AKA: Lovell Health House, Hollywood Hills, Los Angeles, CA; Demonstration Health-House, Hollywood Hills, Los Angeles, CA
Structure Type: built works - dwellings - houses
Designers: Neutra, Richard J., Architect (firm); Richard Josef Neutra (architect)
Dates: constructed 1928-1929
3 stories
This house was built for the naturopathic physician and Los Angeles Times columnist, Dr. Philip Lovell and his wife, Leah, and stands a paradigm of the International Style in the U.S. Dion Neutra capsulized the house's program in 2000: "Dr. Lovell stated his program thus: 'Can you design a house that would enhance the health of its occupants?' It was a prophetic assignment; one that became a metaphor for our practice ever since. My dad always insisted that the house be known as the 'Health House' in memory of that program. Neutra provided the requested outdoor 'sleeping baskets' in the form of suspended balconies for nude sunbathing and sleeping outdoors. Sports facilities and exercise areas were part of the basic scheme, as were special installations in the kitchen to support natural food preparation, juicing, etc. Parts of the building seemed to extend beyond its footprint into and grabbing onto the landscape;" (See Dion Neutra, "The View from Inside: An Overview of the Neutra Practice, Monday, October 16, 2000," Richard and Dion Neutra Architecture, http://www.neutra.org/mn.html, Accessed 06/16/2009.) Neutra had an extraordinary budget for the residence, over $58,000, and produced a design for the first steel-framed house in the U.S.
Documented by the Historic American Buildings Survey HABS CAL,19-LOSAN,66-; as articulated by Philip Johnson and Henry Russell Hitchcock, the Lovell Health House exemplified their definition of the "International Style." It emphasized its volume rather than mass, had no applied decoration and had an asymmetrical plan based on utilitarian needs rather than those of pure design. (See "Lovell (Health) House, 4616 Dundee Drive, Los Angeles, Los Angeles County, CA,"
Los Angeles City Historical-Cultural Monument: 123
National Register of Historic Places: 71000147 NRHP Images (pdf) NHRP Registration Form (pdf)
PCAD id: 831