More than a decade ago, designer Jaime Rummerfield and her design partner at the time, Ron Woodson, began noticing that houses by some of Los Angeles’s most notable architects, like Wallace Neff and Paul R. Williams, were being demolished by owners wanting to build bigger and newer. She realized there was very little landmark preservation in place to protect any of L.A.’s most important architecture. She and Woodson founded a small nonprofit, Save Iconic Architecture, to raise awareness of the city’s architectural heritage, sound the alarm about buildings they heard were in danger of being razed, and secure landmark status for more properties.
The Jay Paley house, a Georgian Revival estate built in 1936 in Bel-Air, is recognized as one of celebrated Black architect Paul R. Williams’s most notable designs, especially its glamorous zodiac pool. SIA has been working to get this masterwork protected with landmark status, but the application has been languishing in the understaffed Los Angeles Office of Historic Resources.
Courtesy of Save Iconic ArchitectureTen years on, this small but mighty force, led by the tireless Rummerfield in her “spare” time, has not only scored some notable wins but also, post-wildfires, led an effort to identify uniquely Californian architectural styles to help guide the rebuilding efforts.
We asked Rummerfield to tell us more about Save Iconic Architecture and how people can make a difference in the quest to preserve modernist gems.
FREDERIC: What motivated you to start Save Iconic Architecture (SIA)? Was there a defining moment, as there was with Penn Station being torn down in New York City?
JAIME RUMMERFIELD: I’m a Los Angeles native and I’ve been an interior designer here for more than 25 years. I’ve worked on a lot of old estates that are hidden behind gates, and I started witnessing a lot of these beautiful old houses being torn down. I would be so shocked, like, “Don’t you know that this is a Wallace Neff?” “Don’t you know that this is a Paul Williams?”
Recognizing the architectural significance of the Bonnet House, designed by Richard Neutra in 1941, SIA successfully secured landmark status for the house, ensuring its preservation for generations to come.
Julius Shulman © J. Paul Getty Trust. Getty Research Institute, Los Angeles (2004.R.10)Los Angeles has many residents who don’t know its heritage, but have a lot of money, and always want something bigger. And old heritage homes, even mansions, are small relative to what you see nowadays. I realized people don’t understand the significance of a lot of these master architects. Los Angeles is young as a city, but we’re at a point now where, over 100 years in, there are some major architectural benchmarks that have defined and shaped Southern California.
There were a few properties where I felt so helpless because there really was no one to reach out to regarding preservation. We don’t have a preservation department in L.A., per se. So I decided, we need to shine attention on this, and that’s how Save Iconic Architecture was created.
Eva Gabor’s 1938 estate, another by Paul R. Williams, was not so lucky. While efforts were underway to get it landmarked, a developer demolished the entire front of the house overnight, leaving it largely ruined. “These losses reflect a bigger story about Hollywood and Beverly Hills architecture fading away faster than it can be preserved,” says Rummerfield. “Even when protection processes are in motion, it is not always enough.”
Courtesy of Save Iconic ArchitectureWhat were some of the first houses you got involved in trying to save?
One of the first was the Chuey House, designed by Richard Neutra. It was commissioned by Josephine and Robert Chuey [in 1956]. Mr. Chuey was a prolific painter, and he built it as his painting studio at the top of Sunset Plaza, with a 360-degree view of Los Angeles. The house has been widely published—it’s one of architectural photographer Julius Shulman’s most famous photos.
We were with a real estate agent, looking at properties for a client, and she told us about this house on a double lot that was a “tear-down.” The house was in a dilapidated state, but our immediate thought was, we have to save this!
I started calling the city and the L.A. Conservancy saying, please, we cannot let this be torn down. The Conservancy’s director, Linda Dishman, taught us how to write a landmark submission and how to be more proactive from a preservation standpoint.
We ended up working with the house’s owner because he didn’t want to landmark it, but we got his agreement not to tear it down, and to sell to someone who would keep it. And then we got an architect friend of ours involved whose client bought it.
SIA was able to get the Standard Hotel, built in 1962 and a legend of the Sunset Strip, recognized as a Designated Cultural Resource (the equivalent of landmarked) by West Hollywood. Ian Schrager is developing it as the PUBLIC Hotel West Hollywood and has agreed to preserve its midcentury architecture.
Tim Street-PorterWhat is SIA’s mission and what have you been able to accomplish so far?
We put a big spotlight on notable properties and places in L.A. and if there’s something at risk, we’ll get an initiative behind trying to save it. We write nominations for landmarking special places because the city doesn’t proactively protect buildings in L.A.; each one has to be submitted by the public, which is this little unwritten rule that nobody knows about.
Our submissions go into the Office of Historic Resources, and they’re so understaffed—there are only two employees—so our biggest frustration is the waiting game. A lot of times, developers move way more quickly than the city, and we can’t save something in time.
Another win, however, was the Marilyn Monroe house, which was slated to be demolished. We contracted the relevant city council member—they or the mayor are the only people who can stop a demolition permit. We created an initiative to save it, the city council agreed unanimously that it was a cultural resource, and it was saved.
After the L.A. wildfires last year, SIA organized architects and designers to create a wonderful free resource outlining seven styles of historic California architecture, to help guide people during the rebuilding process.
Save Iconic Architecture
Each style, from Spanish Revival to Storybook (seen above) has photographic references, illustrations of key architectural features, interior details and fixtures, and even fire-resilient landscaping recommendations.
Save Iconic ArchitectureTell us about SIA’s work after the wildfires in Los Angeles.
When the wildfires happened, not only did they impact so many people we knew, SIA was getting contacted by people worried about what buildings might have been lost. Like, is the McNally House still there in Altadena? We started collecting a database on what was lost and its significance.
I mobilized SIA to create a pattern book or field guide to remind people who were rebuilding that you don’t have to build a quick, cheap, soulless box. That was one of our biggest concerns: Is all this rebuilding just going to be a big mishmash? We had a group of about 30 architects and interior designers come together and we crafted a field guide called the New California Classics, which is available for free online. It documents seven styles of historic California architecture, and it’s really fabulous. It has a lot of inspirational imagery and sketches, as well as defining characteristics of these styles. People can identify what type of house they had before, and then we show the materials, the type of tiles, the type of colorways that suit that style. The landscape architect Patricia Benner, who’s amazing, offered landscaping options that are fire-resilient for each style of house.
To learn more about Save Iconic Architecture as well as their events, which include film screenings, architectural tours, and more, follow them on Instagram or visit their website.
