Richard and Dion Neutra VDL Research House, Los Angeles: architect, style and history

The Neutra VDL Studio and Residences at 2300 Silver Lake Boulevard was the home and studio of architect Richard Neutra, designed with his son Dion Neutra and originally built in 1932. It took its name from Cees H. Van der Leeuw, the wealthy Dutch industrialist and Neutra patron whose loan financed the 2,000-square-foot research house. Neutra ran his architecture practice from a studio inside the house, raised his three sons here with his wife Dione, and used the building to test experimental materials and living arrangements. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2009 and designated a National Historic Landmark in 2016, and is now owned by Cal Poly Pomona.

the building

Named for its patron. The house is called the VDL Research House after Cees H. Van der Leeuw, the Dutch industrialist and architecture patron whose loan financed its construction in 1932.

A working studio. Neutra ran his architecture practice out of a studio inside the house before later opening a separate studio at the Neutra Office Building on Glendale Boulevard, itself separately listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

A house built to test ideas. Built for Neutra's own family of five, the 2,000-square-foot house doubled as a testing ground for experimental materials and living arrangements, the source of its 'research house' name.

the style

The VDL Research House is a textbook exemplar of modern architecture as practiced by Neutra himself, a live-in laboratory where he tried out the materials and spatial ideas that defined his broader body of work.

the architect

Richard Neutra designed the VDL Research House as his own home and studio, financed by his early patron Cees H. Van der Leeuw. He later expanded his practice into a separate studio at the Neutra Office Building on Glendale Boulevard, also listed on the National Register of Historic Places. His son Dion Neutra collaborated on the design, and the house today bears both their names.

significance

The Neutra VDL Studio and Residences is Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument #640, designated March 18, 1997; it was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2009 and designated a National Historic Landmark in 2016. It is now owned by California State Polytechnic University, Pomona, and maintained by its College of Environmental Design.

nearby

Lipetz House 0.6 mi · International Style
Avenel Cooperative Housing Project 0.9 mi · Mid-Century Modern
Midtown School 1.2 mi · Mid-Century Modern · 1961
Angelus Temple 1.5 mi · modern · 1926
McTernan Residence 1.6 mi · Mid-Century Modern · 1960
Cahuenga Branch 1.7 mi · Renaissance Revival

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