Robert Bridges House
| Robert Bridges House | |
|---|---|
| General information | |
| Address | 820 Chautauqua Boulevard |
| Town or city | Pacific Palisades, California |
| Country | United States |
| Destroyed | January 2025 |
| Design and construction | |
| Architect(s) | Robert J. Bridges |
The Robert Bridges House was a single-family house designed, built, and occupied by Los Angeles architect Robert Bridges. The home stood on tall concrete pillars above Sunset Boulevard in Pacific Palisades, Los Angeles. It was destroyed in the Palisades Fire in January 2025.[1][2]
The Brutalist-style house, located at 820 Chautaqua Boulevard, was visible to drivers on Sunset Boulevard and stood 100 feet above the road.[3]
Bridges bought the 29,095 square-foot lot[4] lot on which the house stood for $40,000 in 1979 (equivalent to $167,923 in 2023).[3] Bridges spent six years designing and building[5] the three-story house,[6] complete with three bedrooms and two bathrooms.[4] Permits were first issued in 1986.
The house was supported by 68 13-inch wide steel piles.[7] The exterior of the house was clad in redwood.[3] The interior of the house had exposed concrete ceilings with furniture designed by Bridges and employed an open floorplan.[3]
The concrete was poured by Bridges and three other men, with Bridges operating the crane himself.[8] Retrospectively, Bridges described the construction "incredibly risky. We were constantly hanging off the side, doing feats of daring and stupidity".[3] Bridges said that "It may look precarious, but it's not. From an engineering standpoint, this thing is absolutely rational".[3]
Bridges and his family moved into the home in 1991.[8] Bridges's wife had nightmares about falling shortly after the couple had moved in.[3]
In a 2014 article on the house for The New York Times, Steven Kurutz wrote that the house was a "striking example of brutalism, yet it isn't the work of a renowned architect and doesn't appear on greatest-hit lists of the city's modernist masterworks".[3]
References
[edit]- ^ Jessica Gelt (29 January 2014). "The architecturally significant houses destroyed in L.A.'s fires". The Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 11 January 2025.
- ^ Sam Lubell (9 January 2014). "As Flames Consume Architectural Gems, a Hit to 'Old California'". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 11 January 2025. Retrieved 11 January 2025.
- ^ a b c d e f g h Steven Kurutz (29 January 2014). "A Mystery at the Bend". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 7 December 2020. Retrieved 11 January 2025.
- ^ a b "Los Angeles County Office of the Assessor". Los Angeles County Assessor. 4423024024. Retrieved 2025-02-02.
- ^ Barton, Randall S. (June 1, 2014). "Cliff Hanger". Reed Magazine. Retrieved 2025-02-02.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ "Certificate of Occupancy". Los Angeles City Department of Building and Safety Online Building Records. August 16, 1989. 1988LA73196. Retrieved 2025-02-02.
- ^ Karnasiewicz, Sarah (2025-01-25). "The Architecturally Important Homes Lost in the L.A. Fires—and What Happens Next". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 2025-02-02.
- ^ a b Silva, Rachel (January 13, 2025). "Tracking the Historic Landmarks Lost in the Los Angeles Wildfires". ELLE Decor. Retrieved 2025-02-02.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)