Reintroducing the Wolfe:
John Elwyn KimberWhy Modern Houses are Good for the Soul  |
| Schindler's Wolfe House ILLUSTRATION: Steve Ferchaud |
Originally published in the October 2012 issue of Empirical
The year is 1931, and on an improbably steep hillside overlooking the harbor of Avalon, on Catalina Island, California, one of the most remarkable modernist houses of the 20th century has just been completed. It cascades down the slope like a frozen waterfall in an intricate interlocking rhythm of overlapping planes, cantilevered balconies, and carefully judged windows and voids. Every inch of this astonishing building is carefully thought through from the inside out, and the result is one of the most architecturally-distinguished holiday cottages ever devised. The architect is Rudolph Schindler, and his house, the Wolfe House, out-does even his own most famous creation, the Lovell beach house, in spatial drama and ingenuity. Frank Lloyd Wright’s ‘Fallingwater’ is still several years away; in 1931, the Wolfe house is probably the most dramatic response to a steep site yet realized by any modern architect. To look at the photographs newly taken on completion of this audacious structure is to assume that here is an instant modern classic, destined surely for architectural fame and careful conservation.
