calvin C. Straub, Donald C. Hensman, Charles Eames, Eero Saarinen, J. R. Davidson, A. Quincy Jones, Frederick E. Emmons, Don R. Knorr, Edward A. Killingsworth, Jules Brady, Waugh Smith, Pierre Koenig, Kemper Nomland, Kemper Nomland Jr., Richard Neutra, Ralph Rapson, Raphael S. Soriano, Whitney R. Smith, Sumner Spaulding, John Rex, Rodney Walker, William Wilson Wurster, Theodore C. Bernardi, and Craig Ellwood.

Price: $1000.00
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