In 1958 Buck and Carlotta Stahl built a house on an impossible bluff above the Sunset Strip. Buck bought the land on a handshake deal with the owner, cleared the site himself, and hauled the foundation rubble up the hill, ton by ton, in the trunk of his car. He and the kids piled rock until the site was graded and firm. Then Buck pencilled out a design and hired young USC architect Pierre Koenig to bring it to life for the delight and comfort of the Stahl family, using modern methods and materials. Koenig deserves full credit, but so do Buck and his wife and kids. Properly, it wouldn’t be the “Case Study House #22” or even “The Stahl House,” but “The Stahls’ House.”
And, yes, this is California Vernacular Architectue as much as it is International Style or Mid-Mod or anything else. In fact, this is the aesthetic culmination of California Vernacular. Buck dreamed this out of the hills; Pierre built it, safely, beautifully.
On one hand, this was an ordinary middle-class home; small and modest; but its spectacular site and its vision of technology made its modesty and simplicity seem luxurious,. Then Julius Shulman made it famous and chic with his wonderful photos; and suddenly one family’s eccentric vision of democratic, private, modern family living became universal.
The Valley Village View 