Irving Gill’s Dodge House, a landmark in memory
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Dodge House by Irving Gill has long been considered a landmark of residential design -- to some, one of the most important American houses of the 20th century. If you have not heard of this groundbreaking piece of architecture before, perhaps that’s because the 1916 house no longer exists. It was demolished in 1970, cleared to make way for apartments, now condos, in the heart of West Hollywood.
Dodge House’s form -- horizontal boxes lacking roof overhangs, surface detail or other ornament -- was a revolutionary departure from the pitched roof and symmetrical facades that once were so common. The graceful arches, the ahead-of-its-time mahogany paneling, the stunningly beautiful sense of simplicity -- all are gone. What’s left is the ghost of Gill’s genius and a cautionary tale that forms the latest installment of our Landmark Houses series.
Landmark Houses: Irving Gill’s Dodge House
Library of Congress catalog with Dodge House photos and drawings
-- Jeffrey Head