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While the colors on this
home reflect contemporary tastes, the design elements are
classic mid-century: vertical siding, rectangular windows,
double exterior doors, and an interior that opens to a private rear
garden. The rear living room wall in this home is almost all
glass windows and doors. To see the interior of this home click
here. |
Several Long Beach neighborhoods are full of
mid-century modern homes. Perhaps the most well-known are the ones
designed by the noted architect Cliff May in the Rancho neighborhood
near El Dorado Park.
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This is the second of
three Cliff May floor plans used in the Rancho development in
the early 1950s. Again, the color choices are
contemporary. Originally the homes would have been white
or off-white. |
When built in the early 1950s, there were three
floor plans in Rancho, all of them of average size for that era -- which means
modest by today's standards. Over the decades many
homeowners modified the homes. Some homes remain close to their
original design with signature features of mid-century modern homes:
- Vertical siding
- Vaulted cathedral or high ceilings in the interior
- Rectangular windows
- Floor-to-ceiling windows or sliding doors opening
to a garden or patio
- Front facade with few windows
- Low pitched or, in some cases, flat roofs
Melding the indoors and outdoors was a basic
concept for mid-century modern homes. But the "outdoors"
was often "inward" with the view being toward the private rear
garden or interior atriums rather than toward the street.
Adjacent to the Rancho neighborhood are other
developments of mid-century homes. These, however, have a more
mass-produced appearance and few remain untouched or unremodeled by the
owners.
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Many features of
mid-century-influenced, mass-produced design are shown in this home which is
not far from the Rancho neighborhood: vertical
siding, thin pillars supporting the porch, wood shingle roof,
rectangular windows. Inside, however, this home lacks the open
space design and, instead, is broken up into small rooms. |
Another neighborhood closer to the beach, Park
Estates, contains significantly
larger, custom-built late mid-century homes. Many of these were
built a decade or so after the Rancho homes. While they still exhibit
many similar characteristics they are not as austerely geometric as archetypal
mid-century homes.
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Soaring ceilings and many
windows to the outdoors are characteristic of mid-century homes,
including this one in the Park Estates neighborhood of Long
Beach. |
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This late mid-century home in Park Estates shows the characteristically bold use of stone in a
massive wall at the entry. The interior
fireplace is also a wall of stone. |
While some of the homes in Park Estates have been remodeled beyond recognition, the majority are in pristine condition. The lots in this neighborhood are
large which attracts many upscale homeowners. When available for
sale, the prices in Park Estates in Long Beach match the size and condition of the homes.
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Not every homeowner
during the 1950s and 1960s wanted the stark, geometric appearance typical
of classic mid-century modern design, so builders incorporated
other influences. In this home in Park Estates, shown here,
the "chalet style" was an influence that softened the
austere modern design.
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