A house in Rustic Canyon designed by Ray Kappe in 1967. (The interior will not be part of the tour.)

By Laurel Busby

News & Information Editor

The homes and landscape in Rustic Canyon offer a window into the rich architectural history of Los Angeles, according to architect Leo Marmol.

“Rustic Canyon is one of my favorite neighborhoods in all of Los Angeles,” Marmol said. “It offers a who's who of virtually every significant architect that ever practiced in Los Angeles. It's quite an impressive and incredible collection of architectural history.”

Marmol, the cofounder of the design-build firm Marmol Radziner, will be guiding residents through a portion of that history on both March 14 and 15 as a fundraiser for The Canyon Alliance. The tour will include a 1.5-mile loop stroll along Haldeman, Latimer, Brooktree, and Hightree roads stopping in front of many houses along the way to talk about their history, the architectural implications, and the way each house connects to the overall history of Rustic Canyon.

In addition, he will bring tourgoers into three houses—a Ray Kappe house, a Robert Alexander house, and a house designed and built by his firm. The addresses are not being released to protect the homeowners’ privacy. The tour sold out a few days after tickets became available, but Marmol plans to conduct more tours of the Canyon in future years. (Email editor@the-canyon.org to be added to the mailing list for future tours.)

The focus of the current tour, which starts at Rustic Canyon Recreation Center, will begin with the impact of the Uplifters social club.

“The Uplifters, which was established in the early 1920s, was a hang out of the rich and famous throughout Los Angeles,” said Marmol, who used to live on Latimer. “So, you lay on top of the architectural history this kind of social party experimentation that went on in the Canyon, and then there's this great environmental conversation on top of that with the Forestry Station that was established too…. It’s an incredible soup of architectural curiosity and social curiosity that just renders Rustic Canyon a very unique place in Los Angeles.”

Some of the tour’s featured architects will be Frederick Earl Emmons, who lived in the Canyon, A. Quincy Jones, John Byers, Hank Webber, Frank Gehry, Marshall Lewis, Charles Moore, William Turnbull, Melinda Gray, Patrick Tighe, Cliff May, and Paul R. Williams, Marmol said. The rec center clubhouse was designed by William Dodd, and the rustic look of the building and many other homes built in the Canyon was initially required by the Uplifters.

“The Uplifters mandated what they called a rustic aesthetic, so you’ll see literal log cabins and craftsman-style homes alongside the post-World War II tradition of modern architecture,” Marmol said. “After the Uplifters closed their doors, the modern architects started to move into the Canyon.”

These new architects brough a warm California modernism to the area, although examples of a more international style are also present, said Marmol who grew up in Marin County. The former wood-inspired look is reminiscent of the architecture in Northern California, which can flourish in the Canyon too, since the natural springs that feed the land create a moister ecosystem that is more similar to the northern part of the state than the landscape generally found in Los Angeles.

For those less familiar with local architecture, the tour is designed to be a fun and eye-opening adventure, while people who are knowledgeable about the topic will also learn information that will be new to them, Marmol said.

“It’s also a wonderful way to support The Canyon Alliance, which does so much great work,” Marmol said. “These neighborhoods have been so impacted by the Palisades Fire. Everyone is still reeling…. Fortunately, we can still explore Rustic Canyon while understanding that the whole area is very much in recovery.”

Architect Conducts Home Tour of Rustic Canyon

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