May 2020
Fallingwater, Frank Lloyd Wright, Mill Run, PA c.1939
I moved to the US three years ago. Across this time I have visited and uncovered some amazing architectural projects. These visits have both invigorated and broadened my design ideals. As my US travels come to end (for now), and I move back to Australia I thought it fitting to collate my favourite places to help others to visit these remarkable locations.
The map and list below outlines my top 50 projects and also a 10 other projects that I endeavour to return to visit in the future.
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED AND MUST VISIT PROJECTS:
1. Salk Institute
Architect: Louis Kahn
Location: 10010 N Torrey Pines Rd, La Jolla, CA 92037
Completed: 1963
Accessibility: Open for scheduled tours - https://www.salk.edu/about/visiting-salk/
2. Geisel Library
Architect: William Pereira
Location: 9500 Gilman Dr, La Jolla, CA 92093
Completed: 1970
Accessibility: Accessible during UCSD teaching times
3. Ennis House
Architect: Frank Lloyd Wright
Location: 2655 Glendower Avenue, Los Angeles CA 90027
Completed: 1924
Accessibility: Private residence
4. Stahl House (Case Study House #22)
Architect: Pierre Koenig
Location: 1635 Woods Dr, West Hollywood, CA 90069
Completed: 1959
Accessibility: Open for scheduled tours - https://stahlhouse.com/tours/
5. Sheats Goldstein Residence
Architect: John Lautner
Location: 10104 Angelo View Drive, Los Angeles, CA 90210
Completed: 1963
Accessibility: Private residence
6. Lovell Health House
Architect: Richard Neutra
Location: 4616 Dundee Dr, Los Angeles, CA 90027
Completed: 1929
Accessibility: Open for scheduled tours - https://www.lhhtours.com/
7. Gamble House
Architect: Greene and Greene
Location: 4 Westmoreland Pl, Pasadena, CA 91103
Completed: 1908
Accessibility: Open for scheduled tours - https://gamblehouse.org/tours-visiting/
8. Kings Road House
Architect: Kings Road House
Location: 835 North Kings Road, West Hollywood, CA 90069
Completed: 1922
Accessibility: Open to the public - https://makcenter.org/visit/
9. Gehry Residence
Architect: Frank Gehry
Location: 1002 22nd Street, Santa Monica, CA 90403
Completed: 1978
Accessibility: Private residence
10. Walt Disney Concert Hall
Architect: Frank Gehry
Location: 111 S Grand Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90012
Completed: 2003
Accessibility: Open for scheduled tours - https://www.laphil.com/visit/when-youre-here/tours
11. Eames House
Architect: Charles and Ray Eames
Location: 203 N. Chautauqua Blvd. Pacific Pacific Palisades, CA 90272
Completed: 1949
Accessibility: Open for scheduled tours - https://eamesfoundation.org/visit/how-to-visit/
12. Silver Lake
Location: Neighbourhood in Los Angeles
Notes: Home to countless Richard Neutra residential designs, including his own VDL Studio & Residence
13. Kaufmann Desert House
Architect: Richard Neutra
Location: 470 W Vista Chino, Palm Springs, CA 92262
Completed: 1946
Accessibility: Private residence
14. Frey House II
Architect: Albert Frey
Location: 686 Palisades Dr, Palm Springs, CA 92262
Completed: 1946
Accessibility: Open for scheduled tours - https://www.psmuseum.org/visit/tours/tours-frey-house
15. Hanna House
Architect: Frank Lloyd Wright
Location: 737 Frenchmans Rd, Stanford, CA 94305
Completed: 1937
Accessibility: Open for scheduled tours - https://hannahousetours.stanford.edu/
16. Cathedral of St Mary of the Assumption
Architect: Pier Luigi Nervi, Pietro Belluschi, Paul A. Ryan, John Michael Lee, Angus McSweeney
Location: 1111 Gough St, San Francisco, CA 94109
Completed: 1971
Accessibility: Catholic cathedral - open to the public
17. Golden Gate Park and the Panhandle
Location: Park in San Francisco
Notes: The natural heart of San Francisco, which with the entrance element of the Panhandle surrounded by the stunning Victorian era housing, is my favourite area of this beautiful city.
18. Weston Havens House
Architect: Harwell Hamilton Harris
Location: 255 Panoramic Way, Berkeley, CA 94704
Completed: 1940
Accessibility: Owned by UC Berkeley and occasionally open for tours
19. First Church of Christ Scientist
Architect: Charles Warren Callister
Location: 501 San Rafael Ave, Belvedere Tiburon, CA 94920
Completed: 1952
Accessibility: Church with regular hours - http://christiansciencebelvedere.com/
20. Marin Civic Center
Architect: Frank Lloyd Wright
Location: 3501 Civic Center Dr, San Rafael, CA 94903
Completed: 1962
Accessibility: Open to the public and for scheduled tours - https://www.marincounty.org/depts/cu/tours
21. Lake Tahoe
Location: A mountain lake on the border between California and Nevada
Notes: Skiing splendour in winter and lakeside paradise in summer - my favourite holiday location in the country.
22. Sea Ranch
Location: A environmentally sustainable second home community in Northern California
Notes: A wonderful place to explore both architecturally and naturally, with guided tours available - https://www.unbeatenpathtours.com/
23. Watzek House
Architect: John Yeon
Location: 1061 SW Skyline Blvd, Portland, OR 97221
Completed: 1937
Accessibility: Open for scheduled tours - https://yeoncenter.uoregon.edu/watzek-house-tours/
24. Keller Fountain Park
Architect: Lawrence Halprin
Location: SW 3rd Ave &, SW Clay St, Portland, OR 97201
Completed: 1970
Accessibility: Public space
25. Freeway Park
Architect: Lawrence Halprin
Location: 700 Seneca St, Seattle, WA 98101
Completed: 1976
Accessibility: Public space
26. Museum of Anthropology
Architect: Arthur Erickson
Location: 6393 NW Marine Dr, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z2, Canada (almost the USA)
Completed: 1976
Accessibility: Publicly accessible museum at University of British Columbia
27. Chapel of the Holy Cross
Architect: Richard Hein and August K. Stotz
Location: 6780 Chapel Rd, Sedona, AZ 86336
Completed: 1957
Accessibility: Publicly accessible church
28. Taliesin West
Architect: Frank Lloyd Wright
Location: 12621 N Frank Lloyd Wright Blvd, Scottsdale, AZ 85259
Completed: 1937
Accessibility: Open for scheduled tours - https://franklloydwright.org/taliesin-west/tickets-tours/
29. Austin
Designer: Ellsworth Kelly
Location: 200 E Martin Luther King Jr Blvd, Austin, TX 78712
Completed: 2018
Accessibility: Open as part of the Blanton Museum of Art at the University of Texas
30. Farnsworth House
Architect: Mies van der Rohe
Location: 14520 River Road Gate 1, Plano, IL 60545
Completed: 1951
Accessibility: Open for scheduled tours - https://farnsworthhouse.org/tours/
31. S.R. Crown Hall
Architect: Mies van der Rohe
Location: 3360 S State St, Chicago, IL 60616
Completed: 1956
Accessibility: Accessible during IIT teaching times
32. Oak Park
Location: An affluent suburb in Chicago
Notes: The home base of Frank Lloyd Wright’s early career and filled with countless of his designs, including his own home and studio - https://flwright.org/visit/homeandstudio
33. Marina City Towers
Architect: Bertrand Goldberg
Location: 300 N State St, Chicago, IL 60654
Completed: 1968
Accessibility: Best experienced from an Architecture Boat Cruise
34. S.C. Johnson Wax Headquarters
Architect: Frank Lloyd Wright
Location: 1525 Howe St, Racine, WI 53403
Completed: 1939
Accessibility: Open for scheduled tours - https://www.scjohnson.com/en/a-family-company/architecture-and-tours
35. Fallingwater
Architect: Frank Lloyd Wright
Location: 1491 Mill Run Rd, Mill Run, PA 15464
Completed: 1935
Accessibility: Open for scheduled tours - https://fallingwater.org/visit/
36. National Gallery of Art - East Building
Architect: I.M. Pei
Location: 4th St NW, Washington, DC 20565
Completed: 1978
Accessibility: Public gallery
37. Vanna Venturi House
Architect: Robert Venturi
Location: 8330 Millman Street, Philadelphia PA 19118
Completed: 1964
Accessibility: Private Residence
38. Esherick House
Architect: Louis Kahn
Location: 204 Sunrise Lane, Philadelphia PA 19118
Completed: 1961
Accessibility: Private Residence
39. Society Hill Townhouses
Architect: I.M. Pei
Location: Bingham Court, Philadelphia, PA 19106
Completed: 1964
Accessibility: Private Residences
40. Trenton Bath House
Architect: Louis Kahn
Location: 999 Lower Ferry Rd, Ewing Township, NJ 08628
Completed: 1955
Accessibility: Community pool building - visit during summer swim season
41. Seagram Building
Architect: Mies van der Rohe and Philip Johnson
Location: 379 Park Ave, New York, NY 10152
Completed: 1958
Accessibility: Private office building
42. Rockefeller Guest House
Architect: Philip Johnson
Location: 242 E 52nd St, New York, NY 10022
Completed: 1950
Accessibility: Private Residence
43. Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum
Architect: Frank Lloyd Wright
Location: 1071 5th Ave, New York, NY 10128
Completed: 1959
Accessibility: Public art museum
44. MET Breuer (previously the Whitney Museum of American Art)
Architect: Marcel Breuer
Location: 945 Madison Ave, New York, NY 10021
Completed: 1966
Accessibility: Public art museum
45. Yale Center for British Art
Architect: Louis Kahn
Location: 1080 Chapel St, New Haven, CT 06510
Completed: 1974
Accessibility: Public art museum
46. Gropius House
Architect: Walter Gropius and Marcel Breuer
Location: 68 Baker Bridge Rd, Lincoln, MA 01773
Completed: 1938
Accessibility: Open for scheduled tours - https://www.historicnewengland.org/visit/
47. MIT Chapel
Architect: Eero Saarinen
Location: 48 Massachusetts Ave, Cambridge, MA 02139
Completed: 1955
Accessibility: Opened on a regular basis by MIT
48. The Philip Johnson Thesis House
Architect: Philip Johnson
Location: 9 Ash St, Cambridge, MA 02138
Completed: 1943
Accessibility: Private residence
49. Boston City Hall
Architect: Kallmann, McKinnell & Knowles
Location: 1 City Hall Square, Boston, MA 02201
Completed: 1968
Accessibility: Publicly accessible
50. Exeter Library
Architect: Louis Kahn
Location: 21 Elm St, Exeter, NH 03833
Completed: 1972
Accessibility: Accessible during Phillips Exeter Academy teaching times
FUTURE BUCKETLIST PROJECTS:
