CITY OF BELVEDERE

Memorandum
TO: FROM: DATE: SUBJECT:

Chairman Fair and Members of the Historic Preservation Committee Pierce Macdonald, Planning Manager May 30, 2008 Belvedere Lagoon Neighborhood

Background: The National Register of Historic Places, administered by the National Park Service, is the nation's official list of buildings, structures, objects, sites, and districts worthy of preservation because of their significance in American history, architecture, archeology, engineering, and culture. The National Register recognizes resources of local, state and national significance. Recently, both the National Register and the California Register have begun to include nominated buildings and districts, constructed in the 1950s and later, for their distinct architectural and historical value. Analysis: According to A Pictorial History of Belvedere, 1890-1990, George Rockrise, a renowned Bay Area architect, designed some of the first model homes in the Belvedere Lagoon subdivision. Notable architects working in the 1950s era subdivision included Campbell & Wong and Jones & Emmons, two of the Case Study House Program architectural firms. Developer Joseph Eichler, associated with Jones & Emmons, was also active in the Lagoon neighborhood. Arts & Architecture Magazine began the Case Study House Program in 1948 and it lasted until 1965. This program invited architects to design post-war contemporary homes, primarily for California. Other Case House architects included Richard Neutra, Charles Eames, and Eero Saarinen. Case Study homes were celebrated in the photography of Julius Shulman, an architectural photographer best known for his photograph "Case Study House #22, Los Angeles, 1960. A recent retrospective of these buildings and designs has been published in Case Study Houses, written by Peter Gssel and Elizabeth Smith (published by Taschen). The Case Study House program popularized the post-war contemporary architectural style. This style is now associated with California, due in large part to the number of homes built here and its informal, outdoor-oriented open floor plans that were well suited to the California lifestyle and environment. Subdivisions in Palo Alto, designed by the firm Jones & Emmons and developed by Joseph Eichler, have been nominated to the National Register of Historic Places. Attachment: Hello Cool World, written by Dave Weinstein and published in CA Modern magazine, Spring 2008