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| The Neutra VDL House was designed by architect Richard Neutra. |
The College of Environmental Design at Cal Poly Pomona is teaming with the Los Angeles Conservancy to host a fundraiser for the landmark Neutra VDL House.
The March 31 cocktail party, “An Evening with Richard Longstreth,” will feature a talk by the George Washington University professor, one of the nation's leading architectural historians. Longstreth also will speak at Cal Poly Pomona on March 30.
All proceeds from the fundraiser will support repair and maintenance of the modernist home, which was bequeathed to Cal Poly Pomona in 1990.
The landmark research house was designed by architect Richard Neutra and built in 1932 on a 60- by 70-foot lot in the Silver Lake district of Los Angeles. The home — radical at the time, with lots of glass and a rooftop garden — was built with a generous contribution from Dutch industrialist Cornelius H. Van der Leeuw and Neutra called the house “VDL” in his honor. Upon completion, it served as Neutra's studio and family residence. In 1939, Neutra added the Garden House to the main structure.
Most of the home, with the exception of the Garden House, was destroyed by fire in 1963. Neutra and his architect son, Dion, rebuilt the house — calling it VDL II — on the existing footprint.
Tickets for the upcoming fundraiser are $50 each. RSVP to Ms. Sam Friend at (909) 869-4629 or dsfriend@cpp.edu.
For more information, contact Sarah Lorenzen, assistant professor of architecture at Cal Poly Pomona and director of the Neutra VDL Research House II, at (323) 644-5480.