Modern Era/Mid-Century Moderne Style
Driving Tour
What we have come to think of typical CA architecture had its beginnings as visionary prototypes in the Valley in the 1940s and 50s. Picture the type of building at the turn of the 20th century through the 1930s. The stirrings of the Moderne movement — inspired by Frank Lloyd Wright, futurism, and the Space Age — would have major impact on new building filling in the Valley after World War II.
LA Conservancy.org landmark properties and prototypes
These properties have been identified as historically significant to LA County, specifically the San Fernando Valley. Some have been saved from demolition by community activism, cared for and preserved by owners, and others placed on the National Register of Historic Places. Please be aware that most are private residences, and not open for tours.
These properties are listed in driving order in relation to each other, starting with the furthest NE property below. They are grouped in their quadrant of the Valley. (The web pages that preceded this put them in the order of when they were built. That way you could picture the buildings as they came into the landscape and changed the look of SFV.)
Northeast of SFV
1948
Gainsburg House
Since this home was designed by famed architect Lloyd Wright — son of F.LW.– its influence on other architects and Modernist movement is of interest. Located north of Glendale at the base of the San Gabriel Mountains
1210 Journey’s End Drive
La Canada 91011 (off of Hwy 2)
Southeast Valley
Glendale
1949
Schaffer House
527 Whiting Woods Drive
Glendale 91208 (Montrose)
1942
Rodriquez House
1845 Niodrara Drive
Glendale 91208
1966
Self-Realization Fellowship (originally First Church of Religious Science)
2146 E. Chevy Chase Drive
Glendale 91206
1967
Seventh Day Adventist Church
300 Vallejo Drive (near Hwy 2/134)
Glendale 91206
1964
Chase Bank (originally Prudential Savings and Loan)
500 N. Glendale
Glendale 91206
1976
U.S. Bank (originally Fidelity Federal Savings and Loan)
600 N. Brand Blvd.
Glendale 91203
1959
Glendale Federal Savings
401 N. Brand Blvd.
Glendale 91203
1940
Alex Theater
216 N. Brand Blvd.
Glendale 91203
1961
Glendale First Methodist Church
130 N. Kenwood Street
Glendale 91205
1959
Glendale County Building
600 E. Broadway
Glendale 91206
1965
Chapel of the Jesus Ethic – Niscience
336 W. Colorado Street
Glendale 91204
1930
Lloyd Hammond Wilson
Real estate developer of Glendale/ San Fernando Valley Road Corridor
Mediterranean/Moorish Revival Style.
3901 San Fernando Road
Glendale 91202
East Valley
Burbank
Downtown
1943
Burbank City Hall
WPA Moderne Style
275 E. Olive Avenue
Burbank 91502
1949
Burbank Water and Power
Late Moderne Style
164 W. Magnolia
Burbank 91502
South Valley 134/101 Corridor
Burbank
1954
General Motors Training Center
45 year state-of-the-art training site
1105 Riverside Drive
Burbank 91506
1937
Walt Disney Studios
The money from Snow White bought the lot — Disney’s home was “around the corner” in Los Feliz
1990 new studio – the columns are the 7 dwarves.
500 S. Buena Vista Street
Burbank 91521
1975
Warner Brothers Records Building
Late Moderne Style
architect A. Quincy Jones
3300 Riverside Drive
Burbank 91505
1981
Warner Brothers Office Building #1
111 N. Hollywood Way
Burbank 91505
1981
Warner Brothers Office Building #2
mirrored walls reflect 80% of summer sun away from building
3903 W. Olive Avenue
Burbank 91505
1949
Bob’s Big Boy
Owner Bob Wian’s burger preparation was revolutionary and copied by others such as McDonald’s. Funky postwar coffee shop designs developed first in LA in the late 1940s – 1960s. The style is referred to as Googie, a mixture of futuristic, Atomic Age, Space Age and car culture. This was the third restaurant, oldest left in US. The first was across from Glendale High School. As teens, my in-laws used to eat there.
4211 W. Riverside Drive
Burbank 91505
1982
Wells Fargo (originally World Savings)
architect Frank Gehry
10064 Riverside Drive
Toluca Lake 91602
1948
Case Study House #1
architect Julius Ralph Davidson
CA Modern Style designed for Arts and Architecture magazine program
10152 Toluca Lake Avenue
Los Angeles 91602
West of 170 Freeway
North Hollywood
1896
Lankershim Train Depot
One of few 19th century era landmarks left
The Valley’s oldest unmodified railroad structure
11275 Chandler Blvd/5351 Lankershim
- Hollywood 91601
1959
North Hollywood Masonic Lodge #542
Mayan/Mesoamerican Modern Style
5124 N. Tujunga Avenue
Los Angeles 91601
Clark Gable, John Wayne, Warner Brothers, Laurel and Hardy, Audie Murphy members
1961
Citibank (originally Commonwealth Savings Building)
Mid-century office design
5077 Lankershim Blvd.
- Hollywood 91601
one of the first high-rise commercial structures in SFV
1960
Wells Fargo (originally LA Federal Savings and Loan Tower)
Architect Richard Neutra defined modernism in S. CA
Tallest building in SFV, one of first skyscrapers built in LA — with a giant mural depicting LA history.
12160 Victory Blvd.
Los Angeles 91606
which anchored a new type of retail experience:
Valley Plaza Shopping Center
This was oriented away from neighborhood shopping towards car culture, with a large central parking lot in the back, easy access to the new freeway. This would prove to be a very influential new concept across the US for the next 50 years.
1960
Poster Neutra
Modernist, affordable, multi-family housing units
6847 Radford Avenue
- Hollywood 91605
1949
Laurelwood Apartments
International style
Modern courtyard garden apartment complex began in SFV
11833 Laurelwood Drive
Los Angeles 91604
1964
Waxman House
Modernism – vertical orientation on a challenging, steep, sloping lot
3644 Buena Park Drive
Los Angeles 91604
1962
St. Michael and All Angels Episcopal Church
Architects A. Quincy Jones and Frederick Emmons 18 year partnership produced thousands of modern churches and homes in S.CA
3646 Coldwater Canyon Ave.
Studio City 91604
1972
Ralph’s (originally Hughes Markets)
Mid-century Modern; distinctive design still intact, which is rare today. Supermarkets were designed to be eye-catching
12842 Ventura Blvd.
Los Angeles 91604
1942
Sportman’s Lodge
The hunting lodge-motifed restaurant and hotel were added in 1942 in the mid-century modern style – the Valley’s first fine dining experience. It became the center of social life for 50 years. The trout lakes had been around since the 1880s when Ventura Blvd. was a dirt road. SFV families fished here, then ate their dinner at the original rustic Craftsmans buildings. Since the property is close to the studios, scores of stars have hung out at the Lodge for decades and taught their children to fish here.
12833 Ventura Blvd.
Los Angeles 91604
1942
Lingenbrink Shops
William Lingenbrink was a patron of new modernistic ideas emerging in art and architecture. The design of his shops and galleries foreshadowed the CA strip mall — flat roofs and connected buildings made of stucco and glass. Lingenbrink’s art deco cabin designed by architect Robert Schindler still stands (though greatly enlarged) at 3978 Blackbird Way in Calabasas.
12632 Ventura Blvd.
Los Angeles 91604
Sherman Oaks
1948
Chase Knolls
13401 Riverside Drive
Los Angeles 91423
Garden apartment community born in SFV due to population boom after WWII. Residential buildings were arranged around a central courtyard. The parking and storage was around the perimeter. The modern aesthetic led to a plain exterior with wide eaves to provide shade. Citrus groves and dairy farms were built over rapidly in the Valley.
1962-1966
17 Platform Houses
Architect Richard Neutra designed platforms jutting out over the edge of steep slopes make the houses seem to float in the air.
3733 Oakfield Drive
Los Angeles 91423
1969
Sunkist Corporate Headquarters
Reinforced concrete with recessed windows, in an inverted structure.
14130 Riverside Drive
Los Angeles 91423
1949
Casa de Cadillac
Car dealership mid-century modern, blurring lines between the indoors and outdoors
14401 Ventura Blvd.
Sherman Oaks 91423
1953
Mel’s Diner (originally Kerry’s Coffee Shop)
Architects Armet and Davis classic Googie Style – mid-century modern roadside design. Angled roofline, Space Age elements. Very few surviving Googie coffee shops remain.
14846 Ventura Blvd.
Los Angeles 91403
1956
Phineas Kappe Residence
Architect designed at least five homes around Royal Woods Drive in California Modern, featuring post and beam construction, open interiors, large glass windows and patios.
15541 Woodcrest Drive
Los Angeles 91403
West of I-405
Encino
1960
Mid-century modern home
Architects A. Quincy Jones and Frederick Emmons developed the first affordable, middle class subdivisions.
3954 N. Ballina Drive
Los Angeles 91436
1964
Valley Beth Shalom
Mid-century modern — cornerstone quarried from Mt. Zion
15739 Ventura Blvd.
Los Angeles 91436
1953
Office Building
Mid-century modern by an Encino architect
17100 Ventura Blvd.
Encino 91316
1957
Chase Bank (originally Home Savings and Loan)
Artist Millard Sheets created large mosaic of SFV history
Sculpture by Betty Davenport Ford
17121 Ventura Blvd.
Encino 91316
1966
Car Wash
Googie style “auto laundry”
17438 Ventura Blvd.
Encino 91316
1958
Glazier House
Mid-century modern open split-level plan. Awards from House and Home, and Sunset magazines.
4422 Grimes Place (between White Oak and Lindley)
Encino 91316
1987
Fleetwood Center
Strip mall building shaped like the front of a 1976 Cadillac — originally hot pink, now white
19611 Ventura Blvd.
Los Angeles 91356
Woodland Hills
1967
formerly Casual Patio and Rattan
Mid-century Space Age design like a honeycomb
19855 Ventura Blvd.
Los Angeles 91364
1970 – 1990
Warner Center
Planned commercial, residential, mass-transit oriented community built on 1.5 square mile of ranch land once owned by Harry Warner. Today this urban hub has glass skyscrapers, a hospital, park, Metro Rail station and light industry, but is short on residents.
21550 Oxnard Street
Los Angeles 91364
1984
Al Struckus House
architect Bruce Goff designs modern organic architecture, each home being unique to its site. Struckus house is a 4 story cylinder in redwood and stucco. Struckus was a woodworker, engineer, and art collector who finished the house.
4510 Saltillo Street
Los Angeles 91364
1950s
Spanner Residence
Mid-century modern vertical stack on small, sloped lot
4143 N. Cachalote Street
West Hills 91364
1959
Woodside Neighborhood
architect Charles DuBois
Intact modern postwar neighborhood featuring Contemporary California Ranch homes on quiet curvilinear streets and cul-de-sacs.
4410 Willens Avenue
Los Angeles 91364 (Calabasas)
Westfield Mall – first mall
Mid-Valley North of Victory Boulevard, West I-405
1957
Westridge Park Ranch House
Modern, attractive, affordable subdivision on 1/2 acre setbacks. Cinderella Ranch Style with gingerbread moulding, exaggerated gables, with new ideas such as sliding glass doors, snack area with serving bar, fireplaces with log lighters.
21012 Strathem Street
Canoga Park 91304
1959
Child Development Institute (CDI) Learning Center (originally Canoga Park Library)
Mid-century modern. Butterfly roof, natural light, thin-shell concrete new material. Woodland Hills Library built at same time, but demolished 2001.
7260 Owensmouth Avenue
Los Angeles 91303
1979
Ability First Paul Weston Work Center (originally Crippled Children’s Society)
architect John Lautner Late Modern/Expressionistic architecture innovation — director’s office at the center of a pie-shaped design to oversee departments.
6530 N. Winnetka
Los Angeles 91367
1955
Devonshire Highlands/Country Estates
Intact traditional Ranch subdivision set the standard when a building boom hit the San Fernando Valley after WWII. Underground utilities, 1/2 acre lots, pools. This was an exclusive, ideal, upper middle class neighborhood. Between Plummer-Tunny-Devonshire-Tampa-Calvin.
9841 Calvin Avenue
Northridge 91326
1958
Living Conditioned Homes
Most distinctive mid-century modern neighborhood. Five different plans of Contemporary Ranch — dramatic entrances, butterfly roofs, decorative concrete blocks, built-in kitchen blenders; “conditioned” for optimal space, light, sound and safety. Modern ideals in mass-produced housing.
NE corner of SFV — Reseda and Devonshire.
Mid-Valley North of Victory Boulevard, East of I-405
1948
Kaiser Community Homes
Master planned 4,000 modern Ranch and Minimal Traditional houses on 31 acres of dairy and sheep ranches became Panorama City. Pre-fab ideas developed during WWII at Kaiser shipbuilder made houses for under $10,000.
1957
Panorama Bank (originally Great Western)
Organic Modern sculptural building by pioneering design firm specialized in Modern bank designs. Metal staircase curves through the building interior.
8201 Van Nuys Blvd.
Los Angeles 91402
North
1949
Cadillac Jack’s Cafe and Pink Motel
Pinkest building in region, maybe the state. Mid-century modern along San Fernando Road, once the main route from Los Angeles to the north. Many restaurants and motels served motorists after WWII. Once I-5 was built, touristy roadside businesses disappeared. One of the remnants of that era, it’s maintained by the original owner’s family. Used for movies locations and by skateboarders (the empty pool a hangout since the 1970s).
6457 San Fernando Road
Los Angeles 91352
1962-64
Balboa Highlands
Architect Joseph Eichler had lived in a Frank Lloyd Wright house and resolved to build homes with modern ideas for average people. In collaborated with A. Quincy Jones and Frederick Emmons, four models were designed with flat, A-framed, or slant roofs, simple front facades, inside atrium courtyards, floor-to-ceiling glass walls, natural light, and open floor plans. The most striking aspect of the neighborhood was that race and religion-based restrictions in place at the time against non-whites were rejected. They made it possible for everyone to buy modern, affordable architecture for the middle class.
12740 Darla Avenue
Los Angeles 91344