Content area
Full Text
The Dodge House in West Hollywood was considered one of the most architecturally significant American houses of the 20th century. Designed in 1914 and completed in 1916, the masterwork by architect Irving Gill made a profound break from the traditional pitched-roof, symmetrical house design. Gill had the radical notion to elevate reinforced concrete to the "architectural importance of stone," but perhaps more important than the house's form -- a horizontal box lacking roof overhangs, surface details or other ornaments -- was a revolutionary vision of what a modern Southern California house could, and would, be.
If some wonder why they had not heard of the groundbreaking piece of architecture before, perhaps that's because the house no longer exists. It was demolished in 1970, cleared to make way for the Kings Country Apartments, now the Courtyards condominium complex on Kings Road, just south of the Gelson's supermarket on Santa Monica Boulevard.
The graceful arches, the ahead-of-its-time mahogany paneling, the coved walls that prevented dust from collecting in corners, the stunningly beautiful sense of simplicity -- all are gone. What's left is Gill's genius and the Dodge House's cautionary tale.
The four-bedroom, five-bathroom house was built for Walter Luther Dodge, a millionaire who initially made his fortune as the creator of a popular foot bath tablet called Tiz. The remedy, along with the foot tub he invented, spurred knockoffs and a mini-industry. Dodge grew wealthier in the stock market, and after the 1906 earthquake he moved from San Francisco to Los Angeles and chose Gill has his architect.
Gill built Dodge House using what was called a tilt slab method. Concrete walls were constructed on a flat, horizontal table. Openings for windows and doors were configured while the walls were on the table. After the concrete had set, the walls were tilted slowly...