Hacienda Motor Hotel

Hacienda Motor Hotel

Richard Neutra indicated his interest in tourism and the architecture that sustained it in an essay he wrote titled, “Hotels—Man’s Intermittent Habitat.” The essay pointed out that “the weekend and the vacations hold their own social significance” and noted that Neutra’s “studies of natural patterns” had informed “architectural solutions and layouts which perhaps surpass in significance what the architect can and must offer on behalf of daily habituation and routine.” Neutra and Alexander’s design for the Hacienda Motor Hotel was oriented around the automobile. The two wings of the main building of the resort and spa were joined by a triangular canopy where visitors arrived. Detached guest rooms stepped down the sloping site in order to capitalize upon the views which were visible through glass walls that faced the ocean. Despite the upscale nature of the resort, the individual rooms were humble with concrete block masonry walls and knotty pine ceilings, yet the shared spaces, such as the dining areas and lobby, were more luxurious. The dining rooms were outfitted with lighting that had a painterly effect and illuminated a web of steel bents above the tables. Like in Neutra’s designs for schools, the restaurant featured a window wall on one side which ran parallel to a wall that was solid except for a strip of clerestory windows. Although the dining rooms were large, accommodating 400 guests, sliding doors of aluminum louvers were designed to close off the space and make it more intimate while simultaneously allowing light to filter in through the louvers. Separating the dining and bar areas, a fish aquarium with a minimalist design that resembles one in the Pitcairn House extends thirty feet. The bar itself had brushed aluminum columns shaped like truncated ellipses. In the lounge area off of the lobby, a fireplace was set asymmetrically on a large white wall while its brick surround extended along the firebox’s curved back wall. The resort has since been demolished.

Adapted from Neutra – Complete Works by Barbara Lamprecht (Taschen, 2000), p. 321.