Mid-century Serenity In Linda Vista, $2.28M

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Pasadena has long been a nexus of California’s architectural heritage, from Spanish Revival, Mission and Craftsmen homes and public buildings to the once-radical Modernist design movement bracketing WWII. In 1946, architect Floyd Mueller (1923-1977) set his sleek, low-slung house on the edge of an arroyo in Linda Vista, one of Pasadena’s most charming neighborhoods but set away from the more formal streets lined with grander houses. Not much is known about Mueller, who apparently began his career in film before becoming an architect, but despite its modesty, the house is full of carefully composed interior vistas. And unlike so many homes from the era, it’s been beautifully maintained and sensitively updated over the years.

Japanese screens and light fixtures complement the immaculate millwork, along with rough-cut slate floors in the living and dining areas.

Well Documented: Mueller’s house was the cover story for Better Homes & Garden’s June 1950 issue and Arts and Architecture’s 1951 December issue; LA architecture historian Pauline O’Connor had a look at it last month at Dirt.

What We Love: Framed vistas of the property’s mature oaks and sycamores through sliding walls of glass, a fairly radical idea in 1946. Immediately after WWII, building materials like these huge sheets of glass were expensive and hard to come by; Mueller deployed them to maximum advantage, creating a home that was as much inside as out.

More: Go to the listing for additional images and details, including vintage images, a site/floor plan, plus a video. An extraordinary opportunity in Pasadena represented by architecture specialist Steve Clark at Clarkliving/Backbeat Homes. 

Photo Credit: Alex Zarour/Virtually Here Studios