harrison house case study

Case Study House #26 was built in San Rafael (near San Francisco) in 1962, on a design by Beverley Thorne.

Intended as the residence of Bethlehem Steel CEO Harrison Fuller, after his death, a TWA pilot/flight attendant couple lived in this home until it was sold in 2015.

The design is based on a simple concept: A shoebox comprised of 8 identical bays, steel-framed and covered with a flat roof. The social spaces are accentuated by a double height space, whose dramatic roof follows the slope of the lot.

Using a steel structure allowed the ultimate indoor/outdoor living experience: All typical exterior walls are fully glazed; also allowing panoramic views over the nearby State Park and golf course.

Landscape designer Garrett Eckbo (EDAW, now Aecom) designed the landscape. Recent renovation and preservation work was conducted by Cord Struckmann, AIA.

Both past and current owners have been taking great care to preserve the home for future generations.

The ARCHITEcT

Beverley (David) Thorne (1924 - 2017) liked the challenge to design houses for hillsides, typically shunned by regular developers. His preferred medium was steel. It allowed him large spans, boldly cantilevered structures, while reducing earthwork and number of foundations to the absolute minimum.

He himself helped welding the steel members for Case Study House, which is his only Case Study House project.

A graduate of UC Berkeley, David Thorne gained early fame for his spectacular 1954 Oakland home for jazz musician Dave Brubeck. Working later under his given name Beverley and out of the limelight of architecture circles, he completed more than 100 homes throughout California and Hawaii, where he spent his last years. He was the last living architect of the Case Study House program.

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The PROGRAM

The Case Study House Program ran from 1944 to 1967 and was sponsored by the ‘Arts and Architecture’ magazine. The idea of editor John Entanza, with support from the Eames, Richard Neutra and others, was to show the American public how families can live in modern times: with modern layouts, good connection to the outdoors, with modern amenities like cars electric and appliances, and using industrial materials to allow for efficient, inexpensive construction.

Under the program, about 30 homes were designed; and about 20 were built; with almost all of them in the Los Angeles area. The 1949 Eames House (#8) and the 1960 Stahl House (#22) are the most well-known ones. After construction, each Case Study House was open to the public for tours. For the Case Study House 26’s Open Houses in 1962, helicopters landed on the roof - aka helipad - ; one of the house’s innovative features.

The program represented the optimistic, innovative character of post-war Californian architecture.Only few of the Case Study Houses - with #26 among them - are still in their original condition.

Link: www.artsandarchitecture.com/

LInk: A&A Articles about Case Study House #26

The BUILDERS

Case Study House #26  - as many other houses in the Marin Bay Development - was built by 20th Century Homes. Its founders, Roy Claxton and Hal Weiss, met when working on an Eichler development, where they also lived before they moved out to the Marin Bay / Peacock Gap. They were very interested in advancing construction means and methods as well as developing outstanding homes. For Marin Bay, they partnered with Bethlehem Steel (for CSH#26) and the Plywood Industry for the 'Hanging Garden House' (shown to the left).

In the late 1960s, Roy and Hal developed patented house designs that improved the quality and construction speed by cutting the wood directly at the mill in Idaho, so the framing arrived ready to be installed on site. Many of these truncated A-frame houses can still be found in Northern California.

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A Virtual Look Into Beverley David Thorne's Case Study House #26

• Written by Madlaina Kalunder and Cord Struckmann, Archilogic
• Published on June 23, 2016

The biggest surprise in this Archilogic model is the spectrum of color. Anyone who has visited the Case Study House 26 in San Rafael , California during the last 40 years would be familiar with the building’s classic all-white steel frame look, but the architect, Beverley David Thorne , had originally picked a very different color scheme: “Dull Gold” for the steel, saffron and other more vivid colors for the interiors. “The choice of exterior colors,” wrote Thorne in Arts & Architecture magazine , “was dictated by the climate and the character of the surrounding landscape.” This Archilogic model recreates the original 1963 conditions, down to the bedroom wall and tile colors.

With the all-white scheme, Case Study House 26 resembles Mies’ Farnsworth House or one of modern architecture’s favorite references, the ocean liner. This is never more prominent than when you step out on the deep deck that floats over the site and offers a sweeping panoramic view of the Marin County hills, virtually denying that the house is built on solid earth.

The Case Study House program was an initiative sponsored by the Arts & Architecture magazine to address the housing shortage after World War II. Its mission was to provide a vision of how families might live in modern homes built with contemporary materials and technologies. With the post-war population and building boom, buildable land in California became scarce and more expensive, resulting in builders looking to hillsides as cheaper alternatives. For Case Study House 26, addressing the steeply sloped site was a self-imposed criteria that qualified the building for inclusion in the series. Ironically, the series resulted in architectural gems that did not shape mass housing, but rather influenced the tastes of discerning fans of high design. Steel frame construction was too expensive, and required too much precision, to be applied to cheap tract housing. Material-intensive details, like solid wood floors, made such houses unaffordable for most American families.

However, steel is an ideal material for construction on a steep slope. The large spans made possible by steel required fewer foundations, and by having the floor levels follow the terrain, the design avoided both expensive excavation or an unattractive “toothpick” look with exposed floor undersides.

“Touching the ground lightly” signaled an early environmentalist position and was a very important aspect for Thorne, who expressed this key intention in the A&A article as “resolving the integration of a space platform to the site without affecting the contours or natural state of the land or the occupants feeling that they are living on a hillside.”

A single drawing showing the section is enough to explain the entire house. It details the overall compositions and most construction details. Using only this section and a basic floor plan, the house could have been built. It is hard to imagine today, but the entire drawing set consisted of only four sheets. Many key decisions were made directly between the architect and contractor during construction, without the use of drawings. On site, the floor plan layout was flipped and prominent corners got windows instead of walls. Fittingly, the architect even got his hands dirty, helping to weld the steel frame himself.

Originally commissioned by the CEO of Bethlehem Steel, the first owners of Case Study House 26 were the Ketcham family, a TWA pilot and flight attendant couple, who raised their family there. The modern design corresponded perfectly to their profession. They equipped the home with cutting edge technology, like an intercom system and Jetson-esque kitchen appliances. Thorne, in addition to a few alterations, made plans to add a lower floor and pool, though they were never realized. With a few exceptions, like the current almost monochrome color scheme and a kitchen remodel, the house is preserved in its original 1963 condition.

The current owners maintain a website with more information, images and literature references on www.csh26.info , or follow them on Instagram .

We encourage you to experience Archilogic's Virtual Experience in your Browser, create your own designs and share your tours online. To join the Archilogic Platform Sign up here and enjoy the free trial version of the pro subscription .

Archilogic transforms 2D floor plans into interactive, accessible and customizable 3D virtual tours in 24 hours from $69 upwards. Don't miss Archilogic's previous models shared on ArchDaily:

• Case Study House #1 / Julius Ralph Davidson
• Case Study House #9 / Charles Eames and Eero Saarinen
• Case Study House #6 / Richard Neutra
• Case Study House #22 / Pierre Koenig
• Case Study House #21 / Pierre Koenig
• Case Study House #8 / Charles & Ray Eames
• Farnsworth House / Mies van der Rohe
• Barcelona Pavilion / Mies van der Rohe

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Case Study: Harrison House by Surber Barber Choate + Hertlein

When this 1950s midcentury modern house was designed for its hilly, wooded site in Mountain Brook, Alabama, it was a somewhat rogue architectural contribution to the tony traditional suburb of Birmingham. The original owners were from New York, says architect James Choate, AIA, and brought their sophisticated tastes with them. “The husband was some guy in sales, who traveled around. And, at some point, he announced to his wife that they were moving to Birmingham,” he recounts. “She was none too happy about it. The New York City of the 1950s was probably the high point of civilization compared to what was going on in Birmingham.”

It appears her consolation prize was a brand new, modern house commissioned from a local Birmingham architect with worldly ideas. “The bulk of houses in this suburb are 1920s eclectic,” notes Jim. “And this was plopped in the middle of that at the end of a cul de sac.” It was, by the time, his clients found it, quite derelict and listed for sale as a likely teardown. They understood immediately that it was a diamond in the rough. The young couple had been yearning for a modern house for years and had had several false starts before this project. Jim met them originally when, after finding what he calls a “difficult piece of property,” they’d driven the two hours to meet with him at his firm, Surber Barber Choate + Hertlein, in Atlanta to discuss the possibilities of building their dream house on the property. But then they disappeared.

“I thought it was water under the bridge,” he recalls. “Then I heard from them again out of the blue. They’d bought the property and hired a local architect to design the house, but it looked like it wasn’t going to be what they wanted. If you knew the property, you would understand how it wasn’t going to work out.”

Ultimately, they gave up on the other architect and sold the problematic property. Then they came upon this oddball box, nearly reclaimed by the overgrown vegetation around it, and they called Jim out to see it. “This is an area like Buckhead in Atlanta, an enclave for gentry. And here was this rundown, perfectly Miesian block of a house. It was like a UFO had landed there,” he says. “I said to them, ‘this is exciting. We can make something of this.’”

Girding the Grid

At 1,800 square feet, however, it was too small for the clients’ full program. They had two very young boys and wanted the appurtenances of an upscale life: separate bedrooms for the kids, a couple’s suite, separate workspaces, informal family and dining spaces, formal living and dining areas, a guest room, and a pool and garage. “We knew we needed twice as much square footage, but we knew the clients didn’t want to buy the house for its midcentury aesthetic and then have us ruin that,” says Jim.

Not that the original was perfect by any stretch of the imagination. “The original floor plan showed what a simple box it was, but it was also kind of a flawed thing from the start. It expressed the grid and put the rooms inside the structure, but then poked in some convenient closets that protruded. It was a cool midcentury thing with a couple of goofs in it.”

One of the biggest “goofs” was an ill-positioned carport that blocked the front façade of the house. Removing that was the first big demolition task, and then the flawed box itself could be set to rights. Much of the latter task entailed removing tired and deteriorating 70-year-old building materials and sharpening the interiors to more rigorous architectural and performance standards.

“We scraped off the carport and built a new guest parking spot, retaining a bit of earth to make it work right,” says Jim. “Then we put in a new front door, more or less where the old one was—and painted it red like the original. We put new cypress around the door and extended the black roof beams to make a cantilevered entrance piece with two steel posts on either side.” Replacing the old entrance hidden by the carport was a fresh new entrance properly “signaled” as an important arrival point.

“All the windows are in the original locations, and the main bedroom is now the guest room with a new guest bathroom. We harvested the original secondary bedrooms for a larger kitchen, home office, and storage. Basically, we rescrambled the guts of the original.”

Perhaps unscrambling is a more accurate description, because Jim and his team made sure to clear axial views to the house’s best feature: two yellow brick end walls on either side of the great room. The brick walls appear elsewhere in the original house, but these two are the tour de force.

“If those bricks had been red, it would have changed everything about the house,” says Jim. “They are a really nice yellow brick, which we saved, cleaned up, and used as our color palette.”

New Meets Old

Sorting the old box was, as Jim calls it, “reconstructive surgery.” But a more delicate operation was adding on the new box. That’s where it was easy to go awry. “We modeled three or four different ways to do it,” he recalls. “The first version was the one I liked the best, but I thought it was out there.”

It was the one the clients liked the best. “We made the decision to build the new addition away from the old and reach over and insert ourselves in as minimal a way as possible through the roof. So we restored and improved that original midcentury thing and built the new thing with what they needed, using the topography to do so.” The new addition is built toward the slope of the site, with most of its program on the second level. There’s a self-contained studio on the ground level with no interior access.

“The idea was a zero-gravity bridge that would reach across from the new addition to the old house and plop down in the right place,” he continues. The bridge spans the new courtyard and pool area, connecting the main level of the addition through a sort of box on the roof of the original building and down into the great room. “It’s a big horizontal move to a vertical move. And the hall to the bedrooms align with the bridge, so it’s also great Tonka truck run.”

The vertical move—the main stair—is suspended from cables. It has some extra structure to keep it from “swinging” says Jim, and to ensure the open white oak treads meet code—but it’s the cables doing the support work, he assures. “The stair gives the room a kind of Rat Pack feel, but it barely has a presence through the house—I wanted you to see gold brick wall to gold brick wall.” And that’s not all you see. A new fireplace in the living area and a fountain over the new pool provide fresh focal points of fire and water through the restored window wall.

Carefully recomposed with the “bumps removed,” the house finally really belongs where it is. “The first great gift of midcentury architecture were views from inside to outside,” says Jim. Here, the views from outside to inside are just as compelling.

Before Images

Plans and Drawings

Project Credits

Harrison House

Birmingham, Alabama

ARCHITECT: Principal-in-charge: James Choate , AIA, Surber Barber Choate + Hertlein Architects , Atlanta, Georgia

BUILDER: Classic Renovations & Contracting , LLC, Odenville, Alabama

INTERIOR DESIGNER: Jennie Clingan, Alchemy Design, Birmingham

STRUCTURAL ENGINEER: Bennett & Pless, Inc., Dunwoody, Georgia

KITCHEN CONSULTANT: Michael Murrow, MDM Design Studio, Birmingham

POOL CONTRACTOR: Paramount Pools, Rainbow City, Alabama

PROJECT SIZE: 3,600 square feet (1,800 existing; 1,800 new addition)

PHOTOGRAPHER: Phillip Spears

Key Products

BATHROOM CABINETRY: Custom, solid walnut and solid oak

BATHROOM SINKS: Lacava

CLADDING: Clear stained cypress

COUNTERTOPS: Alabama Stone Works (kitchen); white quartz (bathrooms)

DISHWASHER: Bosch

FLOORING: New slate tiles in main home; oak flooring in addition

FAUCETS: Blanco Culina Semi-Pro (kitchen); Delta Trinsic; Brizo Litze; Phylrich

GARBAGE DISPOSAL: Insinkerator

KITCHEN CABINETRY: Walnut, custom by MDM Design Studio

KITCHEN BACKSPLASH: Clear Solid Glass

LIGHTING: Lumens.com

OVEN/RANGE/VENT HOOD: Wolf

PAINT: Sherwin-Williams Pure White and Caviar

REFRIGERATOR/FREEZER: Sub-Zero

SHADING SYSTEM: Lutron Custom Shades

TUB: ADM Bathroom Design

WINDOWS: Western Window Systems (new addition); insulated glass added to windows of existing house

Architect Pascale Sablan Honored With 2021 Whitney M. Young Jr. Award

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A Rare Opportunity: Case Study House #26 Enters Market for the First Time in San Rafael

This is not an error: Case Study House #26  really is located in the Northern California town of San Rafael . In fact, it’s the only Case Study House in the San Francisco Bay Area.

“It’s a slice of California modern history,” listing agent Kathi Elliott says. “It’s an amazing property.” In the land of redwood and stucco, this steel-and-glass design  stands out.

Designed by Beverley David Thorne , the one-level, four-bedroom home built on a sloping property with views of the Peacock Gap golf course is “as current as it was when it was built,” Elliott says.

It’s also hardly changed. Elliott says the original architecture as intact. Except for a kitchen remodel possibly in the late 1960s or early 1970s, the masterpiece of modern design has been kept in pristine condition since it was constructed in 1962.

(realtor.com)

Even the original light fixtures have stood the test of time, according to the agent. And at just 1,955 square feet, the home’s footprint “feels so big,” she says, thanks to the high ceilings, an open floor plan, and a deck that runs the length of the house.

The steel-framed Harrison House was named for a Bethlehem Steel executive who wanted to purchase the property. When he backed out, an airline pilot bought it “without his wife even seeing it,” according to the agent. He apparently made the right choice: The family has been the sole owner of the property—and five decades later the children have decided to put the place on the market for $1.85 million.

The price takes into account the value of the property, but not the cachet of owning a Case Study House. And history aside, the next owner will probably want to do some updating.

The architect himself is a legend: Thorne, at 91, is the last living Case Study architect, according to the Los Angeles Times . The Case Study Houses were commissioned starting in the mid-1940s to now-famous architects as experiments in low-cost building techniques after World War II.

Thorne gained renown for designing jazz great Dave Brubeck ’s Oakland house in the mid-1950s, an eye-popping design that cantilevered over a hillside.

The publicity-shy architect continued to quietly build homes in the Bay Area. “My structural theory was: You do the basic cage or bone in steel, then you fill it in with wood. Because I like wood. It’s just a nicer material inside,” he told the San Francisco Chronicle .

Thorne’s Case Study House is a true rarity. Of the three dozen or so commissioned designs , the homes that were built are all located in Southern California. When one goes on the market, it tends to cause a frenzy among Mid-Century Modern design buffs.

Elliott is aware of the unique nature of her listing. “It was a big deal. It is a big deal,” she says. She has kept up public showings of the house. “We really want people to see it and enjoy it,” she adds.

Claudine Zap covers celebrity real estate, housing trends, and unique home stories. Her work has appeared on Yahoo, New York Post, and SFGATE.

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American Institute of Architects San Francisco

Festival Home Tours | Case Study House #26

Take an archiectural tour of the historic Case Study House #26 built in San Rafael in 1962 designed by Beverley (David) Thorne (1924 – 2017)

Architect: Beverley (David) Thorne | 1924-2017 Location: San Rafael Building Size/Acres:  1,955 SF / 0.9 acre Completion Year:  1962 Photographer:  Rob Jordan, Alfonso Cordon

VIP Tickets       Tour Only

About the Home

Take this exclusive home tour experience and learn about the historic Case Study House #26 built in San Rafael in 1962 designed by Beverley (David) Thorne (1924 – 2017) who liked the challenge to design houses for hillsides, typically shunned by regular developers. This home was part of the influential Case Study House program, which ran from 1945 to 1966 and defined the image of modern California architecture.

Intended as the representative residence of Bethlehem Steel CEO Harrison Fuller, after his death, a TWA pilot/flight attendant couple lived in this home until it was sold in 2015. The structurally expressive design has been kept mostly in its original condition by past and current owners. The rational floorplan separates private from social spaces, of which the latter are accentuated by a double-height space, whose dramatic roof follows the slope of the lot.

About the Architecture + the City Festival (September 10-30)

Presented by the  Center for Architecture + Design  in collaboration with the  American Institute of Architects, San Francisco Chapter (AIASF) , the  18th annual Architecture + the City Festival continues to offer behind-the-scenes programs, walking tours, literature, live presentations, and more that provide an excellent opportunity for all communities to experience architecture and design in a myriad of ways throughout the city. Every September, the festival reveals the many facets and layers of San Francisco, and how ­architecture and design play a key role in this ever-changing urban landscape.

For more info visit: www.archandcity.org

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Visiting the Bay Area's only Case Study House

8 min read     October 8, 2021     #Photoessays   #California

Earlier this summer, we had the chance to make the journey over to one of the Bay Area’s architectural gems,  Case Study House No. 26 . The owners were kind enough to host a free open house for architecture fans.

The Case Study House Program

The  Case Study House Program is part of a long lineage of “houses of the future” that have appeared in exhibitions and magazines. These visions of the future were almost never built as actual livable houses. The Case Study Program is different.

In the mid-century, John Entenza , editor of  Arts & Architecture , started the program in the  magazine’s 45th issue  to envision what post-war housing could be. He tasked eight architects, including Richard Neutra, Eero Saarinen, and Charles Eames, with designing the first set of houses.

Over two decades, more architects joined and designed thirty-six projects in all. More than two dozen were built. The Harrison House, also known as Case Study House No. 26, is the only one in the Bay Area.

Although the program did not fulfill its goal of setting the definition of post-war housing, it did define the identity of American modernist living. The houses are almost all built on a modular grid drawn with straight lines. Large windows, exposed building materials, and open spaces have established what can now be referred to as the “Case Study House Style.”

A house built by the man of steel

The house sits at the bottom of a long slanted driveway, which ends in a covered carport. The carport roof slopes down to serve as the roof for the living spaces that are one level lower.

Fujifilm X100V · 23mm · f/5.6 · 1/480 · ISO 160

From this vantage point, we can glimpse the most critical material used in the house’s construction — steel. Steel was the material preferred by the architect, Beverly Thorne. He designed more than 200 houses throughout his long career, mainly of steel, many perched on slopes like this one.

Fujifilm X100V · 23mm · f/4.5 · 1/110 · ISO 160

He rocketed into the spotlight when he designed the first of two houses for  Dave Brubeck  a decade earlier. Soon after, he fled the spotlight by changing his name from David to his baptized name Beverly. With that, he sunk back into relative obscurity.

Beverly liked steel for the freedom it gave him. In  an interview with the Los Angeles Times , he said, “Back then, a wooden beam was only 24 feet long, where its steel counterpart could be 60 feet, even longer with proper welding.” As a result, his houses, including Case Study House No. 26, are airy and appear to float above their surroundings.

The building is quite simple to understand. The main volume is built around an eight-by-two formed of steel beams. The roof sits within the same plane as the floor of the carport.

A slanted roof creates a high-ceilinged triangular volume above the public sections of the house and keeps extending out into a flying roof above the carport.

A cantilevered deck extends the length of the house, joining the private and public spaces. Beverly originally planned for a lower level with a swimming pool that would have extended out far from below the deck. Those plans were never realized.

Upon entering the small entryway into the living room, I noticed the magnificent high ceiling surrounded by windows. It gives the public areas of the house a lightness fit for entertaining guests. The private bedrooms, with their lower ceiling, are much cozier.

Fujifilm X100V · 23mm · f/5 · 1/60 · ISO 250

The exposed steel beams that form the house’s skeleton imbue in it a sense of calmness and order. They avoid the drabness in most mid-century-inspired architecture I see these days.

Fujifilm X100V · 23mm · f/2 · 1/320 · ISO 160

The house as it is today

As I looked around the living room, I felt comfortable. Often, owners of mid-century houses choose from the same list of popular, recognizable furniture and decor. In this house, there is a mix of pieces I’ve seen before and others I’ve never seen. The space truly feels livable and not like a stiff modern art museum.

Fujifilm X100V · 23mm · f/5 · 1/60 · ISO 200

I especially loved the harmony between the exposed aggregate concrete covering the entryway, the Gigacer Concrete tile in the living room, and the woolen Peace Industry rug on top. The purity of those materials compliments the rawness of the painted steel beams.

Fujifilm X100V · 23mm · f/4.5 · 1/60 · ISO 3200

Fujifilm X100V · 23mm · f/9 · 1/60 · ISO 640

While a cutout in the ceiling exposes the higher slanted ceiling above, the dining area feels intimate. Two small partitions partially cover the living room on one side and the kitchen on the other.

Fujifilm X100V · 23mm · f/4.5 · 1/60 · ISO 160

Between the partitions sits a built-in buffet, the perfect landing pad for napkins and placemats.

Fujifilm X100V · 23mm · f/2.8 · 1/150 · ISO 160

While we visited, the owners left out their collection of books about the Case Study Program for use to leaf through.

Fujifilm X100V · 23mm · f/7.1 · 1/60 · ISO 400

As we continue, we enter my favorite room in the house, the kitchen. It’s the site of the most extensive modification and refurbishment by the new owners.

This house was initially intended for Bethlehem Steel CEO Wallace Harrison. Unfortunately, he passed away before the house was completed. Eventually, Renee and Gari Ketchum, a TWA flight attendant and pilot, respectively, purchased the home in 1963, a year after it was built. They remained the owners of the house and made only slight modifications until Renee passed away in 2015. That was when the current owners, Cord and Alfonso, came into its possession.

Fujifilm X100V · 23mm · f/2 · 1/100 · ISO 160

The Ketchums removed the closed-in wooden kitchen and replaced it with St. Charles metal cabinets in orange and green. Cord and Alfonso impressively  hired an auto body shop  to strip and refinish the cabinets on site.

Fujifilm X100V · 23mm · f/8 · 1/60 · ISO 500

They then reinstalled the cabinets in a more modern arrangement suiting their needs. The cabinet system is entirely modular, including fitted storage containers adorned with fading  Steelmark  stickers.

Fujifilm X100V · 23mm · f/5 · 1/60 · ISO 640

They also brought the Nutone intercom back to life by purchasing old examples from eBay and finding a local repair person.

Fujifilm X100V · 23mm · f/16 · 1/40 · ISO 3200

The deck extends along the back of the house. Sliding doors along the length allow any room to merge with the outdoors.

Fujifilm X100V · 23mm · f/9 · 1/140 · ISO 160

Fujifilm X100V · 23mm · f/2 · 1/800 · ISO 160

The deck can also function as a shortcut between the public and private spaces in the house.

Fujifilm X100V · 23mm · f/2 · 1/1250 · ISO 160

As we left the deck and enter the bedrooms, we are treated to the cozy surroundings I mentioned earlier. The first bedroom is easily accessible from the entryway, making it the perfect guest bedroom. A separate bathroom across the hallway serves both this bedroom and the public parts of the house.

Fujifilm X100V · 23mm · f/2 · 1/170 · ISO 160

If you continue down the hallway, we are met with a wall. Take a quick left and a right. We are then treated to a secluded hallway that is obscured from the public areas of the house. This enables someone to go from a bedroom to a bathroom in privacy, even though there may be guests in the living room.

Fujifilm X100V · 23mm · f/4.5 · 1/60 · ISO 800

Cord and Alfonso have again furnished the bedrooms with quality pieces that add interest without detracting from the rest of the house.

Fujifilm X100V · 23mm · f/4.5 · 1/70 · ISO 160

The master bedroom uses a rather clever technique. A tall built-in chest of drawers towers like a monolith on one side of the room, separating the bedroom from a closet-like area. Unlike a real walk-in closet, the space isn’t fully enclosed and doesn’t feel claustrophobic.

Raw materiality

The thing I love most about this house is that it is a celebration of raw materiality. The ceilings are clad in unfinished wood. The steel beams both quietly follow the top of walls and majestically cross interior voids. They merge in the corners in a criss-cross of welds.

Modernist houses like this are so revered because their appearance isn’t merely a facade. Form and function are one. The building materials and techniques are laid bare for all to see. These houses are beautiful because of the care taken to their design and construction.

Fujifilm X100V · 23mm · f/3.2 · 1/60 · ISO 250

Camera setup

Fujifilm X100V

Thanks to Q for reading drafts of this.

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Property of the week: Beverley David Thorne’s Case Study...

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Property of the week: Beverley David Thorne’s Case Study House #26 in Northern California

A perfectly preserved piece of history

Case Study House #26 hovers above the town of San Rafael in Northern California.

It is one of about 30 homes commissioned for Arts & Architecture magazine’s ‘Case Study’ programme , a series of experiments in low-cost building techniques after World War II. Nearly all of the houses were built around the West Coast but architect Beverley David Thorne’s glass and steel-frame design was the only one constructed in the Bay Area.

The four-bedroom property was completed in 1963. It has been owned by the same family ever since, who have kept the original layout and fixtures in tact, right down to the light fittings. Only the kitchen has been updated – in the late 1960s/early 1970s.

Spanning 1,995 sq ft, the interior is light and airy, with double-height ceilings in the living spaces. Structural steel beams are exposed throughout, and Thorne used extensive glazing to flood the property with light.

A rear deck runs the entire length of the building, from which you can take in the views.

And, while the original floor plan would satisfy most purists, Thorne also created plans that could expand the single-storey design with a 1,400 sq ft addition below, including a pool.

Born in 1924, Thorne is the last living Case Study architect, and House #26 remains one of his better-known works. The $1.85 million property is for sale via Decker Bullock.

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Case Study House #26

Beverley david thorne.

177 San Marino Drive, San Rafael, CA, USA Check rates & availability

The Aalto House

Alvar aalto, 1935-1936, finland.

Riihitie 20, Helsinki, Finland

view special

Adolf Loos Apartment and Gallery

1927-1929, czech republic.

U Stareho hrbitova 40/6, Prague, Czech Republic Website

Appartement - Atelier de Le Corbusier

Le corbusier and pierre jeanneret, 1931-1934, france.

24 rue Nungesser et Coli, 75016 Paris, France Website

Arne Jacobsen’s own house in Charlottenlund

Arne jacobsen, 1929/1931, denmark.

Gotfred Rodes Vej 2, 2920 Charlottenlund, Copenhagen, Denmark Website

Arne Jacobsen’s own house in Klampenborg

1951, denmark.

Strandvejen 413, 2930 Klampenborg, Copenhagen, Denmark Website

Atelier Volten

Johannes hendrik mulder jr, 1927, the netherlands.

Asterdwarsweg 10, Amsterdam, The Netherlands Website

Boyd House II

1959, australia.

290 Walsh Street, South Yarra, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia Website

Brummel House

1928-1929, czech republic.

Husova 58, 301 01 Plzeň, Czech Republic Website

Van Buuren Museum & Gardens

Léon govaerts, alexis van vaerenbergh, 1928, belgium.

Avenue Léo Errera 41, Uccle, Brussels, Belgium Website

1971, Spain

Mallorca, Spain Check rates & availability

Casa Bloc Museum-Apartment

Josep lluís sert, josep torres clavé, 1932-1939, spain.

Carrer de l’Almirall Pròixida, 1 (at the corner of Passeig Torras i Bages), Barcelona, Spain Website

Casa Broner

Erwin broner, 1960, spain.

Travesia Peña 15, Ibiza, Illes Balears, Spain Website

Casa Cattaneo

Cesare cattaneo, 1939, italy.

Via Regina 41(P), 41/a, 22012, Cernobbio, Italy Website

Casa das Canoas

Oscar niemeyer, 1952, brazil.

Rua Conde Lages, 25 - Glória, CEP: 20241-080, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Casa das Marinhas

Alfredo evangelista viana de lima, 1954, portugal.

Rua 24 de Junho, 4740-223, Esposende, Braga, Portugal Website

Casa de Vidro

Lina bo bardi, 1951, brazil.

Rua Almeiro de Moura 200 - Morumbi, 05690-080, São Paolo, Brazil Website

Casa del Puente / Museo Casa sobre el Arroyo

Amancio williams and delfina gálvez bunge, 1943-1945, argentina.

Quintana 3998 (Funes Corner), Mar del Plata, Argentina Website

Casa-Estudio Max Cetto

1949, mexico.

Agua 130, Jardines del Pedregal de San Ángel, Mexico City, Mexico Website

Casa Luis Barragán

Luis barragán, 1948, mexico.

General Francisco Ramirez 14 Col. Ampl. Daniel Garza, Miguel Hidalgo district, Mexico City, Mexico Website

Rafael Masó

1920, spain.

Ballesteries, 29, Girona, Catalonia, Spain Website

Casa Milà/La Pedrera

Antoni gaudí i cornet, 1912, spain.

Passeig de Gràcia, 92, Barcelona, Spain Website

Casa Moratiel

Josep maria sostres i maluquer, 1958, spain.

Carrer Apel les Mestres, 19, Esplugues de Llobregat, Spain Until 2026 visits are limited to architects and architecture students. For a visit, send an email to Batlle i Roig Arquitectura.

Casa Navegna

Ernst bechstein, 1929, switzerland.

Via Navegna 25, Minusio, Switzerland

Casa Orgánica

Javier senosiain, 1984, mexico.

Acueducto de Morelia No. 26, cp. 53296, Vista del Valle, Naucalpan estado de México Website

Casa Oscar Americano

Oswaldo bratke, 1953, brazil.

Avenida Morumbi, 4077, Morumbi, São Paulo, 05650-000, Brazil Website

Casa Saldarini / Casa Dinosauro

Vittorio giorgini, 1965, italy.

Località Villini, Baratti, Piombino, Italy Website

Casa Salvati

Alberto salvati ambrogio tresoldi, 1972, italy.

Via Vigole 37 Toscolano-Maderno, Toscolano- Maderno, Italy Website

Casa Walther Moreira Salles

Olavo redig de campos, 1948-1951, brazil.

Rua Marquês de São Vicente, 476 - Gávea, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, 22451-040, Brazil Website

Cases Barates Bon Pastor

Pmh el patronat municipal de l’habitatge (the municipal board of housing), 1929, spain.

C. Barnola, 22, Barcelona, Spain Website

Chabot Museum

1938, the netherlands.

Museumpark 11, 3015 CB, Rotterdam, The Netherlands Website

Cossitt Cottage

Irving j. gill.

3729 8th Avenue, CA, San Diego, USA Website

Country Residence/Museum Jachthuis Sint Hubertus

H.p. berlage, 1920, the netherlands.

Houtkampweg 9, 6731 AV, Otterlo, The Netherlands Website

Cuadra San Cristóbal

1968, mexico.

Manantial Oriente 20, 52958 Atizapan, Estado de Mexico, Mexico For a visit, send an email

1984, The Netherlands

Overblaak 70, Rotterdam, The Netherlands Website

Cuypershuis

Pierre cuypers, 1853, the netherlands.

Pierre Cuypersstraat 1, Roermond, The Netherlands Website

78 Derngate

Charles rennie mackintosh, 1917, united kingdom.

82 Derngate, Northampton, United Kingdom Website

Diagoon House

Herman hertzberger, 1971, the netherlands.

Gebbenlaan 32, 2625 KB, Delft, The Netherlands By appointment only Website

The Didrichsen Art Museum

Viljo revell, 1957, 1964, finland.

Kuusilahdenkuja 1, Helsinki, Finland Website

Dijkstra House

Ben merkelbach and charles karsten, 1934, the netherlands.

Nieuweweg 2, Groet, The Netherlands Check rates & availability

Van Doesburg Rinsemahuis

Theo van doesburg, 1921, the netherlands.

Torenstraat 3, Drachten, The Netherlands Website

Van Doesburg's Studio House

1930, france.

Rue Charles Infroit 29, 92190, Paris - Meudon-Val-Fleury, France By appointment only Website

Domenig Steinhaus

Günther domenig, 2008, austria.

Uferweg 31, 9552, Steindorf, Kärnten, Austria Website

Dorich House Museum

Dora gordine, 1936, united kingdom.

67 Kingston Vale, SW15 3RN, London, United Kingdom Website

Eames House

Charles and ray eames.

203 Chautauqua Blvd., Pacific Palisades, California, USA Website

Edith Farnsworth House

Ludwig mies van der rohe.

14520 River Rd, Plano, IL 60545, Illinois, USA Website

Van Eesteren House Museum

Nielsen, spruit & van de kuile, 1952, the netherlands.

Freek Oxstraat 27, Amsterdam, The Netherlands Website

Ein Haus WOBA

Artaria & schmidt, 1930, switzerland.

Im Surinam 126, Basel, Switzerland Website

El Capricho de Gaudí

1883-1885, spain.

Barrio Sobrellano s/n, Comillas, Spain Website

Erasmuslaan Model Home

Gerrit rietveld, 1931, the netherlands.

Erasmuslaan 9, 3584 AZ Utrecht, The Netherlands Website

Fallingwater

Frank lloyd wright, 1936-1939, usa.

1491 Mill Run Road, Mill Run, Pennsylvania, USA Website

Finn Juhl's House

1942, denmark.

Vilvordevej 110, 2920 Charlottenlund, Denmark Website

Fitzpatrick-Leland House

R.m. schindler.

Mulholland and Laurel Canyon, Los Angeles, California, USA Website

Fondation Hartung-Bergman

Mario jossa, 1973, france.

173 Chemin du Valbosquet, Antibes, Frankrijk Website

Frank Lloyd Wright's Home and Studio

1889 and 1898, usa.

951 Chicago Ave., Oak Park, Chicago, Illinois, USA Website

The Frank Lloyd Wright House in Ebsworth Park

120 N. Ballas Rd, Kirkwood, MO, USA Website

Frank Lloyd Wright's Mäntylä

187 Evergreen Lane, Acme, PA, USA Website

Frederick C. Robie House

1908-1910, usa.

5757 S. Woodlawn Ave., Chicago, Illinois, USA Website

Frelinghuysen Morris House & Studio

Suzy frelinghuysen, george l.k. morris.

92 Hawthorne Street, Lenox, MA 413, USA Website

Frey House II

Albert frey.

686 Palisades Drive, Palm Springs, California, USA Website

Frida Kahlo Museum

Frida kahlo, 1904, mexico.

247 Londres St., Colonia Del Carmen, Delegacion Coyoacan, Mexico City, Mexico Website

Futuro House

Matti suuronen, 1968, finland.

Ahertajantie 5, 02100, Espoo, Finland Website

Gallen-Kallela Museum

Akseli gallen-kallela, 1913, finland.

Gallen-Kallelan tie 27, 02600, Espoo, Finland Website

The Gamble House

Charles and henry greene.

4 Westmoreland Place, Pasadena, California, USA Website

Georg Kolbe Museum

Ernst rentsch, paul linder, georg kolbe, 1928-1929, germany.

Sensburger Allee 25, 14055, Berlin, Germany Website

The Glass House

Philip johnson.

199 Elm Street, New Canaan, Connecticut, USA Website

Gropius House

Walter gropius.

68 Baker Bridge Road,Lincoln, Massachusetts, USA Website

Haus Am Horn

G. muche (design), w. gropius and a. meyer (execution), 1923, germany.

Am Horn 61, Weimar, Germany Website

Haus Auerbach

1924, germany.

Schaefferstrasse 9, Jena, Germany Website

Haus Deiters

Joseph maria olbrich, 1901, germany.

Mathildenhöhweg 2, Darmstadt, Germany Website

Haus Dellacher

Raimund abraham, 1969, austria.

Grazerstrasse 169, 7400, Oberwart, Burgenland, Austria Website

Haus Duldeck

Rudolf steiner, 1916, switzerland.

Rüttiweg 15, 4143, Dornach, Switzerland Website

Haus Hohe Pappeln

Henry van de velde, 1907, germany.

Belvederer Allee 58, Weimar, Thuringia, Germany Website

Haus Lange Haus Esters

1930, germany.

Wilhelmshofallee 91-97, Krefeld, Germany Website

Adolf Rading

Ebertstraße 26, Zwenkau, Germany Website

Haus Rietveld in Werkbundsiedlung

1931, austria.

Woinovichgasse 14, Vienna Austria Website

Haus Schminke

Hans scharoun, 1933, germany.

Kirschallee 1b, Löbau, Germany Check rates & availability

Haus Ungers

O.m. ungers, 1959, 1989, germany.

Belvederestrasse 60, 50933, Cologne, Germany Website

The Hill House

1904, united kingdom.

Upper Colquhoun Street, Helensburgh, United Kingdom Website

1908, Germany

Stirnband 10, Hagen, Germany Website

Horta Museum

Victor horta, 1898-1901, belgium.

25, rue Américaine
, 1060, Saint-Gilles, Brussels, Belgium Website

Hotel Avion

Bohuslav fuchs, 1928, czech republic.

Česká 150/20, Brno, Czech Republic Website

Hôtel Max Hallet

1903-1905, belgium.

Avenue Louise 346, Brussels, Belgium Website

Huis Billiet

Maria van Bourgondiëlaan 13, Bruges, Belgium Website

Herman Gesellius, Armas Lindgren and Eliel Saarinen

1903, finland.

Hvitträskintie 166, 02440 Luoma, Kirkkonummi, Finland Website

Isokon Flats

Wells coates, 1934, united kingdom.

Lawn Road, NW3 2XD, London, United Kingdom Website

James Rose Center

James c. rose.

506 East Ridgewood Avenue, 07450, Ridgewood, NJ, USA Website

Jan de Jong House

Jan de jong, 1956-1983, the netherlands.

Rijksweg 56, Schaijk, The Netherlands Website

Joris Lens House

1934, belgium.

Schuttersvest 7, Mechelen, Belgium Facebook

Josef Hoffmann Museum

Josef hoffmann, interior, 1907, czech republic.

namesti Svobody 263, 588 32 Brtnice, Czech Republic Website

Jurkovič House

Dušan samo jurkovič, 1906, czech republic.

Jana Nečase 2, Brno, Czech Republic Website

Keret House

Jakub szczęsny, 2012, poland.

In between Żelazna 74/ Chlodna 22, 00-875 Warsaw, Poland Website

The Kiefhoek House Museum

1930, the netherlands.

Hendrik Idoplein 2, Rotterdam, The Netherlands Website

Kings Road / Schindler House

Rudolph schindler.

835 N. Kings Rd., West Hollywood, California, USA Website

Kunio Maekawa House

Kunio maekawa, 1942, japan.

3-7-1 Koganei-shi, Tokyo, Japan Website

Antonio Bonet Castellana

1949-63, spain.

El Prat de Llobregat, Spain For a visit, send an email

Le Corbusier

1952, france.

Sentier Le Corbusier, Roquebrune-Cap-Martin, France Website

Les Colombières

Ferdinand bac, 1924, france.

312 route de Super Garavan, 06500, Menton, Alpes Maritimes, France Website

Liljestrand House

Vladimir ossipoff.

3300 Tantalus Drive, 96822, Honolulu, Hawaii, USA Website

Lunuganga Estate

Geoffrey bawa, 1948, sri lanka.

Dedduwa, Bentota, Sri Lanka Website

Maison Bernard

Antti lovag, 1970's, france.

Port la Galère, 06590, Théoule-sur-Mer, France Website

Maison blanche

Charles-edouard jeanneret (le corbusier), 1912, switzerland.

Chemin de Pouillerel 12, La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland Website

Maison Cauchie

Paul cauchie, 1905, belgium.

5, rue des Francs, Brussels, Belgium Website

Maison Cazenave

Hans demarmels, 1967, france.

30, Allée des Châtaigniers, Lanneplaà, France Website

Maison Jean Prouvé

Jean prouvé, 1954, france.

4-6, rue Augustin Hacquard, Nancy, France Website

Maison La Roche

1923-1925, france.

8/10 square du Docteur Blanche, Paris, France Website

Maison Louis Carré

1959-1963, france.

2 chemin du Saint Sacrement, Bazoches-sur-Guyonne (near Paris), France Website

Russel Wright, designer, with David Leavitt architect

Interior and Woodland Garden Design, Russel Wright 584 Route 9D, Garrison, NY, USA Website

Marcel Breuer House at Pocantico

Marcel breuer.

200 Lake Road, 914, Tarrytown, NY, USA By appointment only Website

Margarete Schütte-Lihotzky Zentrum

Margarete schütte-lihotzky, 1970, austria.

Franzensgasse 16/40, Vienna, Austria Website

Markeliushuset Collective House

Sven markelius, 1935, sweden.

John Ericssonsgatan 6, Stockholm, Sweden Website

Ernst May, Carl-Hermann Rudloff

1927/1928, germany.

Im Burgfeld 136, 60439, Frankfurt am Main, Germany Website

MHA Site Office

A. quincy jones, whitney r. smith, and edgardo contini.

990 Hanley Avenue, Los Angeles, California, USA Website

Mies van der Rohe Haus

1932/1933 - germany.

Oberseestrasse 60, Berlin, Germany Website

Miller House and Garden

Eero saarinen.

506 Fifth Street (Visitors Centre), Columbus, IN, USA Website

The MODULIGHTOR Building

Paul rudolph, 1989-1994, usa.

246 East 58th Street, New York, NY 10022, USA Website

Munch’s house

Edvard munch, 1947, norway.

Edvard Munch’s gate 25, Åsgårdstrand 3179, Norway Website

Museo Casa Estudio Diego Rivera y Frida Kahlo

Juan o’ gorman, 1931, mexico.

Av. Altavista esq. Diego Rivera, Col. San Ángel Inn, Del. Álvaro Obregón, D.F., C.P. 01060, Mexico Website

Museo Chillida Leku

Eduardo chillida, 2000, spain.

B Jauregi 66, Caserio Zabalaga, Hernani, 20120, Spain Website

Museu da Chácara do Céu

Wladimir alves de souza, 1958, brazil.

Rua Murtinho Nobre 93, Santa Teresa, 20241-050, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Website

Museum De Dageraad

Michel de klerk, piet kramer, 1923, the netherlands.

Burgemeester Tellegenstraat 128, Amsterdam, The Netherlands Website

Museum Het Schip Model Home

Michel de klerk.

Oostzaanstraat 45, Amsterdam, The Netherlands Website

Muuratsalo Experimental House

1952-1954, finland.

Melalammentie 2, Säynätsalo (Jyväskylä), Finland Website

Museum of Sopot

Walter schulz, 1904, poland.

Księcia Józefa Poniatowskiego 8, Sopot, Poland Website

Neutra VDL Studio and Residences

Richard neutra and dion neutra, 1932, 1939 and 1965, usa.

2300 Silver Lake Blvd., Los Angeles, California, USA Website

R.W. van de Wint

2006 (and still in progress), the netherlands.

Burgemeester Ritmeesterweg 10, Den Helder, The Netherlands Website

1960-1970, Sri Lanka

33rd Lane Colombo 03, Sri Lanka Website

Oskar Hansen House

Oskar & zofia hansen, 1968-1970, poland.

Mlekicie 4, 07-130, Szumin, Poland Website

Paimio Sanatorium

Alvar and aino aalto, 1933, finland.

Alvar Aallon tie 275, Paimio, Finland Website

De Papaverhof

De Papaverhof, The Hague, The Netherlands Website

Pearl M. Mackey Apartments

1137 South Cochran, Los Angeles, California, USA Website

Picker House

Kenneth wood, 1968, united kingdom.

1 Warren Park, Kingston upon Thames, United Kingdom Website

The Plant at Kyle

Lake flato architects.

157 Bill Kuykendall Rd, Kyle, TX, USA Website

Plečnik House

Jože plečnik, 1929, slovenia.

Karunova 4-6, Ljubljana, Slovenia Website

Polman House

Lotte stam-beese and ernest groosman, 1956, the netherlands.

Karwijhof 20, Nagele, The Netherlands Website

Pope-Leighey House

9000 Richmond Hwy., Alexandria, Virginia, USA Website

Quartiers Modernes Frugès

1924-1926, france.

Rue Le Corbusier, Pessac, France Website

Renaat Braem Huis

Renaat braem, 1958, belgium.

Menegemlei 23, Antwerpen-Deurne, Belgium Website

Rietveld Schröder House

Gerrit rietveld and truus schröder-schräder, 1924, the netherlands.

Prins Hendriklaan 50, Utrecht, The Netherlands Website

Rietveld's Van Daalen House

1958, netherlands.

Domineestraat 8a, Bergeijk, Netherlands Website

Jean-Baptiste Dewin

Boulevard du Jubilé, 86, Brussels, Belgium Website

Robijnhof Model Home

1958, the netherlands.

Robijnhof 13, 3523 BS Utrecht, The Netherlands Website

Rose Seidler House

Harry seidler, 1950, australia.

71 Clissold Road, Wahroonga, Australia Website

Van Schijndel House

Mart van schijndel, 1992, the netherlands.

Pieterskerkhof 8, Utrecht, The Netherlands Explore Minimalist masterpiece Van Schijndel House on a pre-booked guided tour. Book your tour HERE.

Schweikher House

Paul schweikher.

645 Meacham Road, Schaumburg, Illinois, USA Website

Semler Residence

Adolf loos, heinrich kulka, 1932-1934, czech republic.

Klatovska 110, Pilsen Czech Republic Website

Serralves Villa

Charles siclis and josé marques da silva, 1944, portugal.

Rua de Serralves 1052, Porto, Portugal Website

Sert Studio

Josep lluís sert, 1954-1956, spain.

Carrer de Saridakis, 29, Palma de Mallorca, Spain Website

Sonneveld House

Brinkman & van der vlugt, 1933, the netherlands.

Jongkindstraat 12, Rotterdam, The Netherlands Website

The Strutt House

James william strutt, 1956, canada.

1220 Chemin de la Montagne, Gatineau, QC J9J 3S4, Canada Website

Studio Aalto

1954-1955, 1962-1963, finland.

Tiilimäki 20, Helsinki, Finland Website

Sunnylands Center & Gardens

A. quincy jones.

37977 Bob Hope Drive, Rancho Mirage, CA 92270, USA Website

SWB Gästewohnung Neubühl

Architect collective around paul artaria, 1932, switzerland.

Nidelbadstrasse 79, Zurich, Switzerland Check rates & availability

Sybold van Ravesteyn House

Sybold van ravesteyn, 1932, the netherlands.

Prins Hendriklaan 112, Utrecht, The Netherlands Check rates & availability

Taliesin West

12621 N. Frank Lloyd Wright Boulevard, Scottsdale, Arizona, USA Website

5481 County Highway C Spring Green, Wisconsin, USA Website

Taut‘s Home

c/o Parchimer Allee 81b, Berlin, Germany Holiday rental only Check rates & availability

The Tempelhof

Huub & adelheid kortekaas, 1995-1999, the netherlands.

Haneman 2-b, 6645 CA Winssen, The Netherlands Website

The Umbrella House

1300 Westway Drive, Sarasota, Florida, USA By appointment only Website

Unité d’Habitation

1947-1952, france.

280, Boulevard Michelet, 13008 Marseilles, France

The Vigeland Museum

Gustav vigeland, 1930, norway.

Nobels gate 32, 0268, Oslo, Norway Website

Vila Volman

Karel janů, jiří štursa, 1938-1939, czech republic.

Stankovského 1200/46, Čelákovice, Czech Republic Website

Josef Frank and Oskar Wlach

1930, austria.

Wenzgasse 12, Vienna, Austria Website

Villa Bílek

František bílek, 1911, czech republic.

Mickiewiczova 233/1, 16000, Prague 6, Czech Republic Website

Villa Cavrois

Robert mallet-stevens, 1932, france.

Corner av John-Fitzgerald Kennedy, av François Roussel, Beaumont, Croix, Lille, France Website

Villa E-1027

Eileen gray, 1926-1929, france.

Gather at Association Cap Moderne, Esplanade de la gare SNCF de Cap-Martin Roquebrune (sometimes called Cabbé station), Avenue Le Corbusier, Roquebrune Cap-Martin, France Website

Villa Empain

Michel polak, 1930, belgium.

Avenue Franklin Roosevelt 67, Brussels, Belgium Website

Villa Esche

1903, germany.

Richard-Wagner Str. 55, Chemnitz, Germany Website

Villa Gallery

Gustaw landau-gutenteger, 1903, poland.

Wólczańska 31, 90-607, Łódź, Poland Website

Villa Le Lac

1924, switzerland.

Route de Lavaux 21, Corseaux, Switzerland Website

Villa Leoni

Pietro lingeri, 1944, italy.

Strada provinciale 2, Ossuccio, Tremezzina 22016, Italy Check rates & availability

Villa Mairea

1939, finland.

Pikkukoivukuja 20, Noormarkku, Finland Website

Villa Majorelle

Henri sauvage, 1901-1902, france.

1, rue Louis Majorelle, Nancy, France Website

Villa Morassutti

Bruno morassutti, 1958, italy.

Via Vittore e Giovanni Toffol 10, San Martino di Castrozza Trento, Italy Check rates & availability

Villa Müller

1928-1930, czech republic.

Nad Hradním vodojemem 14/626, Prague, Czech Republic Website

Villa Noailles

1923-1932, france.

Montée de Noailles, Hyères, France Website

Villa Planchart / El Cerrito

1957, venezuela.

Calle La Colina, Urbanización Colinas de San Román, Caracas, Venezuela Website

Villa Rothmayer

Otto rothmayer, 1929, czech republic.

U Páté baterie 896, 16200, Prague, Czech Republic Website

Villa Savoye

1931, france.

82 rue de Villiers, Poissy (near Paris), France Website

Villa Skeppet

1970, finland.

Snäcksundsvägen 8, Ekenäs, Finland Website

Villa Stenersen

Arne korsmo, 1939, norway.

Tuengen Allé 10C, 374, Oslo, Norway Website

Villa Stiassni

Ernst wiesner.

Hroznová 82/14, Brno, 603 00, Czech Republic Website

Villa Suissa / Villa Zevaco

Jean-françois zevaco and paolo messina, 1947, morocco.

2004 Andy Martin Studio, Corner Boulevard D'Anfa / Boulevard Moulay Rachid, Casablanca, Morocco

Villa Tammekann

1932, estonia.

Kreutzwaldi 6, Tartu, Estonia Check rates & availability

Villa Trapenard

5 Avenue Le Notre, Sceaux, France Website

Villa Tugendhat

1930, czech republic.

Černopolní 45, 613 00 Brno, Czech Republic Website

Villa Winternitz

Adolf loos and karel lhota.

Na Cihlářce 10, Prague 5, 150 00, Czech Republic Check rates & availability

Vizcaya Museum & Gardens

F. burrall hoffman and paul chalfin.

3251 South Miami Avenue, Miami, Florida 33129, USA Website

Wall House #2

John hejduk, 2001, the netherlands.

A.J. Lutulistraat 17, 9728 WT, Groningen, The Netherlands Website

Walter Rózsi Villa

József fischer, 1936, hungary.

Bajza utca 10, Budapest, Hungary Website

Van Wassenhove House

Juliaan lampens, 1974, belgium.

Brakelstraat 50, 9830, Sint-Martens-Latem, Belgium Check rates & availability

Weidlinger House

Paul weidlinger.

54 Valley Road, Wellfleet, MA, USA Check rates & availability

Weissenhofmuseum im Haus Le Corbusier

1927, germany.

Rathenaustrasse 1, Stuttgart, Germany Website

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West Kinderdijk 89, 2953 XP, Alblasserdam, The Netherlands Website

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BEVERLEY DAVID THORNE (1924-2017)

Thorne grew up in Piedmont CA. At age 9, he designed his first house near Auburn CA and helped his grandfather build it. After four years as an Air Force pilot, Thorne studied architecture at UC Berkeley, graduating in 1950. He worked for David S. Johnson and then spent almost two years traveling through Europe and the Middle East. Starting in 1953 he worked for architect Roger Lee. Thorne met musician Dave Brubeck and designed Brubeck a house on the side while still employed with Lee. In 1954, Thorne went out on his own as the Brubeck house catapulted him into mostly unwanted fame. His notoriety attracted rich clients but distanced him from the kinds of clients he wanted - simple souls desiring inexpensive homes. He deliberately dropped out of sight with an unlisted phone number and changed his professional name from David to Beverley.

In the 1980s, he resurfaced and practiced primarily from Hawaii. His three children David, Stephen, and Kevin are architects or landscape architects. Thorne was the last living contributor to Arts & Architecture magazine's famous Case Study Houses, a project which introduced Modernist architecture to the public on a large scale. He designed over 150 houses, most on steep hillsides and built out of steel.

If you know of other Thorne houses, please contact us.

1948 - The Ted ?? House. Thorne's first house was built with college friend Donn Weaver, Berkeley or Walnut Creek CA area. According to Thorne in 2015, the project was while they were at University and the clients were friends of the Brubecks. Status unknown.

1954 - The Dave and Iola Brubeck House, aka the Heartwood House, aka Brubeck West, 6630 Heartwood Drive , Oakland CA. Commissioned in 1949. Built by Art Houvanitz. The result was so breathtaking that Ed Sullivan did a show featuring the Brubeck Quartet at the house, see video. Thorne and his wife Patricia lived there for three months during construction. Sold in 1974 to Christianne and Michael Cheney. For sale in 2023.

1954 - The Harry C. Nail Jr. House, 78 Deodora Drive , Atherton CA. Consulting Engineer, Carl Replogle. Nail was an art dealer. Built by John Davenport. 2000 sf. Sold in 1995 to Evan S. and Carol P. Collins.

1954 - The Jack Streblow House, 473 Stonecrest Drive , Napa CA. 5650 sf. Landscaping designed by Casey Kawamoto. Sold in 1979 to A. Dean Jenkins. Sold in 1995 to Joel and Kathleen Tranmer. Sold in 2008 to Richard Konecky and Carrie E. Dwyer. Deeded in 2012 to Carrie E. Dwyer.

1955 - The Eugene K. and Helen Lawlor House, 8410 Betty Lane , El Cerrito CA. Sold in 2010 to Rajesh Behl and Gayatri Chugh.

1957 - The Ray D. Nichols House, 23 Sequoyah View Drive , Oakland CA. Upon opening, a helicopter landed on the roof, and the house was open as a tourist attraction for several months with proceeds going to charity. Built by Ray D. Nichols. Sold in 1996 to Talibah Thura. Sold in 1999. Sold to Augustus Moore Jr. Has deteriorated. Sold in 2021 to Ali Mused (Mas Fix n Flip LLC). Larger photos by Andrea Minton.

1957 - The Rock Logan House, 15835 Skyline Boulevard , Oakland CA. Logan was an architect and part owner of the Oakland Raiders. Sold to Sarah L. Lawrence. Sold in 2002 to Leopold and Lottie Lynch.

1959 - The Robert K. and Dorothy Adamson House, 1545 Campus Drive , Berkeley CA. Commissioned 1957. Photos by Andrea Minton. Sold in 2013 to Robert D. Smiley.

1959 - The H. D., Paul, and Mary Bartlett House, aka Landfall Estate, 41984 Radio Lane , Auberry CA. Near Huntington Lake. Commissioned 1958. 72 acres. Won a 1959 American Iron and Steel Institute Award. Addition in the 1970s. Sold in 2017 to Christian Olson and Elizabeth Anders.

1959 - The Edward L. and Kathleen M. Baldinelli House, 6624 Saroni Drive , Oakland, CA. Sold in 2014 to Tory M. Cross. Sold in 2017 to Tara Sims.

1959 - Lot 33, Gulf Harbor Planned Community. Status unknown.

1963 - The David and Iola Brubeck House, aka Brubeck East, 221 Millstone Road , Wilton CT. Sold in 2021 to guitarist Smokey Hormel, who also bought several other lots from the Brubeck estate.

1960 - The Jeff and Joyce Cabot House, aka California Bahamas Trust House, Lot 17, 81 Chase Drive , Santa Barbara CA. Sold to Lyle Abrahamson. Partially destroyed. Sold in 2017 to Stuart Nelson, who did a restoration. Bottom three photos by Michael Locke. Available for rent .

1962 - The John and Nona B. Dennis House, 69 Marlin Avenue , Mill Valley CA. Structural Engineer, Montgomery and Davis. Steel by American Steel Corporation. Burned down in 1969 and rebuilt in 1970. Still owned by the Dennis family as of 2021.

1962 - The Hahn House, aka the Bridge House, 779 Balra Drive , El Cerrito CA. Sold in 2007 to Tammy Bankhead and Oliver Nguyen. Available for rent .

1962 - The William (Bill) and Berniece Hull House, aka Halloween House, aka Flying Nun House, aka Bat Wing House, aka Apple Valley Arts Foundation Center, 15709 Rimrock Road , Apple Valley CA. Built by Wright C. Kemp. Featured a concrete circular stairway. Deeded to Berniece Hull, who remarried. Sold in 2010 to Andrew and Stacy Thorn. Sold around 2021 to Diane Flores-Gallardo.  For sale in 2023.

1963 - The H. Harrison Fuller House, aka Harrison House, aka Case Study House #26, aka the Ketchum House, aka the Bethlehem Steel House, 177 San Marino Drive , San Rafael CA. Commissioned in early 1962 for Fuller but he decided not to move in. Built by 20th Century Homes. Don Moyer was the structural engineer. Sold to Gary and Renee Ketchum. 1955 sf. Sold in 2015 to architect Cord Struckmann who did a thoughtful remodel. House website .

1963 - The Frank A. Norton and Hermann Kaufmann House, 55 Alhambra Court , Portola Valley CA. Sold in 1990 to Michael J. Nuttall. Bottom photo by Lea Suzuki.

1964 - The Loren J. Westhaver House, 77-6548 Ali'i Drive , Kailua-Kona HI. The house is built entirely of steel, and was erected and welded together by Thorne and Westhaver themselves. Has been modified. Sold to Michael and Laura Drogin.

1964 - The Beverley Thorne Renovation, 2687 Las Aromas Street , Oakland CA. House where sons Steve, David, and Kevin grew up. Thorne created a giant steel volume with huge sliding glass doors. Sold in 2018 to the Bennett Family Trust.

1964 - The Carleton House, Oakland CA. Near Mountain Gate Road. Status unknown. Status unknown.

1965 - The Campbell House, 222 Willowbrook Drive , Portola Valley CA. Commissioned 1964. Sold. Sold to Ed Abadee. Altered around 1985. Sold in 1995 to Phil and Joan Leighton, who upgraded the kitchen and bathrooms.

1965 - The John Newland House, aka Santa Ana House, Tustin CA. Built. Status unknown.

1965 - The Bryan and Genevieve (Jenny) Chapman House, 2641 Paradise Drive , Belvedere Tiburon CA. Steel construction. Commissioned 1964. Sold in 2017 to Paradise 41483 LLC.

Around 1965 - The Yabumoto House, Japan. Status unknown. Status unknown.

1966 - House on Curtis Street, Berkeley CA. Status unknown. Needs verification.

1966 - The Bernard (Barney) E. and Gloria E. Gherini Olsen House, 2727 Roundhill Drive , Alamo CA. Commissioned in 1965. Sold in 2004 to Jerome and Linda Loston. Updated in 2015.

1966 - The Neil Prunty House, 6163 Chelton Drive , Oakland CA. Featured huge steel tubes. Destroyed in a 1967 landslide, along with the house of a neighbor, Vincent Bjorklunds. Prunty's house was so strong it moved as a whole down the hill before breaking up. New house built in 1981, above photo.

1969 - The Roy Price House, 219 High Eagle Road , Alamo CA. Former street address: 219 Gay Court. Remodeled in 1970. There was an addition behind the carport. Sold. Sold in 1994 to the Hui family; still owners as of 2016. Addition in 2016. Photos by Susan Fior.

1970 - The Dallas Wright Remodel, near the Dave Brubeck House West, near Heartwood Road. Status unknown.

1972 - The Wally Runswick House, aka the Music House, 38 Sunset Drive , Kensington CA. Sold to Alice Pasqualetti and her husband. Sold in 1996 to Sandra Soderlund and Herbert Bielawa.  For sale in 2024.

1974 - The Newell (Skip) and Kathleen (Kathi) Cutter House, 5895 Grizzly Peak Boulevard , Oakland CA. The Cutters had a pet mountain lion caged under the house's huge cantilever. Burned down in October 1991 in a fire that destroyed over 3000 homes. Status of lion unknown.

1990 - The Sara and Ivan May House, 3656 Happy Valley Road , Lafayette CA. Son Steve Thorne assisted in design and construction management. Landscape design by son David Thorne. Sold in 1997 to Robert G. Johnson Jr. and Margaret A. Liu.

1991 - The Thorne Family House Renovation, aka Greenwood, Auburn/Placer County CA. Original 1925 designers were Thorne's father and Helen Jean Astikk. Status unknown.

1994 - The Art and Norma Dunlop House, 1725 Grand View Drive , Berkeley CA. Art Dunlop designed the original house on the site in 1955. Thorne assisted Dunlop with structural aspects of the design. The 1991 Oakland Hills fire destroyed the house, saving only the 30-foot concrete chimney. The Dunlops hired Thorne to recreate the home pictured above. Sold in 2005 to Charles Goodman. Sold in 2020 to the Louis Giraudo Trust and Alexandria Piccinini. Deeded to Alexandria Piccinini and Sophia Wilton.

1994 - The John and Sue Layng House, near Happy Valley Road, Lafayette CA. Project architect was Steve Thorne; did not involve Beverley Thorne. David Thorne did the landscape design. Sold to Tim and Mary Hartfield. Status unknown.

1995 - The Jerrold (Jerry) and Beverly Kram House, Piedmont CA. Unbuilt.

1995 - The Lee Ann Huntington Remodel, across from the Legion of Honor, San Francisco CA. Landscape architect, David Thorne. Status unknown.

1996 - The Kem and Renee Kantor House, 21 Deer Oaks Court , Pleasanton CA. Landscape architect, David Thorne. Still owned by the Kantor family as of 2015.

1996 - The Kantor Barn, Danville CA. Unfinished. Status unknown.

1996 - The David Sborov House, Pleasanton CA. Status unknown.

1997 - The Cal and Betty Habstrom House, Orinda CA. Status unknown.

1997 - The Carolyn Paradise and Jim Warynan House, aka Paradise House, Point Richmond CA. Landscape designer, Nancy Kent. Status unknown.

1997 - The Pat and Walt Ellis House, Kensington CA. Status unknown.

Around 2000 - The Warren Miller Teahouse, Lafayette CA. Status unknown.

Around 2000 - The John Rosa House, Lot 62, Lakewood Knolls, Douglas County NV. Status unknown.

Around 2000 - The Eichler Sorino Addition, Palo Alto CA. Status unknown.

Around 2000 - The Goforth Cabin, location unknown, status unknown. Status unknown.

2016 - The Edward (Ed) Baker House, aka the Millennium House, 6333-6335 Skyline Boulevard , Oakland CA. Named because Baker wanted a house that would last 1,000 years. Commissioned in 2000. 4000 sf. Bottom photo by Lee Suzuki. The round house is addressed as 6335, the A-frame, 6333.

Sources include: LA Times ; SFGate ; NorCalMod: Icons of Northern California Modernist Architecture by Pierluigi Serraino; Bev Thorne; David Thorne; Herb Bielawa.

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Vice President Kamala Harris waves as she boards Air Force Two after a campaign event July 23, 2024, in Milwaukee. (AP)

'Border czar'? Kamala Harris assigned to tackle immigration's causes, not border security

If your time is short.

In March 2021, President Joe Biden tasked Vice President Kamala Harris with working alongside officials in Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras to address the issues driving people to leave those countries and come to the United States.

The Biden-Harris administration said it would focus on five key issues: economic insecurity, corruption, human rights, criminal gang violence and gender-based violence.

Border security and management is the Homeland Security secretary’s responsibility.

Vice President Kamala Harris might soon get a new official title: 2024 Democratic presidential nominee. In the meantime, Republicans have revived a title they gave her in 2021: "border czar." 

Claims that President Joe Biden named Harris the "border czar" and that she is responsible for overseeing U.S. border enforcement gained prominence at the Republican National Convention as the party sought to link her to his immigration policy. 

The refrain intensified once Biden dropped out of the race and endorsed Harris. It was echoed in ads and by Trump campaign surrogates, including Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance , the Republican vice presidential nominee.

"Here’s Biden appointing Kamala Harris to be his border czar to deal with illegal immigration," a narrator says in a video the Republican National Committee posted on its X account, @GOP. "And here are a record number of illegal immigrants — 10 million and counting — flooding over the border after Harris was put in charge of stopping illegal immigration."

We’ve repeatedly fact-checked claims about the number of people entering the U.S. illegally under Biden. The federal data tracks how many times officials encountered a person trying to cross the southern border, but it doesn’t reflect the number of people let in. And if one person tries to cross the border multiple times, that counts as multiple encounters, even if it’s the same person. 

For this fact-check, we’re focused on the scope of Harris’ border responsibilities. 

"Border Czar Kamala Harris' reversal of President Trump's immigration policies has created an unprecedented and illegal immigration, humanitarian and national security crisis on our southern border," Trump campaign National Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told PolitiFact in a statement. 

But Biden didn’t put Harris in charge of overseeing border security.

In a meeting with Harris in March 2021 , Biden said Harris would lead U.S. diplomatic efforts and work with officials in Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras to stem migration to the U.S. Biden said that when he was vice president, he "got a similar assignment" and that the Obama administration secured $700 million to help countries in Central America.

"One of the ways we learned is that if you deal with the problems in country, it benefits everyone. It benefits us, it benefits the people, and it grows the economies there," Biden said then.

Biden asked Harris "to be the chief diplomatic officer with Central American countries" and address the root causes that make people leave their home countries, said Michelle Mittelstadt, communications director for the Migration Policy Institute, a nonpartisan think tank. 

Managing the border "has always been" the Homeland Security secretary’s role, Mittelstadt said.

Biden tasked Harris with addressing the root causes influencing people’s decisions to migrate to the United States.

"I’ve asked her … to lead our efforts with Mexico and the Northern Triangle and the countries that help — are going to need help in stemming the movement of so many folks, stemming the migration to our southern border," Biden said in March 2021.

Biden held a similar role as vice president to former President Barack Obama. In a 2015 New York Times opinion piece, Biden said he would work with the Northern Triangle’s leaders on security, anti-corruption and investment efforts in the region.

"Donald Trump’s administration didn’t really sustain this strategy, but what Harris sought to revive in 2021 ran along the same lines," said Adam Isacson, defense oversight director at Washington Office on Latin America, a group advocating for human rights in the Americas. 

Within weeks of Biden’s remarks about Harris’ role, Republicans including Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and Rep. Steve Scalise, R-La., began calling Harris the " border czar " often in tandem with pointing out she had not yet been to the border.

In April 2021, when a reporter asked Harris whether she would visit the border, she said that her role is addressing the factors that make people leave their home countries, not managing the border.

Featured Fact-check

"The president has asked (Homeland Security) Secretary (Alejandro) Mayorkas to address what is going on at the border. And he has been working very hard at that, and it’s showing some progress because of his hard work," Harris said at an event . "I have been asked to lead the issue of dealing with root causes in the Northern Triangle, similar to what the then-vice president did many years ago."

Harris said she’d focus on economic struggles, violence, corruption and food insecurity in the countries. 

In June 2021, Harris visited El Paso, Texas, with Mayorkas. They outlined their responsibilities to reporters. Harris said she was addressing "the root causes of migration, predominantly out of Central America," and Mayorkas said, "It is my responsibility as the Secretary of Homeland Security to address the security and management of our border."

But this distinction didn’t stop critics from linking Harris with U.S.-Mexico border security. 

"The administration’s messaging on this in mid-2021 was not as clear as it should have been," Isacson said. "But at no time did Harris or the White House state that her duties included the U.S.-Mexico border, or border security."

Immigration experts said it’s hard to measure Harris’ success in her role, and that a "root causes" approach implies that the results will be seen long term, not immediately.

In July 2021, the administration published a strategy , with Harris writing the lead message, for confronting the factors that drive migration in Central America. The plan focused on economic insecurity, corruption, human rights, criminal gang violence and gender-based violence.

In March 2024, the administration said it secured more than $5.2 billion in private sector investments to the region. However, only about $1 billion has been distributed, the Partnership for Central America, a group working with the administration, reported .

The White House said the investments have generated more than 70,000 new jobs in Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador, provided job training to 1 million people and expanded digital access to 4.5 million people. 

"Still, her engagement on this issue has been sporadic," Isacson said. "She has not traveled very often to the region or otherwise sought to make ‘root causes in Central America’ a central theme of her vice presidency."

Illegal immigration at the U.S. southern border from Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador has dropped since 2021. Encounters with people from other countries, Venezuela, have risen . 

"But it’s hard to prove that U.S. assistance is a central reason" for the Northern Triangle countries’ decline, Isacson said.

The issues pushing people to leave Central American countries "are extremely complex and require deep restructuring of so much in those societies," said Cecilia Menjivar, a sociology professor at the University of California, Los Angeles who specializes on immigration. "So it’s very difficult for one person to change all that, even if it is a powerful person."

Immigration patterns at the U.S.-Mexico border have more to do with conditions in Latin American countries than "any U.S. policy," Mittelstadt said. 

For example, a humanitarian crisis in Venezuela has displaced nearly 8 million people since 2014, according to the United Nations. Political, economic and security crises in Cuba, Nicaragua, Haiti and Ecuador have also led to more migration from these countries, Mittelstadt said. 

In contrast, immigration encounters with people from El Salvador have dropped in past years, partly because of the country’s crime crackdown .

The Republican National Committee said Biden appointed Harris "to be his border czar to deal with illegal immigration...Harris was put in charge of stopping illegal immigration."

Biden tasked Harris with addressing the root causes that drive migration to the United States. He did not task her with controlling who and how many people enter the southern U.S. border. That's the Homeland Security secretary’s responsibility.

Experts say that seeing the results of addressing root causes driving people out of Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras  — violence, economic insecurity and corruption — takes time.

The statement contains an element of truth, but it ignores critical facts that would give a different impression. We rate it Mostly False.

Read About Our Process

The Principles of the Truth-O-Meter

Our Sources

Truth Social, post , July 22, 2024

The Hill, House Republicans tee up vote condemning Harris as ‘border czar’ , July 23, 2024

C-SPAN, Sen. J.D. Vance campaign rally in Radford, Virginia , July 22, 2024

GOP, post on X , July 21, 2024

PolitiFact, Francis Suarez’s misleading claim about millions of migrants getting free cellphones, plane tickets , July 28, 2024

PolitiFact, There aren’t 20 million to 30 million immigrants in the U.S. illegally, as Sen. Marco Rubio claimed , June 11, 2024

The White House, Remarks by President Biden and Vice President Harris in a meeting on immigration , March 24, 2021

PolitiFact, Central America and the root causes of migration to the US , June 7, 2021

The New York Times, Joe Biden: A Plan for Central America , Jan. 29, 2015

The White House, Remarks by Vice President Harris at virtual roundtable of experts on the Northern Triangle , April 14, 2021

The White House, Remarks by Vice President Harris, Secretary of Homeland Security Mayorkas, Chairman Durbin, and Representative Escobar in press gaggle , June 25, 2021

Fox News, Obama-era DHS secretary: 'There's a real problem' when you have 'bipartisan outrage' , July 23, 2024

The White House, FACT SHEET: Strategy to address the root causes of migration in Central America , July 29, 2021

The White House, FACT SHEET: Vice President Harris announces public-private partnership has generated more than $5.2 billion in private sector commitments for Northern Central America , March 25, 2024

Migration Policy Institute, Shifting patterns and policies reshape migration to U.S.-Mexico border in major ways in 2023 , October 2023

United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Venezuela crisis explained , April 17, 2024

PolitiFact, Donald Trump fact-check: 2024 RNC speech in Milwaukee full of falsehoods about immigrants, economy , July 19, 2024

CBS News, The facts about Kamala Harris' role on immigration in the Biden administration , July 23, 2024

Email interview, Michelle Mittelstadt, communications director for the Migration Policy Institute, July 22, 2024

Email interview, Adam Isacson, defense oversight director at Washington Office on Latin America, July 22, 2024

Email interview, Henry Ziemer, research associate for the Center for Strategic and International Studies, July 22, 2024

Email interview, Cecilia Menjivar, sociology professor at the University of California, Los Angeles, July 22, 2024

Statement, Karoline Leavitt,  Trump campaign national press secretary, July 23, 2024

Browse the Truth-O-Meter

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'Border czar'? Kamala Harris assigned to tackle immigration's causes, not border security

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Beverley David Thorne Architect

Famous for his steel Case Study House #26, David Thorne’s work as an architect has inspired modern home design in many ways. Born in 1924, Thorne (born Beverley David Thorne) designed more than 150 homes in his lifetime. His specialty? Homes on steep hillsides built with steel.

Growing up in Piedmont, California, Thorne was born with home design in his blood.  He designed his first home when he was just nine years of age.

After a four-year stint in the Air Force, Thorne attended UC Berkeley, where he studied architecture and graduated in 1950.

Shortly after graduating, Thorne began working for David S. Johnson, and would spend the next two years traveling the Middle East and Europe.

In 1953, he began working for architect Roger Lee. He soon met musician David Brubeck, and designed his home on the side while working for Lee.

His design catapulted him to fame, sending rich clients his way. But Thorne was not interested in being in the spotlight. He wanted to work with simple clients who wanted inexpensive homes.

Restarting his career, David changed his professional name from Beverly to David.

He resurfaced in the 1980s and practiced primarily out of Hawaii. His three sons help carry on his legacy, working as landscape or home architects.

David’s First Home

Thorne built his first home in 1948 while still in college and with the help of his friend Donn Weaver. He recalled that the home was built for friends of the Brubecks.

The Heartwood House

In 1954, Thorne designed a home for Dave and Iola Brubeck, known as the Heartwood House. The home, built by Art Houvanitz, sits on 6630 Heartwood Drive in Oakland, California.

The home was so breathtaking that it was featured on the Ed Sullivan show. The home was sold in 1994 to Christianne and Michael Cheney.

The Ray D. Nichols House

Located at 23 Sequoyah View Drive in Oakland, California, the Ray D. Nichols home was open to the paying public as a tourist attraction. The home opened with a helicopter landing on the roof, and tourist fees went to charity.

Case Study House #26

Images Courtesy of Kathi Elliott & csh26.info

[modula id=”1009880″]

David was the last living architect to participate in Arts & Architecture’s famous Case Study Homes. The goal of the project was to introduce modern architecture to the general public.

Ironically, the case study homes like this were designed to get the public interested and excited in modern home design. But homes built with steel were too expensive for the average American family at the time. Ultimately, Thorne’s style influenced those with the discerning tastes of high design.

The home, also known as the Harrison House, was built near San Francisco in 1962. It was intended to be the residence of Harrison Fuller, CEO of Bethlehem Steel. A TWA pilot/flight attendant couple moved into the home after Fuller’s death and lived there until 2015.

The Harrison House’s design was based on a simple concept: a shoebox .

The home had eight identical bays that were steel-framed and covered with a flat roof. Social spaces had double height space, and the roof followed the slope of the lot.

Steel was the ideal material for construction on steep slopes, as it required fewer foundations.

The home is still standing today and preserved in its original 1963 condition.

The Harrison House is a prime example of why steel is a preferred material for home building. Nearly 60 years later, the home is still in its original condition thanks at least in part to its steel frame. The only major change to the home was a kitchen remodel.

For more info on David Thorne and his work please visit NcModernist.org .

Research/Study Research/Study

Fox News and Newsmax have falsely suggested Kamala Harris was “border czar” 129 times since Biden’s withdrawal

The right-wing networks kept pushing the claims even as they acknowledged reports that Harris never held that title

Written by Chloe Simon & Harrison Ray

Published 07/25/24 5:27 PM EDT

Since President Joe Biden announced he was ending his reelection campaign and endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris for the Democratic nomination, Fox News and Newsmax have obsessively spread the misconception that Harris was the Biden administration’s “border czar,” making the claim a combined 129 times since Biden dropped out of the race. 

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Fox news and newsmax have relentlessly pushed the false narrative that harris was the “border czar”, fox news and newsmax have continued to push this narrative even as they have acknowledged debunks of the claims, claims that harris was the “border czar” have been repeatedly disproven, methodology.

• From about 1:45 p.m. ET on July 21, when President Joe Biden dropped out of the presidential race, through July 24, Fox News and Newsmax guests and personalities made at least 129 claims calling Vice President Kamala Harris the administration's “border czar” or positively affirming the misconception that she led the administration's border policy.
• Newsmax host Bianca de la Garza led the charge, pushing the misconception at least 9 times, with fellow Newsmax host Chris Salcedo (7 claims), Fox News hosts Laura Ingraham (6) and Sean Hannity (5), and Trump senior campaign adviser and Newsmax contributor Jason Miller (5) following closely behind.
• Newsmax shows accounted for 69 claims with guests and personalities on Newsline pushing the misconception at least 16 times, the most of any show on both networks.
• Fox News shows accounted for 60 claims, with The Ingraham Angle guests and personalities making the most claims on Fox at 12 . 
• Fox News’ ostensibly “news-side” shows accounted for 35% of the network's total “border czar” claims, led by America Reports with 11 .
• Right-wing media, including Fox News and Newsmax, have been spreading false claims that Harris was the administration's “border czar.”  A piece by Breitbart claimed that “after being named Border Czar for the Biden administration, Vice President Harris stood by and watched as more than 11 million migrants illegally entered the United States illegally.” Right-wing figures like Paul Ingrassia and Bill Mitchell have also referred to Harris as a “border czar.” [Media Matters, 7/22/24 ]
• On Fox & Friends, former Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson pushed back on co-host Steve Doocy saying that Harris’ “record as a border czar was going to come into glare, into focus a lot.” Johnson reminded Doocy that “border czar is a title that Republicans gave her” and “she is not the border czar.” Johnson also said that “to the extent there is anybody who is a border czar, it's the secretary of homeland security.” [Fox News, Fox & Friends , 7/23/24 ]
• Fox News contributor Richard Fowler pushed back on the narrative, saying that Harris “was not the border czar” and that it was Republicans who “labeled” her as such. Fowler also described her actual role as leading “the diplomatic effort in the northern triangle countries to work on the root causes to why people are migrating to the southern border or crossing the border.” [Fox News, America Reports , 7/23/24 ] 
• Newsmax has acknowledged that the “border czar” claim has been debunked.  For instance, Newsmax host Bianca de la Garza said that “they are trying to say Harris wasn't the border czar,” specifically naming Axios' reporting. De la Garza still claimed, however, that Harris “has a record on the border” and that there “are serious concerns about the border.” [Newsmax,  Newsline ,  7/24/24 ,  7/24/24 ]
• CBS News: “Harris was not asked to be the administration's ‘border czar’ or to oversee immigration policy and enforcement at the U.S.-Mexico border. ” CBS explained, “That has mainly been the responsibility of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and his department, which oversees the country's main three immigration agencies, including Customs and Border Protection.” [CBS News, 7/22/24 ]
• In 2021, Biden tapped Harris to lead the White House’s efforts to address migration along the U.S.-Mexico border . In this role, Harris was charged with addressing the supposed “root causes” of migration by improving economic and social conditions in several Central American countries and encouraging stronger enforcement along those countries' own borders. Harris has described her own job as “engaging in diplomacy with government, with the private sector, with civil society and the leaders of each in El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras to strengthen democracy and the rule of law and ensure shared prosperity in the region.” [The Associated Press, 3/24/21 ; The White House, 5/27/21 ; NBC News, 7/25/24 ]
• Axios noted that the 2021 announcement led to “Republicans and some news outlets, including Axios, giving Harris the unofficial monicker of ‘border czar.’” The outlet further reported, “The ‘border czar’ narrative stuck, especially in conservative circles, and calls mounted in spring 2021 for Harris to visit the border.” More recently, House Republicans passed a resolution on July 25 pinpointing Harris as the “border czar” responsible for a “border crisis,” after days of right-wing media coverage from Fox, Newsmax, and others focused on the vice president’s role following Biden’s withdrawal. [Axios, 7/24/24 ; The Hill, 7/25/24 ]

Media Matters searched transcripts in the SnapStream database for all original programming on Fox News Channel and Newsmax for any of the terms “Vice President,” “Kamala,” “Harris,” or “border” within close proximity to the term “root” or the term “czar” (or any misspellings) from 1:45 p.m. ET on July 21, 2024, when Joe Biden dropped out of the race, through July 24, 2024.

We included claims, which we defined as instances of uninterrupted blocks of speech from a single speaker that called Vice President Kamala Harris the “border czar” or positively affirmed the misconception that she led the administration's border policy. For host monologues, headlines, and correspondent reports, we defined a claim as the speech between read quotes and played clips. We did not consider the speech within read quotes or played clips unless a speaker in the segment positively affirmed said speech either directly before or after the quote was read or the clip was played.

We did not include claims saying that Harris was not the “border czar” or claims that merely stated she had a role in immigration policy.

The Harrison House

25 more photos

From James Kamedulski

An experiment in Midcentury Modern style, The Case Study homes of Arts and Architecture Magazine were all intended to be cutting-edge prototypes for contemporary living. The Harrison House, the twenty-sixth Case Study House, is, without a doubt, emblematic of this beloved and celebrated architectural style.

Completed in 1963, The Harrison House is the only Case Study Home in Northern California. Perched along a hillside in San Rafael, Case Study House No. 26 is a spacious, three-bedroom home spread across one floor. Park your car on the upper level "carport", and take a steps down to find the entrance of the home. Modern and inviting furniture greets you as you take a tour throughout the home as does its vast collection of contemporary artwork. A completely remolded kitchen has views of the San Rafael countryside and forested valley.As you head to the right wing of the house, you enter the "Executive's Quarters": three-bedrooms and an office-space all with sliding glass doors which lead to the 800 square-foot deck.

The Harrison House is an escape from San Francisco without being too far; only a twenty-minute drive before you're at the Golden Gate Bridge. Walking distance to McNear Beach and Gap Golf Course, it's the well-to-do countryman's lifestyle at its best!

dwell.com/article/...

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Joe Biden wants to pass the baton to Kamala Harris. Here’s how that might work

She’s already broken barriers, and now Kamala Harris could become the first Black woman and the first person of South Asian descent to head a major party’s presidential ticket if Democrats nominate her after President Joe Biden ended his reelection bid.

FILE - President Joe Biden speaks from the Roosevelt Room of the White House in Washington, July 14, 2024. With Biden ending his reelection bid and endorsing Harris, Democrats now must navigate a shift that is unprecedented this late in an election year. Democrats are set to hold their convention in Chicago in August. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, File)

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FILE - President Joe Biden, left, and first lady Jill Biden hold hands as they arrive at Fort Lesley J. McNair, Monday, July 1, 2024, in Washington. President Joe Biden dropped out of the 2024 race for the White House on Sunday, July 21, ending his bid for reelection following a disastrous debate with Donald Trump that raised doubts about his fitness for office just four months before the election. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, File)

FILE - President Joe Biden listens as Vice President Kamala Harris speaks in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington, May 13, 2024. With Biden ending his reelection bid and endorsing Harris, Democrats now must navigate a shift that is unprecedented this late in an election year. Democrats are set to hold their convention in Chicago in August. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, File)

FIE - Vice President Kamala Harris, left, and President Joe Biden attend a trilateral meeting in the East Room of the White House in Washington, April 11, 2024. With Biden ending his reelection bid and endorsing Harris, Democrats now must navigate a shift that is unprecedented this late in an election year. Democrats are set to hold their convention in Chicago in August. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein, File)

FILE - President Joe Biden arrives at Los Angeles International Airport, Feb. 20, 2024, in Los Angeles. President Joe Biden dropped out of the 2024 race for the White House on Sunday, July 21, ending his bid for reelection following a disastrous debate with Donald Trump that raised doubts about his fitness for office just four months before the election. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta, File)

FILE - President Joe Biden speaks in the Diplomatic Reception Room of the White House, Feb. 8, 2024, in Washington. President Joe Biden dropped out of the 2024 race for the White House on Sunday, July 21, ending his bid for reelection following a disastrous debate with Donald Trump that raised doubts about his fitness for office just four months before the election. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)

Follow AP’s live coverage of the 2024 presidential race.

ATLANTA (AP) — With President Joe Biden ending his reelection bid and endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris , Democrats now must navigate a shift that is unprecedented this late in an election year.

Democrats are set to hold their convention in Chicago on Aug. 19-22. What was supposed to be a coronation for Biden now becomes an open contest in which nearly 4,700 delegates will be responsible for picking a new standard-bearer to challenge Republican Donald Trump in the fall.

The path ahead is neither easy nor obvious, even with Biden endorsing Harris. There are unanswered questions about logistics, money and political fallout.

Can Biden redirect his delegates?

Biden won every state primary and caucus earlier this year and only lost the territory of American Samoa. At least 3,896 delegates had been pledged to support him.

Current party rules do not permit Biden to pass them to another candidate. Politically, though, his endorsement is likely to be influential.

What could happen at the convention?

With Biden stepping aside, Democrats technically start with an open convention. But realistically, his endorsement pushes Democrats into murky territory.

The immediate burden is on Harris to solidify support across almost 4,000 delegates from the states, territories and District of Columbia, plus more than 700 so-called superdelegates that include party leaders, certain elected officials and former presidents and vice presidents.

Will anyone challenge Harris?

Even before Biden announced his decision, Democrats floated California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer as potential contenders in addition to Harris. Yet some Democrats argued publicly, and many privately, that it would be a no-brainer to elevate the first woman, first Black woman and first person of south Asian descent to hold national office.

Given how important Black voters -– and Black women especially -– were to Biden’s nomination and his choice of Harris as running mate, it would be risky, to say the least, for Democrats to pass her over for a white nominee. Democrats already faced historical headwinds before Biden’s withdrawal. Newsom and Whitmer, both of whom are white, and any other Democrat would also have to weigh the short-term and long-term benefits of challenging Harris now versus preserving goodwill for a future presidential primary.

Yet, fair or not, Harris also has not been viewed as an especially beloved or empowered vice president . The best scenario for her and Democrats is to quickly shore up support and project a united front. Democrats could even go forward with their plans for an early virtual vote – a move they’d planned to make sure Biden was selected ahead of Ohio’s general election ballot deadline.

What to know :

• Biden drops out : The president ended his reelection bid and endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris after a disastrous debate inflamed age concerns. Read Biden’s letter announcing his withdrawal .
• What happens next : How Biden passing the baton to Harris might work.
• Praise, calls for resignation : Democrats hailed Biden’s decision as selfless while Republicans urged him to resign.
• Inside Biden’s legacy : Historians and political advisers say history will be kinder to Biden than voters have been.
• Broken barriers : Harris could become the first Black woman, person of south Asian descent to head major party’s presidential ticket .
• Stay informed. Keep your pulse on the news with breaking news email alerts. Sign up here.

What happens to Biden’s campaign money?

Biden’s campaign recently reported $91 million cash on hand. Allied Democratic campaign committees brought the total at his disposal to more than $240 million. Campaign finance experts agree generally that Harris could control all those funds since the campaign was set up in her name as well as Biden’s. If Democrats do nominate someone other than Harris, party accounts could still benefit the nominee, but the Biden-Harris account would have more restrictions. For example, legal experts say it could become an independent expenditure political action committee but not simply transfer its balance to a different nominee.

How will a vice presidential nomination work?

The vice presidential nomination is always a separate convention vote. In routine years, the convention ratifies the choice of the nominee. If Harris closes ranks quickly, she could name her choice and have the delegates ratify it. In an extended fight, though, the vice presidency could become part of horse-trading — again, a return to conventions of an earlier era.

Can Republicans keep Harris off state ballots?

Any curveball during a U.S. presidential campaign is certain to produce a flurry of state and federal lawsuits in this hyper-partisan era, and some conservatives have threatened just that.

State laws, though, typically do not prescribe how parties choose their nominees for president. And some GOP figures – Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine and Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey – have worked already this year to ensure their party did not deny Democrats’ routine ballot access.

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What We Know About the Global Microsoft Outage

Airlines to banks to retailers were affected in many countries. Businesses are struggling to recover.

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By Eshe Nelson and Danielle Kaye

Eshe Nelson reported from London and Danielle Kaye from New York.

Across the world, critical businesses and services including airlines, hospitals, train networks and TV stations, were disrupted on Friday by a global tech outage affecting Microsoft users.

In many countries, flights were grounded, workers could not get access to their systems and, in some cases, customers could not make card payments in stores. While some of the problems were resolved within hours, many businesses, websites and airlines continued to struggle to recover.

What happened?

A series of outages rippled across the globe as information displays, login systems and broadcasting networks went dark.

The problem affecting the majority of services was caused by a flawed update by CrowdStrike , an American cybersecurity firm, whose systems are intended to protect users from hackers. Microsoft said on Friday that it was aware of an issue affecting machines running “CrowdStrike Falcon.”

But Microsoft had also said there was an earlier outage affecting U.S. users of Azure, its cloud service system. Some users may have been affected by both. Even as CrowdStrike sent out a fix, some systems were still affected by midday in the United States as businesses needed to make manual updates to their systems to resolve the issue.

George Kurtz, the president and chief executive of CrowdStrike, said on Friday morning that it could take some time for some systems to recover.

How a Software Update Crashed Computers Around the World

Here’s a visual explanation for how a faulty software update crippled machines.

How the airline cancellations rippled around the world (and across time zones)

Share of canceled flights at 25 airports on Friday

50% of flights

Ai r po r t

Bengalu r u K empeg o wda

Dhaka Shahjalal

Minneapolis-Saint P aul

Stuttga r t

Melbou r ne

Be r lin B r anden b urg

London City

Amsterdam Schiphol

Chicago O'Hare

Raleigh−Durham

B r adl e y

Cha r lotte

Reagan National

Philadelphia

1:20 a.m. ET

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