Trooper_IHB
New member
Morning all. I had a moment of architectural brilliance yesterday....I saw The Stahl House first hand. Julius Shulman - Stephen Wirtz Gallery
This is the story. I was patrolling the HWD Hills and was stopped by a citizen to chat. He pointed to a neighboring hill where he heard a burglary had occurred a few weeks ago (the Hills are like a maze and very confusing to navigate with many dead ends). As I looked over, I happened to see a beautiful, white modern house perched on a bluff...hanging out over a cliff. Now, don't get me wrong...there are tons of beautiful and interesting homes in the Hills, but something about this one made me stop and stare. I thought to myself, "I've seen that house somewhere before".
I finished my conversation with the neighbor and drove a little further down the street. I stopped again to get a better vantage of the house... I knew I recognized the "glass peninsula" to the rear of the place....then it hit me ! This is one of those Case Study Houses and I thought of that famous photograph that I had seen a hundred times before Stahl House, Case Study House No. 22 - Pierre Koenig - Great Buildings Online
I saw about 10-15 people milling about in the back yard and inside the house...I thought, "Oh my gosh, they're giving a tour"! I immediately planned on inserting myself into that tour !
I figured that the house was privately owned and not open to the public, otherwise I would have seen the tours advertised on the LA architectural blogs.
Now let me tell you, I drove and drove and drove for almost an hour, trying to get to this place. I was aside it, I was above it, I was below and diagonal to it...but I couldn't find it ! (and I have a Garmin Nuvi....but alas, no address to guide me). When I found myself directly below it again, looking up at the people peering out the glass peninsula...I almost started tearing up ! I was afraid "the tour" was going to end, they would shut the doors and gate and I would never see it. By luck, a US Postal Service guy pulled up delivering mail. I pointed above my head and said, "what street is that house on"? As I did so, one of the people looking out the window saw me pointing and waved ! (At this point, I wanted to give them the finger ....) jk
Postal Dude says, "That's Woods Drive". I said..."But I've been on Woods Drive already, it's a dead end and I don't see it". He told me it was behind a big, white gate and that you can't see it from the street. .....my heart just sank. Crap....I'm not going to be able to see it.....sigh.
Well, being the pesky, persevering type A that I am...I drove up to Woods Drive. I mean...I was in uniform...in a police car...right ?! To my great delight, I found the gate...and it was OPEN ! It's apparently a private portion of Woods Drive with about 5 houses on it, well within my "patrol area".
So up the hill I drove and arrived outside it's walls. There was a flurry of activity going on, and I saw a food table set up in the carport. (to you novice Hollywood types, a table full of food means "Craft Services"...which is the nickname of caterers for movie and photo shoots). So, figuring that it must be being rented out...again, my heart sank. I couldn't trespass on a movie set !....or could I ?
I figured I had gotten this far and been stressed enough finding it, a little peek wouldn't hurt. I introduced myself to one of the photogs in the carport and asked if he thought it was OK if I took a quick peek inside the rear gate, just to see what I could of the house without intruding. He said, "Sure, we're doing a photo shoot with Heidi Klum Heidi Klum - Biography - AOL Television and we're waiting for the cloud cover to burn off before we start...so we're just killing time". I stepped up to the gate and walked into the back yard. When I looked over at the house, it actually took my breath away. It was stunning (no, not Heidi....well....)....one of the most beautiful homes that I've ever seen....(The Gamble House The Gamble House by Greene & Greene in Pasadena, California: official website being my personal favorite). Heidi was sitting in the glass area while people were flitting about her, fussing with her hair. I heard a man singing and thought, "no...that can't be Seal....but it was ! Seal Biography - AOL Music
So in a nutshell, I got a glimpse of Case Study House # 22, saw Heidi Klum and Seal, AND heard him singing to his bride ! What a day. It will be hard to top.
OH YEAH, I forgot to mention that I met the daughter-in-law of the original owner, Mrs. Stahl, who was on site overseeing the property during the photo shoot. She was gracious and offered to tour me through the house but I felt that I would be intruding on the crew. I asked if I might be able to come back sometime and see it...she said they only allow architectural students to view it and rarely at that. Then she asked if I was off on Sunday....I said....yessssss. She offered up that another photo shoot was due in that day and if I came 30 mins early, she would give me a private tour.
SO, I didn't think yesterday could be topped.....but apparently, tomorrow will do just that ! I'll see if she'll let me take some pics, but everything is on Google already. Woo Hoo....score one for Trooper !
This is the story. I was patrolling the HWD Hills and was stopped by a citizen to chat. He pointed to a neighboring hill where he heard a burglary had occurred a few weeks ago (the Hills are like a maze and very confusing to navigate with many dead ends). As I looked over, I happened to see a beautiful, white modern house perched on a bluff...hanging out over a cliff. Now, don't get me wrong...there are tons of beautiful and interesting homes in the Hills, but something about this one made me stop and stare. I thought to myself, "I've seen that house somewhere before".
I finished my conversation with the neighbor and drove a little further down the street. I stopped again to get a better vantage of the house... I knew I recognized the "glass peninsula" to the rear of the place....then it hit me ! This is one of those Case Study Houses and I thought of that famous photograph that I had seen a hundred times before Stahl House, Case Study House No. 22 - Pierre Koenig - Great Buildings Online
I saw about 10-15 people milling about in the back yard and inside the house...I thought, "Oh my gosh, they're giving a tour"! I immediately planned on inserting myself into that tour !
I figured that the house was privately owned and not open to the public, otherwise I would have seen the tours advertised on the LA architectural blogs.Now let me tell you, I drove and drove and drove for almost an hour, trying to get to this place. I was aside it, I was above it, I was below and diagonal to it...but I couldn't find it ! (and I have a Garmin Nuvi....but alas, no address to guide me). When I found myself directly below it again, looking up at the people peering out the glass peninsula...I almost started tearing up !
I was afraid "the tour" was going to end, they would shut the doors and gate and I would never see it. By luck, a US Postal Service guy pulled up delivering mail. I pointed above my head and said, "what street is that house on"? As I did so, one of the people looking out the window saw me pointing and waved ! (At this point, I wanted to give them the finger ....) jkPostal Dude says, "That's Woods Drive". I said..."But I've been on Woods Drive already, it's a dead end and I don't see it". He told me it was behind a big, white gate and that you can't see it from the street. .....my heart just sank. Crap....I'm not going to be able to see it.....sigh.
Well, being the pesky, persevering type A that I am...I drove up to Woods Drive. I mean...I was in uniform...in a police car...right ?!
To my great delight, I found the gate...and it was OPEN ! It's apparently a private portion of Woods Drive with about 5 houses on it, well within my "patrol area". So up the hill I drove and arrived outside it's walls. There was a flurry of activity going on, and I saw a food table set up in the carport. (to you novice Hollywood types, a table full of food means "Craft Services"...which is the nickname of caterers for movie and photo shoots). So, figuring that it must be being rented out...again, my heart sank. I couldn't trespass on a movie set !....or could I ?
I figured I had gotten this far and been stressed enough finding it, a little peek wouldn't hurt. I introduced myself to one of the photogs in the carport and asked if he thought it was OK if I took a quick peek inside the rear gate, just to see what I could of the house without intruding. He said, "Sure, we're doing a photo shoot with Heidi Klum Heidi Klum - Biography - AOL Television and we're waiting for the cloud cover to burn off before we start...so we're just killing time". I stepped up to the gate and walked into the back yard. When I looked over at the house, it actually took my breath away. It was stunning (no, not Heidi....well....)....one of the most beautiful homes that I've ever seen....(The Gamble House The Gamble House by Greene & Greene in Pasadena, California: official website being my personal favorite). Heidi was sitting in the glass area while people were flitting about her, fussing with her hair. I heard a man singing and thought, "no...that can't be Seal....but it was ! Seal Biography - AOL Music
So in a nutshell, I got a glimpse of Case Study House # 22, saw Heidi Klum and Seal, AND heard him singing to his bride ! What a day. It will be hard to top.
OH YEAH, I forgot to mention that I met the daughter-in-law of the original owner, Mrs. Stahl, who was on site overseeing the property during the photo shoot. She was gracious and offered to tour me through the house but I felt that I would be intruding on the crew. I asked if I might be able to come back sometime and see it...she said they only allow architectural students to view it and rarely at that. Then she asked if I was off on Sunday....I said....yessssss. She offered up that another photo shoot was due in that day and if I came 30 mins early, she would give me a private tour.
SO, I didn't think yesterday could be topped.....but apparently, tomorrow will do just that ! I'll see if she'll let me take some pics, but everything is on Google already. Woo Hoo....score one for Trooper !
