Description

First offering- The Alex & Luba Kadvany House | Killingsworth, Brady & Smith (1956). An early and remarkably intact example of the firm's elegant California modernism - designed for an exuberant Central European emigre couple building a new home for their growing family. Just one block from the ocean on one of the last remaining vacant parcels in Bluff Park, Alex & Luba Kadvany tasked Edward Killingsworth and his newly formed architectural practice with building something distinctly different from the surrounding historic Spanish Revival, Tudor, & California Bungalow homes. Overcoming an early neighborhood objection, it became the first & only Bluff Park home to orient its garage to the front rather than towards the alley as was customary. Alex Kadvany's work as an obstetrician often required meeting patients at all hours, which proved to be a persuasive argument for the unconventional variance. The layout allowed Killingsworth to set the home back and raised up from the street behind a lush landscape, circular driveway, and a generously deep procession of aggregate paved steps and front landing. The design turns the home inward and away from public view - with only an unadorned white stucco facade, large shoji-screened window, & double-door entrance with glass transom facing the street. Just a few steps beyond the front door, Killingsworth's mastery of space, scale and proportion becomes evident. The architect employed a signature move in the expansive foyer- an axis point that displays a graceful interplay of spaces and unobstructed interior and exterior views at each 90 degree turn you make. You can almost feel him directing you to stand in this spot- much as in his own home. What appears modest from the street now reveals itself in grandeur. Interiors and exteriors flow together, resulting in both the Kadvany home's functional use of space and a spirit-lifting serenity. An extraordinarily spacious open plan showcases the original owners' joy in welcoming & entertaining guests - with generous living and dining areas each featuring sliding doors connecting to the outside. Dr. Kadvany's study is adjacent to the entryway, and can be made either open or private by way of a large pocket door, topped by yet another glass transom. A deep closet enables the space to function as a fourth bedroom. The nearby kitchen is roomy & uncharacteristically open for the time, with a wood surfaced island/bar & seating on both sides. Original cabinetry, finishes, & shoji screens remain gloriously present. Glass transom and clerestory windows are utilized liberally to deliver natural light & extend sight lines. The ground floor features two large bedrooms connected by Jack and Jill bathrooms and a playroom/study area opening to the backyard. The upstairs is given completely to the primary bedroom suite. The east and south walls of nearly the entire second story are faced with glass while retaining privacy as in the rest of the home. An unexpected and captivating ocean view is revealed at this level, visible from inside the bedroom and outside on the adjacent rooftop deck. A large walk-in closet divides the bedroom from the en-suite bathroom with original shoji sliding screen panels and a pink-hued marble countertop. An L-shaped layout that Killingsworth used successfully with this home and elsewhere, places one wall of the home at the side setback and withdraws it from the other. The result is a parklike yard that expands the interior spaces outward. The yard becomes an exterior room, with the house turned inside out to show several elegant profiles of stucco, glass, & Killingsworth's inimitable handling of the post-and-beam structure. Situated in the Bluff Park historic district, the home is likely a candidate for Mills Act tax benefit consideration. Before Killingsworth's six contributions to the seminal Case Study house program, myriad architectural awards, & many projects of international acclaim- there was, and still is, the Kadvany house.