This house by Richard Dorman is a real peach. Situated in the Sherman Oaks Estates, it was built in 1959, although its condition suggests it could have been built last year.
In the pattern of its floor it recalls another house we covered recently: Larry Pearson’s modern renovation of a mid-century home. It’s a comparison which directly contradicts the claim made in that article that you wouldn’t see a pattern like that in an original mid-century home.
However, the comparisons stop there as this is quite a pure manifestation of the original mid-century style: one-storey, floor-to-ceiling windows, open-plan central living space and a whole plethora of mid-century articles of furniture, including the Eames molded plastic chair and a rendition of Mies van der Rohe’s Barcelona Chair.
The Bakers clearly developed a rather deep sensitivity to the natural surroundings to match the character of the house. Having spent some time in Australia and becoming accustomed to the specific environment, they abandoned their plans to have a traditional English country garden, instead maintaining the pre-existing Australian bush land after realising it had to be maintained if the surrounding wildlife were going to be supported.
Indeed, in Dr Baker’s words, “The koalas, possums, bull ants species, many small birds and the wallabies all rely on the delicate, struggling foliage of the mally trees and their under story for survival.” It’s a noble approach that clearly lives on in the house itself.
Photos via Weahomes