Living On Air

You've seen it at some point.  You must have.  Well, not 'it' exactly, but photos.  It's iconic.  At least to me it is.  The Stahl house.  Otherwise known as 'Case Study House 22.'  Built by Pierre Koenig in 1959 and photographed by Julius Shulman in 1960.  In my eyes, it is the epitome of Los Angeles...especially with a view of nighttime Los Angeles sprawl in the background.

The sprawl is seen in different places.  Cresting the hill on the 405 North as you're approaching Sherman Oaks and heading into the San Fernando Valley.  Or at the Getty Museum, looking southwest, before the marine layer rolls in for the evening.

I call it 'living on air' because despite knowing re-bar is sunk deep into bedrock, there's a lot of empty space between the floor and the actual ground somewhere below.

I see a slew of houses similarly built on my daily commute.  Part of me would love a house like this.  Looking out a window that is better described as a wall of glass, seeing the sprawl in the distance.  Part of me also wonders how much sleep I'd get at night pondering all that air between where I lay and the ground somewhere below.

Once...

...these brick stairs led to a house high up on the hill.  Just think...now you have the opportunity to build your own house here.  I love seeing brick out here in Los Angeles.  There isn't a lot around.  It always strikes me as very East Coast...which is probably why I like seeing it.  A little reminder of the brick rowhouse I spent part of  my childhood in.