Your Field Guide to Visit Great Architecture

Eames House, Case Study House #8 - by Charles and Ray Eames

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The Eames House is a landmark of mid-20th century modern architecture. It was constructed in 1949 by husband-and-wife design pioneers Charles and Ray (Kaiser) Eames, to serve as their home and studio.

Architect:
Charles and Ray Eames

Year:
1949

Collections:
Los Angeles Collection
Case Study Houses

Tags:
Residential

Contributed by:
ArchiUser

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More Visit Info and How to Get there

You can visit the Eames House, but you need to schedule an appointment at least 48 hours in advance of your visit. Please call 310.459.9663 to schedule an appointment. Please remember there is no on-site parking at the House.

EXTERIOR SELF-GUIDED TOUR
Monday through Friday: 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Saturday:10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.
CLOSED: Sundays, celebrated holidays and holiday weekends.

INTERIOR GUIDED TOUR
An interior guided tour is given ONCE a year on June 20th and is restricted exclusively for Eames Foundation Members only. To become a member, please visit the website.

GROUP VISITS
Tour groups, student groups, designer or architect groups wishing to visit the House need to limit the size of their group to 25 people. If your group is more than 25 people, please split up the group to accommodate 25 or fewer people.

ADMISSION
Admission is free to student with current valid IDs, seniors (62+), and children under 12 years of age. There is a suggested contribution/donation of $5.00 per person.

PARKING
There is NO PARKING at the Eames House. Please park on Corona Del Mar, a street just north of the driveway entrance to the Eames House and walk back down Chautauqua to the driveway, proceeding to the very end of the driveway. Please, NO CARS in the driveway, on Chautauqua, or at the House. Our neighbors will appreciate it, and you will not get any tickets.

DRIVING DIRECTIONS:
From the East:
I-10 WEST turns into Pacific Coast Highway after you go through the McClure Tunnel. Continue heading north towards Malibu. Chautauqua Boulevard intersects Pacific Coast Highway at the third traffic light. Make a soft right up the hill. Approximately 30 seconds later, on your left you will see a private driveway marked 203/205. Proceed past that driveway for about 5 seconds and you will see a street named Corona Del Mar. Make a left. Please park on Corona Del Mar and walk down to the driveway marked 203/205. The Eames House is at the very absolute end of this driveway.

FROM THE WEST
Pacific Coast Highway heading south from Malibu intersects with Chautauqua Boulevard. Make a soft left up the hill. Perilous, but possible. Approximately 30 seconds later, on your left you will see a private driveway marked 203/205. Proceed past that driveway for about 5 seconds and you will see a street named Corona Del Mar. Make a left. Please park on Corona Del Mar and walk down to the driveway marked 203/205. The Eames House is at the very absolute end of this driveway.

FROM THE NORTH/SOUTH
405 to the I-10 WEST. I-10 WEST turns into Pacific Coast Highway after you go through the McClure Tunnel. Continue heading north towards Malibu. Chautauqua Boulevard intersects Pacific Coast Highway at the third traffic light. Make a soft right up the hill. Approximately 30 seconds later, on your left you will see a private driveway marked 203/205. Proceed past that driveway for about 5 seconds and you will see a street named Corona Del Mar. Make a left. Please park on Corona Del Mar and walk down to the driveway marked 203/205. The Eames House is at the very absolute end of this driveway.

SUNSET Boulevard, heading WEST intersects with Chautauqua Boulevard. Make a right at Corona Del Mar. Please park on Corona Del Mar and walk down Chautauqua Boulevard to the driveway marked 203/205. The Eames House is at the very absolute end of this driveway.

BY BUS:
The Santa Monica Big Blue Bus #9 stops at the intersection of Corona Del Mar and Chautauqua Boulevard. Please check http:www.bigbluebus.com/bus for schedules.

From downtown Los Angeles, take the Santa Monica Freeway Express Bus #10 to Santa Monica. Please check http:www.bigbluebus.com/bus for schedules.

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Building Info

History, Background and Context

The design of the house was proposed by Charles and Ray as part of the famous Case Study House program for John Entenza's Arts & Architecture magazine. The idea of a Case Study house was to hypothesize a modern household, elaborate its functional requirements, have an esteemed architect develop a design that met those requirements using modern materials and construction processes, and then to actually build the home. The houses were documented before, during and after construction for publication in Arts & Architecture. The Eames' proposal reflected their own household and their own needs; a young married couple wanting a place to live, work and entertain in one undemanding setting in harmony with the site.

The Eames' family maintains the house as an occasional residence. They have overseen the conservation of the structure and have preserved Charles and Ray's collections and decor. The studio is used for the continuing work of the Eames Office.

Description and Notes

A site near the coast in Pacific Palisades, on a wooded bluff that was once part of Will Rogers' large estate, was selected. The design was first sketched out by Charles Eames with fellow architect Eero Saarinen in 1945 as a raised steel and glass box projecting out of the slope and spanning the entrance drive before cantilevering dramatically over the front yard. The structure was to be constructed entirely from "off-the-shelf" parts available from steel fabricators catalogs. Immediately after the war, though, these parts were in very short supply. By the time the materials arrived three years later, much pre-construction time had been spent picnicking at and exploring the lot where the house would stand. After a period of intense collaboration between Charles and Ray, the scheme was radically changed to sit more quietly in the land and avoid impinging upon the pleasant meadow that fronted the house.

The final design tucked the house sidelong into the slope, with an 8 foot (2.4 meter) tall by 200 foot (60 meter) long concrete retaining wall on the uphill side. A mezzanine level was added, making use of a prefabricated spiral stair that was to have been the lower entrance. The upper level holds the bedrooms and overlooks the double-height living room. A courtyard was also introduced, separating the residence from the studio space. This revised scheme required only one additional beam. The 17 foot (5.1 meter) tall facade is broken down into a rigidly geometric, almost Mondrianesque composition of brightly colored panels between thin steel columns and braces, painted black. The entry door is marked with a gold-leaf panel above. An existing row of eucalyptus trees was preserved along the exposed wall of the house, providing some shading and a visual contrast with the house's bold facade.

Of the twenty-five Case Study Houses built, the Eames house is considered the most successful both as an architectural statement and as a comfortable, functional living space. The brash sleekness of the design made it a favorite backdrop for fashion shoots in the 1950s and 1960s. Perhaps the proof of its success in fulfilling its program is the fact that it remained at the center of the Eames' life and work from the time they moved in (Christmas Eve, 1949) until their deaths.

Unusually for such an avant-garde design, the Eames publicized te house as a thoroughly lived-in, usable, and well-loved home. While many icons of the modern movement are depicted as stark, barren spaces devoid of human use, photographs and motion pictures taken at the Eames house reveal a richly decorated, almost cluttered space full of thousands of books, art objects, artifacts, and charming knick-knacks as well as dozens of projects in various states of completion. The Eames' gracious live-work lifestyle continues to be an influential model.