the Scattered Ox

Structure:  The Jules Brady Residence Location:  Long Beach, California Architect:  Killingsworth, Brady & Associates Tidbit:  With its 18' tall courtyard walls, this house tells the story of a man named Brady... 😉

Structure:  Tramway Gas Station (aka Palm Springs Visitor Center) Location:  Palm Springs, California Architect:  Albert Frey Tidbit:  Before it was owned and operated as the Palm Springs Visitor Center, this gorgeous building was an Enco gas station and went by the name "Tramway Gas Station"

Structure:  Case Study House #21, aka the Bailey House Location:  Los Angeles, California Architect:  Pierre Koenig Tidbit:  If you've got a cool $3.6M to spend, this house is for sale !

Structure:  Langson Library Location:  Irvine, Orange County, California Architect:  William Pereira Associates alongside Jones & Emmons and Blurock Ellerbroek Associates Tidbit:  Tried to reserve a room in this place, but they were all booked up 😉🤓📚

Structure:  Slavin House Location:  Santa Barbara, California Architect:  Richard Neutra Tidbit:  If I lived here, every morning I'd say "Just another day Slavin away" 😝

Structure:  Lovell Beach House Location:  Newport Beach, Orange County, California Architect:  Rudolph Schindler Tidbit:  If this house ever sent up for sale, would the realtor call it Schindler's Listing? 🤔

Structure:  A house with an atrium Location:  Orange, Orange County, California Architect:  Anshen & Allen Tidbit:  Developed by Joseph Eichler, this style of home (according to Dwell 🤨) "oozes with California midcentury-modern design." The ironic thing about these houses is they were supposed to be built for the everyman, but now they sell for ~$1M per house

Structure:  Wayfarers Chapel Location:  Rancho Palos Verdes, in the South Bay Architect:  Lloyd Wright Tidbit:  The saddest part about Lloyd Wright's Wikipedia page is this sentence, "His name is frequently confused with that of his more famous father, Frank Lloyd Wright." 😞

Structure:  Perley House Location:  Newport Beach, Orange County, California Architect:  J. Herbert Brownell Tidbit:  I like to think of this house as flashin' its PERLEY whites 😬😉

Structure: George Sturges House Location: Brentwood Heights, Los Angeles Architect: Frank Lloyd Wright Tidbit:  Notable architect John Lautner oversaw the construction of this marvelous house

Structure: Von KleinSmid Center Library Location: University of Southern California Architect: Edward Durell Stone Tidbit:  Every time I see arches on a building, I think "More like ARCHitecture, am I right?" Also, Von KleinSmid (the guy this building was named after) was a noted eugenicist 🧐

Welcome to the Atomic Ox: a blog about architecture, written by a well-meaning curmudgeon named Ox. It has come to my attention that the world of modernist architecture (called "mid century" by hipsters and marketing professionals) is populated by two broad swaths of people: Group one is the bevy of hipsters who, after quickly reading the Wikipedia entry for 'modernist architecture', set off to become the next Maynard Parker, armed with nothing but Instagram and youthful optimism.  Group two is a small cadre of architectural academics who are constantly working to guard the architectural legacy of these modernist marvels. Theirs is an uphill battle, however, for the legions of land developers have deep pockets and an even deeper desire to turn every piece of land into some sort of 'luxury loft' work/live/space.  This blog won't do either of those camps any justice. I'm not cool enough to roll with group one, and I'm definitely not educ...