F cover 42 summer14:ToC 4/9/14 12:30 PM Page 1 john entenza house 12 texas & florida updates 34, 60 the past perfected 46 SUMMER 2014 $6.95 us/can On sale until August 31, 2014 AtomicRanch 42 3/19/14 6:21 PM Page 1 AUDREY DINING made to order made in america made to last KYOTO DINING SOHO BEDROOM FUSION END TABLE Available near you at: California Benicia - Ironhorse Home Furnishings (707) 747-1383, Capitola - Hannah’s Home Furnishings (831) 462-3270, Long Beach - Metropolitan Living (562) 733-4030, Monterey - Europa Designs (831) 372-5044, San Diego - Lawrance Contemporary Furniture (800) 598-4605, San Francisco - Mscape (415) 543-1771, Santa Barbara - Michael Kate Interiors (805) 963-1411, Studio City - Bedfellows (818) 985-0500, Torrance - Contemporary Lifestyles (310) 214-2600, Thousand Oakes - PTS (805) 496-4804, Colorado Fort Collins - Forma Furniture (970) 204-9700, Connecticut New Haven - Fairhaven (203) 776-3099, District of Columbia Washington - Urban Essentials (202) 299-0640, Florida Sarasota - Copenhagen Imports (941) 923-2569, Georgia Atlanta - Direct Furniture (404) 477-0038, Illinois Chicago - Eurofurniture (800) 243-1955, Indiana Indianapolis - Houseworks (317) 578-7000, Iowa Cedar Falls - Home Interiors (319) 266-1501, Manitoba Winnipeg - Bella Moda (204) 783-4000, Maryland Columbia - Indoor Furniture (410) 381-7577, Massachusetts Acton - Circle Furniture (978) 263-7268, Boston - Circle Furniture (617) 778-0887, Cambridge - Circle Furniture (617) 876-3988, Danvers - Circle Furniture (978) 777-2690, Framingham - Circle Furniture (508) 875-0707, Norhhampton - Fly By Night (413) 586-1464, Pembroke - Circle Furniture (781) 826-2728, Michigan Grand Rapids - Design Quest (616) 940-9911, Royal Oak - Bright Ideas (248) 541-9940, Missouri Ellisville - Dau Home Furnishings (636) 394-3005, Kansas City - Black Bamboo (816) 283-3000, New Mexico Albuquerque - Tema Contemporary Furniture (505) 275-2121, New York NYC Chelsea - Jensen-Lewis (212) 929-4880, NYC Upper East Side - Jensen-Lewis (212) 434-0990, North Carolina Asheville - Mobilia (828) 252-8322, Cornelius - Innbo (704) 995-6120, Raleigh - Ambiente (919) 572-2870, Raleigh - Beyond Blue Interiors (919) 896-6630, Winston-Salem - Comtempo Concepts (336) 723-1717, North Dakota Fargo - Aartisan Home Design (701) 364-5600, Nova Scotia Halifax - Attica (902) 423-2557, Oklahoma Oklahoma City - Dane Design (405) 946-6200, Ontario Kitchener - Schreiter’s (519) 743-4151, Ottowa - M.Y. Home (613) 271-9001, Toronto - Casalife (416) 922-2785, Oregon Beaverton - Fishels (503) 439-1193, Corvalis - Inkwell Home Store (541) 752-6343, Portland - Brunke Furniture (503) 287-6331, Portland - EWF Modern (503) 295-7336, Portland - Fishels (503) 235-8941 Pennsylvania Pittsburgh - Weisshouse (412) 441-8888, Rhode Island Richmond - Chariho Furniture (401) 539-9043, Virginia Alexandria - Creative Classics (703) 518-4663, Charlottesville - The Artful Lodger (434) 970-1900, Norforlk - Decorum Furniture (757) 623-3100, Richmond - La Difference (866) 452-3433, Virginia Beach - Decorum Furniture (757) 437-3100, Washington Bellevue - Schoenfeld Interiors (425) 285-0570, Seattle - Schoenfeld Interiors (206) 518-5944, Tukwila - MOE’s Home Collection (206) 405-4411, Wisconsin Madison - The Century House (608) 233-4488. For additional info and retailers please visit us at www.copelandfurniture.com AtomicRanch 42 4/1/14 8:23 PM Page 1 TOC 42:ToC 4/9/14 5:53 PM Page 2 contents features 12 the john entenza house Before the Case Study Houses, a Santa Monica gem 28 rosy outlook Saving and tweaking a pink bathroom 34 doing wright by hitchcock North by Northwest sets the tone in Austin 46 keen on neutra A scuffed raised ranch finds appreciative new owners 56 in the name of the father Richard Neutra’s sons are keepers of the flame 60 parker house rules 12 Renovating a regional-style ranch in Florida 34 46 TOC 42:ToC 4/9/14 2:04 PM Page 3 summer 2014 departments 4 meanwhile, back at the ranch 6 modern wisdom 24 keep it up: housekeeping with sandy Choosing surfaces for your kitchen makeover? Read this first. 32 home page 58 Iowa, Pennsylvania & Florida on the fridge 43 books & backs 44 cool stuff Eames Shell chairs myriad ways 66 ranch dressing Lamps, bargain chairs and treading lightly in an original home 70 events 72 resources 56 73 coming up in atomic ranch Courtesy Dion Neutra 76 atomic advertisers cover The homeowners of this 1959 ranch in Long Beach, Calif., emphasized originality and minimalism in their renovation, as seen in their open plan living/dining room. Rehabbed sliding glass doors lead to the private pool and patio, while the vintage furnishings include a Nakashima table surrounded by Hans Wegner rush-seat Wishbone chairs, and an Eames lounge chair and ottoman. The Polder sofa is accessorized with a white Yo-Yo table and a Fjord pouffe, and an original Nelson bubble lamp hides behind the AR logo. Story page 46. PubLetter 42:PUBLET 4/9/14 1:51 PM Page 4 meanwhile... back at the ranch s it the inescapable fate of everyone to regard his or her youth as a golden era, when culture reached a high point and every current endeavor is but a pale imitation? If so, then my gold standard is ’60s music Iand cars; at the time, homes were not on my radar. Will some teen of today look back in 50 years and wistfully say, “Wow, that Britney Spears; now she could really Auto-Tune!” I can confidently predict that I won’t be around to grump about that. I’m not a blind nostalgist—I’m very happy with the advances we’ve seen in equality compared to conditions in the ’50s and ’60s; they’re just not moving fast enough. I’m fully engaged in the digital age and emphati- cally would not want to relive the recent past. But, I feel that midcentury design reached a high point of purity and simplicity that has now sunk to excess and bloat. Compare the taut lines of the 1964 Mustang to its current iteration. Yes, today’s Mustang features levels of safety, comfort, performance and efficiency unimaginable then, but the exterior is just so ponderous. If you say that its loss of spirit comes from government and market demands, I’ll counter that the 1963 Porsche 911 thrives in the same environment and has retained its basic silhouette. Race car designer Colin Chapman’s dictate, “Simplify, then add lightness,” was presaged by Mies van der Rohe’s 1951 Farnsworth House, and carried to the masses by flat-roofed Eichlers and many other tracts looking to house the returning GIs in modest, efficient ranches. Walls of glass, prefab construction, one-level floor plans and minimal ornamentation were hallmarks of these marvels. Today, in the midcen- tury market the most prized homes are the untouched originals, unsullied by ‘improvements’ and additions in the ’70s and ’80s. So what has happened to the well-thought-out concepts of the ’50s and ’60s? The size of new homes has more than doubled since then; the average U.S. house now stands at 2,300 square feet. Today I learned that the latest desirable feature for high-end homes is the ‘dirty kitchen’—the place where food is actually prepared (raise your hand if your saw this trend coming). This frees up the trophy kitchen for gatherings where guests can ogle eight-burner-10-million-Btu stoves, double dish- washers, commercial-grade refrigerators and square miles of stainless steel and pol- ished granite. I don’t know about you, but I just roll my eyes when I read quotes from blissful homeowners about all the socializing that goes on in their kitchen during a Match the build party, or the Zen experience of steaming local, organic vegetables in their mega-buck culinary ‘sanctuary.’ dates—1960 and Please—cooking is a task and then you have to clean up the mess. 2013—to the houses. Is it too much to ask for beautiful design? I’m afraid we live in an age of minor designers and clients with unbridled appetites. Feel free to file this under Old Man Rant No. 12. Jim Brown, Publisher 4 atomic ranch SUMMER 2014 masthead 42:Hatch 4/9/14 12:56 PM Page 5 ® and optional Light Bright Nickel with Maple Blades Publisher >> Jim Brown Editor Torsion Michelle Gringeri-Brown Art Director Nancy Anderson Advertising Design Carol Flores Logo Design John Skelton Editorial Assistant Cheyenne Tackitt Web Design Josh Tackitt Copy Editor Marcelle Heath Advertising Manager Christina Walker 503.297.5605 [email protected] Publishing Office 3125 SE Rex St. Portland, OR 97202-8573 503.771.4171 p 503.771.4172 f [email protected] atomic-ranch.com facebook.com/groups/friendsofarmag Subscriptions & Address Changes: Atomic Ranch, PO Box 9624, Ft. Lauderdale, FL 33310-9624 866.518.1369 954.653.3950 atomic-ranch.com USA: $19.95 1 yr / $36.95 2 yrs CAN: $27.95 1 yr / $49.95 2 yrs Outside USA/CAN: $55.95 1 yr Not responsible for undelivered issues due to late change of address. All rights reserved by Atomic Ranch, Inc. Printed by American Web Distributed by Comag Marketing Group LLC Atomic Ranch is printed on recycled paper. Celebrating the modern idiom modernfan.com Letters 42:Letters/Modern Wis 4/9/14 12:53 PM Page 6 modernwisdom spelling of the architect’s last name with a middle initial of ‘G.’ Here’s a hit on the combo of ‘Shulman’ and ‘Kaltenbach’: goo.gl/xaSWga. —ar editor ✱ Two years ago when we bought our 1952 raised- ranch on the south side of Chicago, I gave my wife, Jenna, the best birthday gift ever—a subscription to Atomic Ranch! It would be hard to overstate what a great resource it has been.