Authors on Architecture: Lukather on Byrd
SAH/SCC Zoom Program
Sunday, January 22, 2023
When
is a ranch-style house not just a ranch house? When it is a Byrd house. Join
author Chris Lukather as he explores the fairytale ranch houses designed by
Robert Byrd (1904-1978) and his son, Gary (1939-2008), as featured in his new
book, Homes by Byrd: The Art & Architecture of Robert Byrd and His Son,
Gary (The Writing Disorder, 2022).
Byrd’s houses dot the suburban landscape
from Beverly Hills through the San Fernando Valley. Eschewing Modernism for a
more eclectic and romantic vision of living, the designer/builder featured
details, such as exposed wood beams, turned posts, rock and flagstone finishes,
and whimsical brickwork, on the exterior and interior. Byrd homes were built
in the California Ranch style and featured natural materials that lent the
homes a comfortable, symbiotic, and timeless ambience. Other distinctive
characteristics include round chimneys, curved walkways, indoor/outdoor grills,
Dutch doors, custom woodwork, stained-glass windows, and sometimes his own
furniture designs.
This
being Los Angeles, numerous celebrities have lived in Byrd Homes, including Ron
Howard, Stan Winston, Tom Mix, Sharon Tate and Roman Polanski, Frank Zappa, and
Robert Taylor.
Lukather is a specialist in
fairytale-style tract homes. His previous books—both published by The Writing
Disorder—include A Birdhouse in Paradise: William Mellenthin and the San
Fernando Valley Ranch Homes (2017) and The Cinderella Homes of Jean Vandruff
(2019).
Lukather on Byrd—Sunday, January 22, 2023; 1-2:30 PM PST; $5; go to www.sahscc.org and pay via PayPal or mail in order form with
check.
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