A Sublime Lautner In Silver Lake, $2.1M

Offered this week, for the first time since it was built in 1955, the home John Lautner built for Rosemary and Joseph Baldwin is an astonishing survivor. It’s rare that a Mid-century dwelling has been so immaculately maintained. What we also can see here is a young Lautner—fresh from his years as an apprentice under Frank Lloyd Wright at Taliesen—experimenting with new forms and structure in wood and masonry.

One of the hallmarks of L.A.’s Mid-century domestic architecture is the challenge of sites previously considered too difficult to build on—a situation Lautner was especially adept at solving, enabling the Baldwin House to float above the site with views to the San Gabriel Mountains.

In the words of the LA Conservancy “Lautner designed over fifty significant structures in Southern California alone, each a unique expression of his constant exploration of new ideas and materials.” The trajectory of his career would take him, just five years after Baldwin, to create what is probably his best known work, the Chemosphere.

All of Lautner’s built-in cabinets and furniture survive. To him (like his mentor, Wright) they were integral to the design no matter how simple the materials.

Visit the property’s dedicated website for more images (including contemporaneous images by Julius Shulman) and a full floor plan. The Baldwin House is an outstanding and rare opportunity to own a piece of L.A. architectural history, and a delightful place to live, represented by Louis Magnano at the architecture specialist firm, Modern California House.

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