Here's something cool...
In 1967 my dad, in his early 30s, was building a totally groovy house he had designed at the base of a hill in San Luis Obispo. One day a guy stopped by. He said he was passing through town on his way to the Bay Area and had stopped for breakfast at a pancake place across the freeway. He had spotted this interesting construction project and had to check it out.
He and my dad walked around the site, chatting about the project. The visitor was very enthusiastic about the house, the design, the innovation. They hit it off as unconventional artists who appreciate the challenges of inspiration. He gave my dad his card and said to look him up if he ever made it to Santa Monica (I think it was Santa Monica).
Years later, my dad was digging through a pile of accumulated stuff. He stopped short at a business card. "How the hell did I get Frank Gehry's card?" he thought. And then it hit him. That nice guy that had stopped by the house on San Miguel Avenue. At the time, the name meant nothing to my dad. Since then, Gehry's architecture has become world famous.
He and my dad walked around the site, chatting about the project. The visitor was very enthusiastic about the house, the design, the innovation. They hit it off as unconventional artists who appreciate the challenges of inspiration. He gave my dad his card and said to look him up if he ever made it to Santa Monica (I think it was Santa Monica).
Years later, my dad was digging through a pile of accumulated stuff. He stopped short at a business card. "How the hell did I get Frank Gehry's card?" he thought. And then it hit him. That nice guy that had stopped by the house on San Miguel Avenue. At the time, the name meant nothing to my dad. Since then, Gehry's architecture has become world famous.
posted by Somebody's Mom at 12:16 PM
4 Comments:
That, it definitely something cool. Now I am so curious, is this house your dad designed still around? What does it look like?
Thanks for asking, Stephanie! It's so groovy. A total organic modernist bachelor pad. In fact, a young architecture student bachelor just bought it and tracked down my dad to tell him how much he loves it.
I haven't been in it since I was really little. But here are some tidbits I remember. A handcarved door with a big carved wood doorknob. A one-piece sink/counter carved out of wood in the bathroom. An interior bridge that crosses a little inside Zen garden to reach the master bedroom. A giant shower made out of curved cast concrete, big enough for four people.
Downstairs, there's a wine cellar and studio. They have a separate entrance, through a big gate of rebar welded into a spider web.
And the driveway is made of brick layed in this swirling pattern, almost like paisley.
That's all I remember. Now that I know the new owner is so nice, I might have to stop buy and ask for a tour, though.
My dad's done some really boss houses.
Oh, that sounds sooo cool - and very 1967 (the year I was born, hoohooo!) Thank you so much for describing the place! It's description is a little off from what I dreamed this morning - yeah, isn't that coo1, I dreamed about this cool architecture house in some neighborhood by a hill in California! In the dream my best friend and I were hiking around on foot, and saw this curvy wurvy guggenheim museum-y (from the Gehry reference, of course) villa sized house among all the other ranch styles. So we checked it out, the lady who opened the door was really nice, and said we'd have to come back later because the kids were in the middle of doing their homework, so we took off, ran across a huge green grass athletic field, to a rec center, and there we both had one of the banaplits they were serving. Yawn, I'm almost awake now.
Off to the fire department pancake breakfast!
That is a great dream!
And the house is at the base of a hill.
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