Let’s say, for the sake of argument (and it would be a lively one), that residential-scale modernism first took hold of this country in California. Yes, there’s Frank Lloyd Wright’s midwestern reign, along with certain claims for the region that could be made by Mies van der Rohe’s Farnsworth House in Illinois.
But to really capture the American imagination, modernism had to capitalize on the American dream—a dream that invariably lies to the west. As with many things, Southern California proved the best place to turn aspirational ideas about living and lifestyles (swimming pools, movie stars) into mass-produced realities (swimming pools, wet bars), offering home buyers a reasonable facsimile of stylish, easy living and preserving their au courant bona fides.
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