Julius-shulman-stood-here-1960
 
{above: image via take sunset.}

on 10/10/10, iconic photographer julius shulman would have been 100-years-old.  in honor of his birthday, i embarked upon the MAK center day-long architecture tour last sunday which featured a handful of the los angeles homes shulman helped make famous.

all of the homes were shot over the course of shulman's career.  as i toured the houses, i witnessed restoration projects in progress (the kun house), death defying drop offs (the gantert house), and even toured shulman's hollywood hills pad, which is currently on the market for 2+million.

i'll write about the other homes in a future post.  for now, i'm going to start with the hillside house, which sits right above the sunset strip.  built in 1962 by architect carl louis matson for himself and his wife, the hillside house is a three-level, concrete and wood wonder that is set into the existing hill at a 45-degree angle.

here is shulman's 1962 photograph of the hillside house:

Julius-Shulman_Hillside_house

and here are my 2010 photographs:

Hillside_house_exterior_tour_carl_louis_maston_1962

the resemblence is uncanny, isn't it?

Hillside_house_stairs_carl_louis_maston_1962

Hillside_house_bedroom_carl_louis_maston_1962

according to the friendly docent, the hillside house suffered from much neglect and not-so-flattering facelifts after the past few decades.  at one point, the home was owned by a sunset strip club owner who painted over the concrete walls, trashed the place, and turned it into a hollywood crash pad.

Hillside_house_bedroom_concrete_carl_louis_maston_1962

Hillside_house_living_room_carl_louis_maston_1962

luckily, the current owner decided to restore matson's hillside house back to it's original state after seeing julius shulman's photographs.  thank you, mr. shulman!

Hillside_house_chairs_carl_louis_maston_1962

Hillside_house_balcony_driveway_mid_century_maston_1962

Hillside_house_exterior_carl_louis_maston_1962 copy

Hillside_house_pool_hollywood_hills_carl_louis_maston_1962

Hillside_house_pool_carl_louis_maston_1962

and sitting pool side:  words to live by.