Architecture Field Trip - Silver Lake
Having visited Silver Lake once before to tour the Neutra VDL Studio and Residences, I planned a short field trip last week to take in more residential architecture. Silver Lake has a high concentration of first-rate architecture, including many by LA Modernists such as Schindler, Neutra, Ain, Soriano, Harris and Lautner.
Happily, it is a relatively short commute from my home base of Pasadena.
Because of the hilly, narrow and challenging streets, I find a place to park, then explore by foot. For these architecture field trips, I put on my full running gear - hat, water belt, running shoes. My iPhone has a feature that counts the number of flights climbed. This short outing counted as 36 flights.
You’ll find many online posts documenting the hidden stairs of Los Angeles such as this one here which describes The Mattachine Steps (gallery above) that I found close to the Neutra Colony (more on that below). In the past, the stairs offered a shortcut for pedestrians through the neighborhoods to reach public transportation. Today, many use the stairs for outdoor excercise. Some of the residences on either side of of the staircases can be accessed that way as well.
The cantilevered view of the Silverwood duplex by Allyyn E. Morris (gallery above) is best viewed via the stairway.
Many architecture fans visit Silver Lake specifically to tour Neutra VDL Studio and Residences. They may not be aware of a nearby colony of 9 Neutra residences along 2226-2250 Silver Lake Blvd. and 2200-2218 Neutra Pl. (Yes, there is a street called Neutra Place!). The gallery above displays some of ones viewed this visit.
Since I barely scratched the surface of all there is to see, I look forward to future exploration in the area.