When Time magazine put Richard J. Neutra on the cover of its August 15, 1949, issue, the Austrian-born architect had been designing astounding modernist houses for more than 20 years—houses, Time said, with "broad, glassy brows" and "spaciousness and compactness combined." Neutra (1892–1970) was a prophet of clean, crisp modernism, and his houses, most of which were built in California, have inspired countless architects and emboldened preservationists in an area of the country notoriously quick to raze landmarks. And why not? As Time eloquently observed, "Their beauty, like that of any sea shell, is more than skin-deep—practical, not pretentious."
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When Time magazine put Richard J. Neutra on the cover of its August 15, 1949, issue, the Austrian-born architect had been designing astounding modernist houses for more than 20 years—houses, Time said, with "broad, glassy brows" and "spaciousness and compactness combined." Neutra (1892–1970) was a prophet of clean, crisp modernism, and his houses, most of which were built in California, have inspired countless architects and emboldened preservationists in an area of the country notoriously quick to raze landmarks. And why not? As Time eloquently observed, "Their beauty, like that of any sea shell, is more than skin-deep—practical, not pretentious."
