Marc Appleton, Bret Parsons, and Eleanor Schrader, Panelists
Free for ICAA Members
$20 General Public
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Please note registration will close 1 hour prior to the event.
1 Learning Unit|Elective
Master Architects of Southern California 1920-1940, a new twelve-volume series by Marc Appleton and Bret Parsons, showcases the work of the Golden Era’s most important residential architects as originally featured in the earliest issues of The Architectural Digest. Featuring some of the earliest known photographs of the work of legendary architects, the series is devoted to the era when oil titans, film industry moguls, bankers, and successful entrepreneurs who were new to the region hired the most accomplished and talented architects they could find.
In the latest volume, Wallace Neff, the authors focus on one of the most admired and influential residential architects to ever practice in Southern California. In a remarkable career that spanned over six decades, Wallace Neff produced hundreds of exceptional designs that ranged from vernacular styles to grand mansions, reaching from Bel-Air to Santa Barbara to Hollywood and Hancock Park, with a proliferation of homes in the Pasadena area. Neff’s ability to work in a variety of styles that ranged from Spanish Colonial Revival to French Normandy with equal grace made him a favorite with those seeking the very best. His client list with names like Doheny, Pickford, Gillette, and Marx- reads like a “Who’s Who” of the most important and influential figures of the era. Additionally, Neff was known for his ” Bubble Houses” which he described as “a revolutionary method providing for low-cost, labor-saving process of extremely rapid construction of permanent houses and buildings”.
Yet Wallace Neff is best known today as an “architect to the stars,” a much sought-after designer for the elite of Hollywood with a stellar array of commissions from such legends of classic cinema as Claudette Colbert, Charlie Chaplin, Frederick March, Fred Thomson and Frances Marion, King Vidor, Darryl Zanuck, Alan Ladd, and Cary Grant. Other celebrity residents of Neff-designed homes have included Betty Grable, Diane Keaton, Jennifer Aniston, and Madonna.
About the Speakers:
Marc Appleton is the founding principal of Appleton Partners LLP – Architects, with offices in Santa Monica and Santa Barbara, California. A graduate of Harvard College who also received a Master of Architecture degree from The Yale School of Architecture, Marc was consistently named to the list of Architectural Digest’s top one hundred designers. Among the many books he has written, published or contributed to are Rexford Newcomb’s Mediterranean Domestic Architecture in the United States (1999), George Washington Smith: An Architect’s Scrapbook (2001), Casa del Herrero (2009), California Mediterranean (2007), and Ranches: Home on the Range in California (2016). He makes his home in Santa Barbara.
Bret Parsons founded Bret Parsons Real Estate in 2008. He has written four books, including Colcord Home (2008), the biography of the beloved Southern California architect Gerard Colcord. He is associate manager of Compass Realty’s Beverly Hills office and executive director of its architectural division. Bret resides in Los Angeles.
Eleanor Schrader is an award-winning educator, lecturer, author, and historical design consultant. She lectures worldwide on the history of furniture, decorative arts, architecture, and interiors, and leads art and architecture tours throughout the world. She has been named a Distinguished Instructor at UCLA Extension, where she teaches in the Architectural and Interior Design Program. Eleanor resides in Los Angeles.
This program will be presented on Zoom. The link will be sent 24 hours prior to the event.
Please note registration will close 1 hour prior to the event.
Our Digital Programs Made Possible by the Generous Support from:
Leadership Circle:
Tim Barber Architects
Richard Holz, Inc. Builders
Wade Weissmann Architecture
Appleton Partners
Jeff Hyland
Landry Design Group
Sustainer:
Shawn Nelson Builders
DD Ford Construction
Foster Reeve Architectural & Ornamental Plaster
E. Braun & Company
New York Design Center
Robert’s Inc.
Dugally Oberfeld
Reside Custom Homes
MG Partners
LightStyle Automated Systems
Prime ECS Lifestyle Technology
Paul Brant Williger, Architect
Supporter:
Gordon Gibson Construction
Rose Tarlow Melrose House
Crestron
Benner Landscape Design
J.R.C. Group
Sun Electric
PHX Architecture
Kneedler Fauchere
Lutron & Western Energy & Lighting Controls
No. 8 Lighting
Albertini
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