Pacific Palisades in Los Angeles in Los Angeles County, California — The American West (Pacific Coastal)
Sten/Frenke-Gould Residence
Photographed By Craig Baker, August 11, 2023
1. Sten/Frenke-Gould Residence Marker
Erected 1991 by City of Los Angeles. (Marker Number 647.)
Topics and series. This historical marker is listed in this topic list: Architecture. In addition, it is included in the Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument series list. A significant historical year for this entry is 1934.
Location. 34° 1.648′ N, 118° 30.967′ W. Marker is in Los Angeles, California, in Los Angeles County. It is in Pacific Palisades. Marker is on Mabery Road north of Ocean Way, on the right when traveling north. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 126 Mabery Rd, Santa Monica CA 90402, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker. Bradbury House (about 300 feet away, measured in a direct line); Barsha House (approx. 0.2 miles away); Eames House (approx. ¼ mile away); Canyon Elementary School (approx. 0.4 miles away); George Washington (approx. half a mile away); Pacific Palisades (approx. half a mile away); Marquez Filling Station (approx. half a mile away); Olympiad Rose Bush (approx. half a mile away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Los Angeles.
Regarding Sten/Frenke-Gould Residence.
this page online
Neutra had, a few years earlier, finished the Lowell Health House which cemented his reputation as the most important modern architect west of the Mississippi. He was featured in the 1932 International Style exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art in New York and had surpassed his elder colleague Rudolph Schindler in fame.
The house Neutra built for Sten and Frenke was a simple European-style modern house. Sited on a double lot, but occupying only one, the house was surrounded by a wall of rough cast ‘California’ blocks and was washed a light grey cement color. The house is remarkable for the amount of continuous ribbons of glass in a ‘balloon frame’ wooden house, giving it the look of modern concrete houses in France and Germany.
The restriction to the one site compressed Neutra’s original design and truncated the pergola’s frame intended to extend to the ocean view. The pool sat in a less than ideal position and the interior was compromised (he
Photographed By Craig Baker, August 11, 2023
2. Sten/Frenke-Gould Residence Marker
The marker is on the block wall to the left of the driveway.
When Biber Architect’s clients found the house it has been owned by only 2 families in nearly 70 years; the Sten-Frenkes and Bernie Gould, an aging Hollywood writer. The new owners undertook an extensive restoration and renovation of the house, replacing nearly every element while maintaining the form, patina and sense of age of this remarkable house.
James Biber, acting as both client and architect, teamed up with Los Angeles architects Marmol + Radziner (experts in Neutra house restorations) to surgically repair the house while at the same time realizing some of Neutra’s original ideas. The pergola was extended to its full length, the pool was relocated to the more gracious original conception and the site was landscaped (by Jay Griffith, Landscape designer) to fill out the newly occupied double lot. In every case the materials, details and integrity of the original was maintained and reinforced. Even the rough block perimeter wall was rebuilt of custom cast blocks to accurately recreate the original.
Since the renovation, the house has been sold and altered yet again. The pergola extension has been removed to allow the addition of a rear yard office/studio.
- from architect.com
Photographed By Craig Baker
3. Sten/Frenke-Gould Residence
Public Domain, circa 1934
4. Sten/Frenke-Gould Residence
Photographed By Craig Baker, August 11, 2023
5. Christopher Isherwood Residence
Located nearby, at 145 Adelaide Drive, Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument No. 1212.
Credits. This page was last revised on August 14, 2023. It was originally submitted on August 10, 2023, by Craig Baker of Sylmar, California. This page has been viewed 122 times since then and 71 times this year. Photos: 1, 2, 3. submitted on August 10, 2023, by Craig Baker of Sylmar, California. 4. submitted on August 11, 2023, by Craig Baker of Sylmar, California. 5. submitted on August 14, 2023, by Craig Baker of Sylmar, California.
