Mr. and Mrs. Marvin Goodson House

Mr. and Mrs. Marvin Goodson House

The Goodsons’ house is indicative of Richard Neutra’s standard approach to medium-sized residential projects. Located in the rugged mountains of central California, the house recalls Neutra’s design for the Auerbacher Lodge, but its placement on a mountaintop in Laurel Canyon also guaranteed the house’s views of Los Angeles below. The structure of redwood board and batt, brick, and glass has a straightforward, quiet sophistication. The public and private sides of the house are divided by exterior walls which also tie the building to the land. The house was featured on the cover of the Saturday Review, a magazine edited by Norman Cousins, a close friend of Richard Neutra.

Adapted from Neutra – Complete Works by Barbara Lamprecht (Taschen, 2000), p. 197.