Home Tours: Neutra, through the eye of John Bertram

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When John Bertram was 10, his family moved into a 1942 architectural home in Denver. ‘It was a red brick box with steel corner casement windows and travertine window sills and stairs. It looked like a nightclub,’ recalls the Los Angeles architect, 43. ‘I’d never seen a modern home before. There was so much clarity to the design that a kid could draw it.’

These days, Bertram’s drawings are more complex blueprints for luxury living: minimalist designs strongly influenced by the work of midcentury Southern California modernist Richard Neutra. For Bertram, the inspiration is personal. He lives in a lesser-known Neutra in Silver Lake. Click on the following links to take a spin through the 1939 McIntosh residence that he calls home and get a glimpse of his latest project, the Lookout house in Beverly Hills. You also can read the full story and see the sidebar on Bertram’s resources for cork flooring, motorized shades, house numbers and more.

-- David A. Keeps

Photo credits: Christine House / For The Times