‘You can feel their presence’: step inside the Eameses’ Pacific Palisades residence

When wildfires tore through LA’s Pacific Palisades in January, the descendants of Charles and Ray Eames watched in horror as the flames approached their grandparents’ masterpiece, Case Study House #8. ‘We were on the edge of our seats,’ recalls Eames Demetrios. ‘Our sister Lucia, who has led the charge on the conservation of the house, was watching the surveillance cameras and reporting to us. And then they went dark. It was very scary.’ Thanks to efforts to fell hundreds of trees around the property the previous year, and a large stroke of luck, the house was spared any serious damage. The rest of the neighbourhood, however, was destroyed. ‘After about 24 hours, the cameras came back on, and it was a relief,’ Demetrios continues. ‘But there wasn’t elation because there was so much destruction around it.’

Charles and Ray Eames' Case Study House #8

More familiarly known as the Eames House, the property, which Charles and Ray designed for themselves in 1949, is considered one of the best examples of Midcentury Modern residential architecture in the US. But it represents only a fraction of the couple’s vastly rich design legacy, which their living family members have dedicated themselves to preserving. To help secure that legacy for many more generations, this year they proudly announced the creation of the Charles & Ray Eames Foundation, a non-profit organisation focused on safeguarding and advancing the ideals of this visionary duo. ‘What’s really powerful about them is they had a very holistic vision,’ says Demetrios, who explains that the name of the foundation ‘puts these two people at the centre, because they should be. They really broadened the definition of design.’

Announced during Milan Design Week 2025, the new foundation will build upon decades of preservation led by the second and third generations of the family. All five of the Eameses’ grandchildren will serve on the board of directors, with Demetrios as chairman, Byron Atwood as president, and Carla Atwood Hartman and Llisa Demetrios as board members, while Lucia Dewey Atwood will continue her leadership in preserving the Eames House. Fourth-generation Eames family member Jackie Cassel will also sit on the board, extending the caretaking lineage even further. Meanwhile, Eckart Maise, a long-term collaborator of the Eames family, is the first non-family member to join the board, having played an instrumental role in advising both the Eames Office and the Charles & Ray Eames Foundation – his presence marks an important step in opening the institution to outside voices.

As its inaugural executive director, the foundation appointed Adrienne Luce, whose career has spanned positions at The Getty Villa and the Claremont Lewis Museum of Art. Her blend of experience across museums, education and non-profit organisations, and – perhaps most importantly – her deep appreciation for art and design makes Luce the perfect person for the job in Demetrios’ eyes. ‘Adrienne has all the skills that you would wish in a person to take on this challenge,’ he says.

Luce fully appreciates the responsibility of educating the next generation of creatives on the Eameses’ approach and perspectives. Their legacy, she notes, is not only about architecture, furniture, graphics or film; it’s an attitude towards solving problems, and disseminating a positive outlook on the world. ‘Many are familiar with Charles’ quote: “Everything eventually connects,” and that idea really guides the mission of this new foundation,’ Luce says. ‘People might know the chairs, but they don’t know about all of their ideas, or their cultural diplomacy.’

One of the Eameses’ works encapsulating this notion of diplomacy is Glimpses of the USA, which was presented in Moscow in 1959 at the height of the Cold War. Displayed on seven giant screens, the film was commissioned to offer Russians a glimpse of American life, but really served to highlight the similarities between the two countries and their peoples. ‘The Eameses had such an optimistic world view, and they carried that through some pretty tough places,’ says Demetrios. ‘They weren’t romantic about it. They knew there were challenges and things that didn’t go right, but they wanted to be a positive force in the world.’

A medium-term goal of the foundation will be to reintroduce another film, Powers of Ten, to coincide with its 50th anniversary in 2027. The nine-minute landmark educational documentary incrementally zooms out from a scene on Earth to the wider universe, and then back in all the way down to atomic particles. ‘Google Earth was based on the film,’ says Demetrios. ‘Its message of scale has never been more important.’

In 2026, the foundation will also present Eames Architecture, a programme that will focus on the designers’ work in prefabricated residential buildings. This includes the Eames House, which is considered the most cohesive example of the couple’s vision across all of the disciplines they touched. With an innovative modular design built from simple industrial materials, the two-storey house and matching studio are filled with light, and brimming with personality, thanks to the wealth of Charles and Ray’s products and personal effects kept in place. ‘You can see their ideas in physical manifestation,’ says Luce. ‘You can also feel their presence.’

‘It’s a miracle that it survived, and it’s going to remain an incredibly important touchstone,’ Luce adds. Closed since the January fires, the team has been using the time to clean up the exterior and interiors, replacing electrical boxes and rethinking the landscape to further aid fire resistance and bring it closer to the original design.

The house is due to reopen this month, kicking off a new series of events and experiences for visitors – whether they’re Eames enthusiasts, or just along for the ride. ‘There’s a whole subset of people who are the friends of architects and are dragged to the Eames House because they have a car,’ laughs Demetrios. ‘They come with no expectations, and you can see them respond to the magic.’

Critically, the foundation plans to support community rebuilding efforts and aid in the area’s recovery. This ties closely to one of the most important parts of the Eameses’ legacy, Luce attests, which is ‘the idea of empathy and humanity’. She adds, ‘I think maybe we’ve lost some of that, and need to be reminded of these ideas that get at the core of who we are as human beings.’

At a time when cultural institutions in the US are facing multiple challenges and destructive legislation, the optimism and diplomacy for which the Eameses stood – and that the new foundation continues to represent and advocate for – offers a beacon of hope. Perhaps now more than ever, it’s pertinent to remember Charles’ wise words, and remind as many people as possible that everything does eventually connect.

eamesfoundation.org