Wright Chat

[peterm]

http://st.houzz.com/simages/5646_0_8-9294--living-room.jpg

I think this is Green's work. It especially caught my eye because the window/ceiling detailing is reminiscent of that at Sweeton.

[KevinW]

That is indeed the work of Aaron, that is the Hughes Van Tamelen house in Los Altos.
_________________
KevinW

[peterm]

Thanks for the confirmation...

Some great photos at the Green website:

http://www.agaarchitects.com/pages/residential/residential_main.html

[DRN]

I came across this series of pictures and a floor plan from a House Beautiful piece on Green's 1951 Reif house in West Hollywood:


http://scottsantoro.blogspot.com/2011/01/aaron-g-greens-reif-residence-west.html

Neat design for a narrow site. (Pics and plan enlarge when clicked upon.)

[Roderick Grant]

Reif was a nice house on Kings Road, just half a block north of Schindler/Chase and a few doors south of Irving Gill's Dodge House. Kings Road was such a handsome street of private houses, that in the 1960s developers came in to capitalize on it, tearing almost all of it down to build huge apartment buildings so renters could enjoy the former ambiance. Talk about "Paved Paradise and Put Up a Parking Lot." Reif, knowing that the demolition of Dodge had caused such a stir that it inaugurated the age of the L A Conservancy, very quietly got approval from the county (WeHo was not an incorporated city then) to tear down his house and replace it with a small apartment building as well. Needless to say, Kings Road is no longer the sort of street that could lure the likes of Theodore Dreiser to move in.

[SDR]

http://scottsantoro.blogspot.com/2011/01/aaron-g-greens-reif-residence-west.html

You can enlarge the images, including the plan, by clicking on them.


I remember of b+w photo of another Green living room with elongated seating and an angled plan like this one -- I don't know the name of the client -- in which the masonry is coursed stone with random-height courses. A rare and delightful sight, more arresting than it might sound.

SDR

[Paul Ringstrom]

An article about Aaron's son who is an oenologist...

http://www.sacbee.com/2011/08/10/3826645/dunne-on-wine-greenwood-ridge.html

[KevinW]

We always had a case of the late harvest at Aarons office....Friday afternoons we would gather in the conference room and sip the delicious wine while listening to Aaron discuss Architecture. I must get back up to Philo, and get a case or two...and Allans Pinot Noir.
_________________
KevinW

[dleach]

SDR,
I don't know if it is the building that you had in mind but, the Ohta Residence in Soquel has sandstone random course masonry, elongated seating and contiuous soffits.
A lovely home, with a tragic history, on a spectacular site. Pictures are on the AGA site.
I have always wondered who owns it now.
Don

[wjsaia]

[Tom]

Wow. Did not know that AG had such an extensive career and did some really good work at first glance.

Given that the residential clients seem to be clients of means I question the development of the white (or off white) plaster ceiling. Something troubles me about that even the detail of the headless window. Everything below it seems so cut off. Would much prefer wood you know.

[pmahoney]

I have posted this at the request of Harriet Reif Greenwald
who is the daughter of the client:




Dear Wright Chat:

A while ago I was checking something about West Hollywood and came across your web site and your section on “Who were the ‘best’ apprentices?” Aaron ‘Gus’ Green was an old family friend, who had known my parents since the early 1940s. I am the daughter of Harry and Cecelia Reif who were the owners of the Reif house on Kings Rd. I was very saddened to read the misinformation written about them and the house. The person who wrote: “the owners dismissed attempts to save it, had it demolished and replaced it with an apartment house” is wrong. The house was totally destroyed by a fire of suspicious origin in October 1971. My parents were living in the house and had fought bitterly against any attempts to change the neighborhood by developers who wanted to tear down the houses on Kings Road and build apartment houses. After the fire, the property legally had to be cleared and my father several years later very reluctantly sold the lot because it was such a painful reminder. My parents were elderly and there was no way they could rebuild, although ‘Gus’ as we called Aaron would have gladly worked on it. They loved the house with a passion. They had built it in early 1951, and ‘Gus’ , who lived in LA at the time , was at the site almost every day to check on the progress. Before the house was featured in House Beautiful in April 1956, Mr. Wright came to visit and very much admired it. It also appeared in several other books. People from all over the world would knock on the door and ask to see the house. Incidentally the shock of the fire affected both my parents and they both died several years after the fire. The loss of our home was as if someone in the family had died – we not only lost the house, but a lifetime of possessions and memories. One other comments: the ceiling in the living room was stained gray and the beams were dark green. My sister and I stayed in touch with Aaron Green until his death and remember both him and house with great fondness.

I do not know if this comment can be posted on the Wright site. I could go on and on about the house and Kings Road. I went East to go to school in the late 1950s. My husband and I were married in the back yard in September 1968. If you would like for me to answer any questions please email me. I just feel strongly that what is out there about the Reif house should be accurate.

Thank you,

Harriet Reif Greenwald nihalumni@yahoo.com

[KevinW]

Thanks for posting that....what a beautiful house it was. It was also featured in House and Home magazine.

I wonder what other apprentice houses that Wright might have visited. I remember Allan Paul telling me that Wright visited his house designed by Aaron, that is a few minutes away from the Hanna house. Mr Paul proudly asked Wright what he thought of the house...and Wright responded something to the effect of "This house will certainly do our reputation no harm".
The Pauls also became lifelong friends with their Architect.
_________________
KevinW

[Roderick Grant]

The source of my information was Robert Sweeney, who at the time was curator of Schindler/Chase. Where he got it, I don't know.