The same day that the city of Beverly Hills begins celebrating its world-famous zip code – 90210 – demolition begins on a significant John Lautner house: the 1951 Shusett residence just above Sunset Boulevard in Beverly Hills 90210. Months of discussions between The John Lautner Foundation, preservationist Michael LaFetra, a possible buyer, and the owners of the Shusett house failed.

John Lautner is considered internationally to be one of America’s most important architects of the 20th century. He was a student of Frank Lloyd Wright (who referred to him as the ‘second-best architect in the world’) and his work foreshadowed the expressionism of architects like Frank Gehry (who referred to Lautner as ‘a God’).

After a series of interesting, but small houses built in the 1940s, the Shusett house, where the public spaces are arranged in a crescent around an enormous, now 130 year old Canary Pine, is one of the first two major commissions in Lautner’s career (the second is the Harvey House in the Hollywood Hills). Both houses, over the course of several decades, underwent significant alterations and suffered neglect. The Harvey House was in extremely poor condition when it was purchased by the current owners, actress Kelly Lynch and writer Mitch Glazer, who rescued the house by undertaking an exemplary restoration.

The John Lautner Foundation was informed last April that a demolition permit for the Shusett house was being processed by the city of Beverly Hills. Since then, the Los Angeles Conservancy and The John Lautner Foundation have been in contact with the owners of the Shusett house, Mr. and Mrs. Enrique and Katalin Mannheim, who owned the house for 23 years, to discuss the possibilities of restoring or selling the house. Mr. LaFetra, the interested buyer, was in direct contact with the Mannheims. Once the demolition permit was issued last Friday, the city of Beverly Hills facilitated a meeting at the house between the owners and The John Lautner Foundation to discuss moving the house. Mr. LaFetra, again, was in direct negotiations with the Mannheims, but sadly, this last minute effort did not produce a viable agreement.

The city of Beverly Hills has no historic preservation laws (such as the Mills Act, which allows owners of historic and designated properties to receive tax credits for restoration expenses), or landmark ordinances which, in cases like this, would allow the necessary time to explore alternatives to demolition.

For questions please contact:
Frank Escher (author and former Administrator of the John Lautner Archive): (323) 665 9100
Christopher Carr (Vice-president, The John Lautner Foundation): (323) 462 2225
Karol Lautner Peterson (president, The John Lautner Foundation): (906) 869 6357
Or John English (director, The John Lautner Foundation and preservation law expert): (323) 807 1154

For educational purposes the Foundation would love to have photographs and videotape of the demolition. Anyone interested in filming or photographing should stay on public property -either on Monte Leon Lane or Sunset Blvd (through the hedge). The address is 9340 Monte Leon Lane in Beverly Hills. Please let us know if you plan to do any photographing and if you can donate some of your footage to the Foundation (comments (at) johnlautner (dot) org).

He worked on many projects in Lautner’s office, among them the Hope residence in Palm Springs, for which he drew the presentation drawings. When he first came to Los Angeles his command of English was limited, but by the time he left for home he could converse easily in this new language. Andrea lit up the small crew with his sense of humor and passion. John Caldwell, also in the office then, writes:

I will always remember Andrea as a dedicated and challenging architect. We had lots of laughs together and sometimes we thought “trouble” was his middle name. It is funny what you remember about people. I went home with him once for lunch and was surprised when I went into the bathroom and found almost every object labeled with a note: “faucet”, “water closet”, etc. He was preparing for his California licensing exam and was brushing up on his English technical terms. In the end it was the use of an “English” word that was his demise at the exam. The exam’s design problem was a bank with a drive-up teller with stacking for 6 cars. Someone finally explained “stacking” to him in this context during a toilet break but it was too late for him to successfully complete that phase of the exam.

He was a great architect and a wonderful warm person who never did anything half way. We will miss you.

As a thank you to Lautner, who helped him gain visa extensions, allowing him a longer time to work in the U.S., Andrea offered to share his Rome with Lautner’s daughter Judith, who was also working in the office then. The two left for Rome in December 1974. Judy stayed in Andrea’s mother’s apartment for a month, trying desperately to pick up a bit of Italian (she took hope from Andrea’s progress in English) and making forays around Rome and to other cities in Italy on her own. From time to time she would go places with Andrea, to his friends’ apartments or to parties given by other friends, and to meet his former architect employer, but for the most part Andrea was involved in a whirlwind of activity of his own, trying to catch up with his left-behind life. Judy met two of Andrea’s three sons at some (long, beautifully-cooked) meals. They were about five at the time and hard-working well-behaved little schoolboys. His youngest son, Oliver Manzi, had this to say about his father:

My father was always drawing.

Whether on the phone, at a restaurant, or discussing alimony with my mother, he always had a pencil that he’d slip out of his breast pocket, and while his interlocutor would speak, he would draw on any surface at hand.

He had tremendous energy and no patience. He would speak his mind even if it would land him in trouble, and would gobble up life as fast as he could eat a plate of spaghetti, which believe me was shockingly fast.

When it came to art and life, he had a craving for immediacy. Immediate emotions.

He used to tell me: “I like painters that paint with their arm.”
I believe this applied to architects as well, including John, whom my father adored.

I will always be indebted to my father for instilling in me a love for the arts.

In his last 15 years his illness confined him to his house in Rome, but despite this he remained fun, impulsive and charming to the end. My two older brothers, Cesare and Oscar Simoncelli, and I will miss him dearly.

Perhaps no more needs to be said about this man, who was so full of energy, humor, generosity, and creativity. If you remember Andrea, however, please feel free to send your thoughts to us at comments (at) johnlautner (dot) org and we may find a way to expand this article to include them.

Thank you, Oliver Manzi, for the photographs of Andrea

Read the article.

The house will be open from 1 – 5 pm on August 29, during which time visitors will get a chance to listen to and make music, dance, and nibble on snacks. Suggested tax-deductible donation is $25.

Read all about it and make your reservations now by downloading the pdf invitation.

John Lautner’s Shusett residence in Beverly Hills is scheduled to be demolished, possibly starting tomorrow, August 18.

The Shusett residence, built in 1951, and the Harvey House, 1950 (owned by Kelly Lynch and Mitch Glazer)  are the first two major commissions that John Lautner received, after several years of designing small houses. The Shusett residence was built to curve around a major tree, which still exists. The original plans were drawn by Louis Weihle, who was in Lautner’s office at the time and who is presently on the JLF Advisory Board. Although it has been remodeled extensively over the years, the basic structure still exists and could be restored to its previous glory by the right owners.

The current owners have applied for a demolition permit, however, which is now posted at the house. The sign says the demolition is to begin tomorrow, August 18, 2010. The Beverly Hills Building Department says that the permit has not yet been issued, however. Some minor details need to be taken care of first.

The property is at 9340 Monte Leon Lane in Beverly Hills. Beverly Hills does not have regulations to preserve significant buildings.

Photographs by Tycho Saariste

For more information read the BBC 2 article.

Don’t forget you can order the DVD version from the producers.

Thanks to Dujon Zivic from Australia for this information, and thanks to the many people who wrote to the Foundation after seeing the film there.

Later, on September 15, the San Francisco AIA will screen the film. It isn’t on their website yet. Keep an eye on the calendar.

Read about the presentation and the panel members on the SAH-SCC website. Tickets will be free for students, $15 for SAH-SCC members, and $30 for non-members.