Gregory Ain: Ain home (Los Angeles, Calif.)
The Ruth March Ain house was built for Ain's second wife, and is located in the Laurel Canyon area of Los Angeles.
Gregory Ain, architect Harry Hartman, photographer
Gregory Ain papers, Architecture and Design Collection. Art, Design & Architecture Museum; University of California, Santa Barbara.
Architecture and Design Collection. Art, Design & Architecture Museum; University of California, Santa Barbara.
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Gregory Ain: Avenel Homes (Los Angeles, Calif.)
Southern California Architecture California Modern Architecture
This group of small homes set side-by-side perpendicular to the street on a long lot, created a community feel, while walls and patios defined individual space. The houses were designed to be low cost urban housing, with the homeowners (a group of recent WWII veterans) pooling their resources to buy the land and build the development. This type of community at the time was viewed with suspicion of being communist in nature. Ain brought features of higher-end modernist homes into the low cost community housing. Though the space is only 908 square feet, Ain incorporated sliding walls between the living room and master bedroom, and between the two smaller bedrooms to give flexibility in living arrangements. The dining room table was incorporated into the kitchen counter to preserve space. The Federal Housing Authority had to approve the plans, and they denied Ain's design for a half bath, and insisted upon a broom closet instead. The complex is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Gregory Ain: Becker house (Los Angeles, Calif.)
The Isador and Rosa Becker house presented a slightly Streamline Moderne style front facade, with curved walls on the exterior. Inside, the house featured a 'reverse' floor plan-- the main living areas were at street level, and the bedrooms were one floor below. It is located in the Moreno Highlands neighborhood of the Silver Lake section of Los Angeles.
Gregory Ain, architect George Agron, architect
Gregory Ain: Beckman house (Los Angeles, Calif.)
The A.O. Beckman house was sited on a flat lot, and Ain configured the house so that many of the rooms had direct access to the outdoors. The house was located in the La Brea neighborhood of Los Angeles, and was featured in both Architectural Record and Arts & Architecture magazines in 1940-1941. At 2100 square feet, and including maid's quarters, this is one of Ain's larger pre-war houses.
Gregory Ain, architect Julius Shulman, photographer
Gregory Ain: Byler house (Los Angeles, Calif.)
The Albert E. Byler house is located near the top of Mt. Washington, with a view towards downtown Los Angeles. The house is small, measuring less than five hundred square feet, with only a main room, kitchen, and bathroom. The exterior was clad in Douglas fir, and the interior walls were redwood. A wood trellis highlighted the wood theme on the outside as well.
Gregory Ain, architect Philip Fein, photographer
Gregory Ain: Community Homes Inc. (Reseda, Calif.)
The unbuilt Community Homes project, slated for Reseda, Calif,, included a shopping center, school, parkland, and 16 blocks of homes. Ain partnered with Garrett Eckbo, Simon Eisner, and Reginald D. Johnson to design the housing tract. This housing project was controversial due to its focus on community, the Federal Housing Authority refused to approve the plans because it was to be a racially integrated housing tract, and Ain was investigated by the FBI for possible communist sympathies.
Reseda, Calif.; San Fernando Valley, Calif.
Gregory Ain: Daniel / Irons house (Los Angeles, Calif.)
This house, set on a steep lot overlooking the Silver Lake reservoir, was built for the director of the Los Angeles Newspaper Guild Ursel Daniel. She was single at the time the house was built and later married Martin Irons.
Gregory Ain: Domela house/studio (Los Angeles, Calif.)
This house and studio for Jocelyn and Jan Domela was located in the Tarzana neighborhood of Los Angeles. Jan Domela was a well-known artist and illustrator for the movie studios.
Gregory Ain: Dunsmuir Flats (Los Angeles, Calif.)
Dunsmuir Flats is a four unit building, all attached, with each 2-story unit containing 2 bedrooms and 1.5 bathrooms. It is an example of Modern International Style, with a flat roof and horizontal bands of clerestory windows. All of the bedrooms face south, with access to their own private balconies, and the dining room and living rooms open out onto a patio. On the 49 foot wide lot, each unit is stepped back to give a sense of privacy to the patio and balcony areas.
Gregory Ain: Edwards house (Los Angeles, Calif.)
The Charles H. Edwards house was Ain's first solo commission after working for Richard Neutra and Harwell Hamilton Harris. The house, sited on a flat lot in the Hollywood Hills, was named House Beautiful Magazine's "House of the Year" for 1938.
Gregory Ain: Eisenstadt house (Los Angeles, Calif.)
The Ben and Clara Eisenstadt house was built on a hilltop site along Blair Drive in Los Angeles. It now overlooks the Universal Studios lot.
Gregory Ain: Ernst house (Los Angeles, Calif.)
The house for Anselem Ernst was built on a sloping hillside lot in the Los Feliz Oaks neighborhood. The exterior angles and interior use of space and geometry are very reminiscent of Rudolph Schindler, with whom Ain worked for a time in the early 1930s. It is a Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument #840.
Gregory Ain, architect Fred Dapprich, photographer
Gregory Ain: Goldberg house (San Fernando Valley, Calif.)
The Dr. I. Goldberg house was located in the Encino area of the San Fernando Valley. For this house, redwood siding was used. Ain generally preferred stucco since he did not like that the giant redwood trees were cut down for building materials.
Gregory Ain: Hacienda Village Extension (Los Angeles, Calif.)
Gregory Ain, along with his partners Johnson and Day, designed this never-built extension for Hacienda Village for the Housing Authority of the City of Los Angeles. The Extension of the original World War Two era housing project, would have extended from 103rd Place down to 107th Street, and from Compton Avenue to Grandee Avenue. The original Hacienda Village was designed by Paul R. Williams (chief architect), along with Adrian Wilson, Richard J. Neutra, Walter Wurdeman, and Welton Becket as housing for defense workers during the War. The area is now known as Gonzaque Village, and this particular tract is the current site of Markham Middle School.
Gregory Ain: Hay house (Los Angeles, Calif.)
Harry Hay commissioned Ain to design this house for his mother, Margaret Hay. With clearstory windows and a garage at the front of the property and living room facing the private backyard, the house was seen as a perfect place for Harry Hay to conduct meetings of the Mattachine Society (an early gay rights group). The property has been designated Los Angeles Cultural-Historic Monument #981.
Gregory Ain, architect George Agron, architect Julius Shulman, photographer
Gregory Ain: Hural house (Los Angeles, Calif.)
The Alexander and Flora Hural house featured a dental lab on the upper level. It is located in the Hollywood Hills section of Los Angeles.
Gregory Ain: Leshing Apartments (Hollywood, Calif.)
This 20-unit apartment building project (never built), was written up in Arts & Architecture Magazine alongside the Case Study House program, but was not part of it. The "Garden Apartments" as they were described, were a series of townhouse-style apartments, each opening onto their own private garden space, with windows looking onto the garden and shared walkway. Garages for each of the units were on the adjoining lot, with studio apartments with large decks on the second floor. The design allowed for each apartment to have it's own outdoor space, but windows and walls were sited such that privacy was of utmost importance, and each unit only overlooked their own private garden patio.
Gregory Ain: Mar Vista Tract (Los Angeles, Calif.)
Originally planned as a tract of 100 homes on 60 acres, the Mar Vista Tract built 52 homes. Ain partnered with Joseph Johnson, Alfred Day, and landscape architect Garrett Eckbo to design the housing tract. The houses were turned in different directions, so that the side facing the street gave each house a slightly different look. Ain used sliding doors to create a flexible living arrangement-- one sliding door between bedrooms made two small rooms into one large room, and another sliding door between a bedroom and the living room opened up the space. It is the first post-WWII housing district to receive the Los Angeles Historic Preservation Overlay Zone designation.
Ain, Gregory (1908-1988), architect; Joseph Johnson, architect; Alfred Day, architect; Garrett Eckbo, landscape architect
Gregory Ain: Mesner house (Sherman Oaks, Calif.)
This house for Leo Mesner is in the Sherman Oaks section of Los Angeles. The only portion of the house visible from the street is the garage, with the main view of the house is from the backyard. Inside, the house is spread out on four levels, each separated by a half-flight of stairs.
Los Angeles, Calif.; Sherman Oaks, Calif.
Gregory Ain: Museum of Modern Art exhibition house (New York, NY)
The exhibition house Ain designed for the Museum of Modern Art and the Woman's Home Companion magazine was built in New York City in 1950. It was designed to show how modern living could be made accessible to most homeowners, with sliding walls separating the two smaller bedrooms, as well as the ability to open up the living room, dining room, and main bedroom to create a large entertaining area.
Gregory Ain, architect Joseph Johnson and Alfred Day, architects
Gregory Ain: Orans house (Los Angeles, Calif.)
The Maurice and Alice Orans House was located on a steeply sloped small lot in the Silver Lake area of Los Angeles. The garage was built at street level with entrance and exit doors; the curved driveway allows for easy entrance and egress, extra parking, and to eliminate the need to back out onto a busy street. The house rises above the garage in four levels- bedrooms, service areas, maid's room, and main living areas. Multiple terraces on different levels provide ample outdoor space.
Gregory Ain: Park Planned homes (Altadena, Calif.)
The Park Plannned Homes is a tract of 28 houses in Altadena, designed by Ain with landscape architect Garrett Eckbo. They have elements of an open concept feel, with a modular building design of 12' x 16' modular units that allowed for common finishes, hardware and equipment. The housing tract was built on a slope, so each property was leveled off and is stepped down from the one above. Along with all of the houses having the garage and service area in the front (and a private patio), the retaining walls and landscaping provide privacy for the homeowners.
Ain, Gregory (1908-1988), architect; Garrett Eckbo, landscape architect
Gregory Ain: Scharlin house (Los Angeles, Calif.)
The Scharlin house in Silver Lake was built for the founder of one of the first co-operative nursery schools in Los Angeles, Rose Scharlin. The house sits at the top of the ridge, on a sloping site far back from the street, with views in multiple directions. The children's bedrooms, as well as the living room and den had sliding walls for flexible living arrangements.
Gregory Ain: Tierman house (Los Angeles, Calif.)
The house for Samuel and Celia Tierman was sited on a steep lot in the Silver Lake neighborhood of Los Angeles. The small house, with a pyramid-shaped roof, stucco walls, and attached garage was part of Ain's philosophy of bringing modern homes to small budgets. The roof with central skylight and fireplace gave the house a monumental feel on the inside, with high ceilings in the main living area. The house was named Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Landmark #124 in 1974.
Gregory Ain, architect Visscher Boyd, associate architect Julius Shulman, photographer
Gregory Ain: Wilfong house (Altadena, Calif.)
This house in Altadena for John C. Wilfong was a long, low, glass-walled house with views towards the mountains. The investment banker Wilfong wanted a house where he and his wife could entertain and raise their child. Ain designed a linear house with formal entertaining areas that could be walled off with a sliding partition from the informal living areas. Unfortunately, the house burned in 1993 and was completely destroyed.
Gregory Ain, architect Joseph Johnson and Alfred Day, architects Julius Shulman, photographer