California houses: the allure of their progressive, expressive architecture

California houses are the product of a state that has been something of an incubator for all that’s innovative in residential design. The territory has been a prized destination for pioneering masters of modernist architecture, who found the right combination of culture, climate and moneyed clients to hone and refine the industrialised aesthetic that had its European origins cut short by world events.

California houses: a brief history and a bright future

Author Michael Webb's California Houses: Creativity in Context delves into the typology and presents 36 houses that epitomise the Californian context. His selection is teed up with a brief history of the state, its pioneering architecture and the creative schisms that conspired to make such a richly eclectic stew of residential design. For every example of monumental Hollywood Modernism, California provides an alternative in the form of low-key, highly expressive and often very environmentally progressive design.

These days, sustainability leads the charge, with issues like water and energy use high on architects’ agendas, not least because the state can – and will – refuse new development that doesn’t conform to its strict environmental codes. That’s led to a resurgence in creativity, ably captured by the projects on display, as architects find new ways of express these essential features. 

Projects like the Hill House in Montecito by ShubinDonaldson (now Donaldson + Partners), a circular concrete structure 'designed to withstand wildfires, floods and earthquakes,' and powered by a solar array, or Fougeron Architects’ Suspension House (among architecture Ellie Stathaki’s top ten houses of 2022), or the tumbling forms of Koji Tsutsui’s Cube House, all share a concern for the environment, both local and global, but express this in very different ways. 

Above all, the diversity on display reflects the state’s scale and range of different environments. The suburban sprawl that’s the backdrop to many Los Angeles houses is a very different environment to the Malibu coastline, just as San Francisco’s steep streets could not be further from the desert landscape around Palm Springs.

Webb, an occasional Wallpaper* contributor, brings his encyclopaedic knowledge and rich experience of Golden State architecture – his own house is the Richard Neutra apartment once occupied by Charles and Ray Eames. California Houses: Creativity in Context inspires and informs with an insider’s insights into one of the most varied architectural landscapes on the planet. 

'California Houses: Creativity in Context,' Michael Webb, Thames & Hudson, $65, ThamesandHudsonUSA.com, and £45, Amazon.co.uk