How did Schindler get this project, so far from Los Angeles? Once he settled in Los Angeles and opened his own office, his other buildings were in Southern California. Through John Crosse I learned that Kaun knew the Schindlers before the house was designed. Kaun gave lectures in Los Angeles, stayed at the Schindler’s Kings Road house and attended their dinners where they hosted artists, bohemians and social and political progressives 5. That’s how he got the job.

The location, far from Los Angeles, presented some challenges for Schindler. His projects were usually close enough to his office for him to personally supervise their construction. This let him make design changes on the spot, and explains why his construction drawings (CD’s) are typically so sketchy. He didn’t need everything detailed and drawn-he would work it out at the site. The Kaun House, however, was too far away for this kind of supervision. The CD’s 6needed to be much more complete. I immediately noticed this-they are the most thorough and best drawn of any of his CD’s that I have seen. They even have notes explaining his intent, as if he was sitting across the table explaining his ideas to you. This gives the drawings a very personal touch that CD’s don’t usually have.

The Model

Because the CD’s are so complete, including drawings of most of the interior walls and cabinets, I was able to make the model interior very detailed. You will see this in the third post.

Schindler’s drawings include a fairly thorough landscape concept plan. Intrigued, I decided to include the site and landscaping in the model. I don’t think the design can be fully appreciated without it, but I might not have tackled it if I had known how much time it would take. The landscape concept is very “architectural”. Plants are described by their qualities instead of their names. Shrubs are shown as rectangular masses with specific heights or are labeled as “drooping shrubs”. The eucalyptus trees are run in lines to form walls-nothing is irregular or “natural”. Where Schindler’s notes are blurry and hard to read, particularly at the sheltered patio, I have made my best guess.

The Site

For such a small house, the site is very large (Fig 3 & 4) . It backs up to the beach, facing southwest to San Francisco Bay. Was it ever possible that someone with such a small budget could buy so much beachfront land?

The site slopes down about 20’ from the street to the beach, widening towards the Bay. The house is set parallel/perpendicular to the eastern side property line, at the top of the site and close to the street. The top of the site where the buildings are located is relatively flat. The site steps down to the beach in a series of terraces, some of them are parallel to the house and continue its orientation.

A wall of eucalyptus trees wraps around the front, eastern side and rear. This circle of trees is completed on the western side by trees on the neighboring property, visible in the original article.

The two buildings, the garage/studio and the house, are placed at right angles and create a sheltered patio away from the Bay. A “walk for beach guests” extends along the north side, behind the garage/studio and down a grand stairway to the beach.

The House

The house consists of two buildings (Figs 1 & 5). The garage/studio is closest to the entrance from the street, parallel to the southeast property line. The house is roughly parallel to the beach, reached by a curved walkway the follows the curved property line and wall of trees (Animation at bottom).

The house is very small and has the minimum spaces for any Schindler building: a large living/dining room, a tiny kitchen with breakfast nook and a bath. There are lots of closets, a dressing room and a long terrace facing the Bay.