Diary of Helen Hussey
Downtown San Francisco 1939. Move your scroll bar all the way to the right to view this huge photo in its entirety. There’s lots to see! Photo Source: kellistanley.com
Monday January 23, 1939. “Went downtown with Sam + Phil. Waited a long time for Sam.”
Photobooth Photo, Sam Hussey, San Francisco. 1939
“Ate in Chinatown for Lunch. Home-unpacked, shopt, etc. etc. etc. Rented a Garage.
“Nite: Dinner at El Portal. Bed early.”
Diary of Helen Hussey
Jeanne at John Adams Junior High, what is now called “Middle School,” 1938.
Caption reads “Helen in front of the bank. Lookin for somepin?” 1938
Caption reads “Sam (Hussey). His very first picture in San Francisco.” 1939
Sunday January 22, 1939. “Arrived at Tony’s at 8:30. After breakfast found an apartment in about twenty minutes. 3400 Fulton, Apartment 1.”
Not a bad find in twenty minutes. Directly across from Golden Gate park with major museums footsteps away.
“Then drove. Fisherman’s Wharf–
“Along Ocean Drive…
For further reading see Fleishaker Pool – A Strange Journey Through S.F. History
“Fleischaker Pool, The Zoo, Golden Gate Park…
“The Presidio…
San Francisco 1939 Photosource Brett Weston Archive
“Coit Tower…
“Saw the bridges, etc, etc, etc…Dinner at Tony’s. Home about 8:15. Tired.”
Diary of Helen Hussey
From the 1936 Voter Registration and Google, showing where the Husseys lived until April 1938. Here the home as it appears today. Thank you Sarai Johnson for the history look-up of where the Husseys resided. Johnson & Johnson Architecture
In March 1938, Helen wrote they had a strong desire for a new house. House hunting was mentioned several times. On April 7, 1938 they put $1,000 down on a house. By April 30, 1938 they completed their move to 2236 Cloverfield Blvd. in Santa Monica. Perhaps one reason they never chose to own real estate again–they lived here only 9 months. And they’d be on the move again several more times in years to come.
Jeanne Martin 1938, caption reads “In our backyard at S.M. Cloverfield Blvd.”
Wednesday January 18, 1939. “Exciting day. Said goodbye to Irene. Stopped at the Cooks. Saw Ruth Muller on the way home + she came along. She and her friend Will want to buy the place! Nite: Ruth and Will over–they want the house. Sherry and good time.”
Thursday January 19, 1939. “Ruth and I to attorney Hickson, then to the agent. Settled. Willl joined us for lunch then to L.A. to get Sam. Nite Sara, Jon, Hugh over. Ruth moves in Saturday.”
Friday January 20, 1939.” Busy day + no extra money until nite + not much. Packed. Irene Moore, Mortons over. Ruth and Willl here. To bed about midnight.”
Saturday January 21, 1939 “Left Santa Monica about 5:30 A.M. in awful downpour. Stopped at Oxnard for breakfast. ” 101 Ranch House Cocktail Lounge Restaurant on Pacific Highway in Oxnard.
“Buellton for bite.” Eating options in/around Buelllton. Notice the two streetcars as bookends of the building.
“Pismo Beach lunch.”
Salinas for a bite.
“Arrived south of San Francisco at an auto court at 6:30. Called Tony – no answer. To bed about 8 P.M.” Illustrative only–San Mateo is South of San Francisco, but so are a lot of other places and possible auto courts where they may have stayed.
Diary of Helen Hussey
Thursday January 12, 1939 “To matinee at the Criterion. Saw Topper Takes A Trip and an old picture (1932) with Clark Gable and Carol Lombard-No Man of Her Own. Rotten! Letter from Sammie. Sam has a slight cold.
Topper Takes A Trip trailer. It was a sequel of Topper (1937). Same cast minus Cary Grant. Involves a ghost trying to reunite a couple who she had a hand in splitting up in the prior film. It was followed by another sequel, Topper Returns in 1941. The font selection in the trailer is quite stylish and most attractive.
I only found two clips from this film. Neither one has original sound track. This might be one of those lost forever movies. No Man Of Her Own clip.
This is Lombard and Gables only role together playing a married couple, several years before their own legendary marriage in real life.
Gambler Babe Steward (Clark Gable) is in trouble with the law and decides to lie low in a small town. There he meets librarian Connie Randall (Carole Lombard) and attempts to seduce her. They flip a coin to decide whether or not to get married. The coin forces them to get married and Connie soon falls in love with Babe. Babe, meanwhile, continues his conning while telling Connie that he is working on Wall Street. Connie does not suspect anything until she finds Babe’s marked cards in his desk. She shuffles the cards and when Babe plays a game of poker, he loses. Babe wants nothing more to do with Connie and leaves for Rio de Janeiro to win big money at cards. But, realizing that he loves Connie, he gives himself in to the police to serve his jail sentence. When Babe returns to a pregnant Connie, he does not suspect that she knows of his deception, but she does not say a word about it and in true Hollywood fashion, we are left to assume that the couple lives happily ever after. Helen says “Rotten!”
Friday January 13, 1939. “Lovely day. Went to cooking school this morning. Shopt and then home. Read. Jeanne to farewell party tonight for Barbara Birdro. Sam’s cold better. Bought me candy. Masoa over. Sara called.”
Saturday January 14, 1939 “To Santa Monica, paid bills. 10:30 Perm at Elsie J’s. Out at night with Sara, Jon + Fred K. Spaghetti feed. And wine!!
Any mention Helen made to me of spaghetti feed was associated with Little Joe’s.
Tuesday January 17, 1939 “Telegram from San Francisco this morning. We must go a week sooner. So we leave Saturday. Went to Art’s for lunch. Called Gladys M., Irene M, DeFinos–Sara out most of the day.
Diary of Helen Hussey
From Helen Hussey’s diary, the preparation for moving to San Francisco.
Saturday January 7, 1939 “Put the house in the hands of an agent. Jon + Sara over at night. They will stay in the house if not sold. Drank Sherry and talked.”
Sunday January 8, 1939 “Sara + Jon out about noon. Took a nice drive up the coast + came back by the old coast road. Took S + J home. Nite – very clear – lights of the city beautiful. Jeanne to a show with George.”
Pacific Coast Highway, Malibu, 1939. Photo source hpoliver.com
Monday January 9, 1939. “Had a Mexican man here to help clean. Clear, cold day. To Santa Monica to stop at DeFino’s + store. Letter from Corola.
Tuesday January 10, 1939. “To Sontags and Library. Nite: Sam called Kemp. Eva and Mack over. Listened to the fight. Armstrong decisioned Arizmendi. In the morning Mrs. Sotherland over, she looked at the house. No prospects yet. Beautiful day.
Sontag Drug Store 1939 at 5401 Wilshire Blvd. Photo Source: Water and Power Associates
When Radio was king of home entertainment. 1930’s Radios from Richmond Designs Inc
Armstrong vs. Arizmendi Youtube Check out the Ring Announcer.
Diary of Helen Hussey
From Helen Hussey’s Diary Thursday January 5, 1939.
“Poured rain today. Jeanne spent day at Mercedes (a friend). Wrote six letters. Nite – Sam got a call from Kemp in San Francisco. Job open there. He is to call there tomorrow. Wonder what will eventuate.”
Image Source: westside-historic.tumblr.com
Friday January 6, 1939. “To Santa Monica in A.M.-banking. Afternoon to the Criterion-Shining Hour and Citadel.”
Showgirl Joan Crawford marries wealthy Melvyn Douglas then has to deal with his family in Frank Borzage’s The Shining Hour (1938)
A struggling doctor is tempted to give up his ideals for a posh high-society practice in The Citadel (1938), directed by King Vidor.
Grand Olympic Auditorium, Los Angeles.
“Nite. To wrestling matches. Unusually good. Sam called San Francisco + accepted job. 3 weeks-which means busy times ahead trying to dispense of things.”
Architecture
It was either when my dad was going to what he called Oceanside College (Now called MiraCosta) or just after joining the Marine Corps. The time just prior to and in the wake of Pearl Harbor. He spoke of hitch hiking between L.A. and San Diego. I remember he said the hike through San Clemente was on a red roadway. The concrete of the street and sidewalks were cast with a color tint.
Bill Soderberg in his hitch hiking youth. Other stories he told about this period of time concerned working at the poinsettia farms in Oceanside and San Diego North County. His service in the Marine Corps, outside one stint on the USS Portsmouth, was all based at the Marine camps in San Diego County. Photo is dated 1941. The attack on Pearl Harbor, “Day of Infamy,” was December 7, 1941.
The distant building with a tower is San Clemente’s forever endangered 1938 Miramar Theatre. So far I haven’t verified the roadway itself was cast in colored concrete. Observing the black and white photos, one can see the car tracks darkened the pavement. And it was, and still is, typical for concrete roadways to eventually be paved over in asphalt. Clearly this is pre asphalt.
The 1957 view of San Clemente. Note the colored sidewalks. Especially red on the right side.
Architecture
Historic photo of the 1939 Sturges House by Frank Lloyd Wright. Photo by Wright’s photographer Pedro E. Guerrero, 1947. It is always interesting to find a photo where you can compare and evaluate the contrast between Wright’s timeless design and the bygone style of cars or fashion.
Image source: enriquedlcm.tumblr.com
Image source: The Guardian
The home was owned for long time by actor Jack Larson, who lived here until his death not long ago. He was famous for a role that accounts for only a small part of his overall career – playing Jimmy Olson in the TV version of Superman.
My Kodachrome slides of the Sturges House, Brentwood, CA from June of 1970. It is an example of Wright’s Usonian design principles outlined in his books “The Natural House,” and “The Living City.” Wright preferred to say Usonian when the context was specific to the United States. The word American should never exclude Canada or Mexico, being they are also part of America. And not to forget South America.
The historic designation of this house points to the fact it is the only structure in Los Angeles representing his midcentury Usonian style of design and construction.
Most angles of the house show a windowless mass of either brick or shiplapped redwood. The stairs lead to a rooftop sunning deck. Carport is on the right.
Here is the side of the home with the broad redwood balcony that really opens up to let the outside in.
Peering down to the balcony from the rooftop sunning deck. Note the cut out at the top left where the stairs lead up from the driveway area seen in the earlier photo.
Full view of the rooftop deck.
Diagram showing the massing required to carry the weight of this bold cantilevered home. Wright’s apprentice assigned to help build this home was John Lautner who became one of the Century’s important Frank Lloyd Wright trained architects.
There are a number of design ideas that Wright returned to over and over in his career. This type of dramatic cantilevering was explored by Wright most famously in his “Falling Water” house in Pennsylvania.
Sturges House interior view. Source: sdrdesign.com
From the Historic Designation report, City of Los Angeles.
Architecture
Lucky was the dog that got his own Frank Lloyd Wright designed dog house. It is at the 1951 Frank Lloyd Wright designed Robert Berger House in San Anselmo, CA. The house is unique in a couple of ways. First it was a “do-it-yourself” construction project. From the years 1951 – 1973 Robert Berger built his own Frank Lloyd Wright house by hand, so to speak. And Second, it features the above custom designed dog house.
Source: http://babysharkminorityreport.wordpress.com/2012/04/04/the-doghouse-that-jim-built/
I got to meet Mr. Berger and his wife in April of 1971. They generously allowed me to photograph the house, and they enjoyed sharing information. He told me although the work could be physically demanding he had no difficulty following Wright’s plans and instructions even though he had no previous house building experience. It was designed so it could be built in phases. It began as a one bedroom house, then became three bedrooms with the addition of another wing.
Wright utilized a number geometric layouts for his Usonian homes. The Berger House is based on a diamond module. 60 degree and 120 degree angles.
Character defining features of Wright’s work. Generous use of rock, wood, and glass. The broad overhang. The mitered window corner.
The rock walls are made with wood forms. Desert rocks piled into the forms, and concrete pushed in to ooze between the rocks. It’s a technique Wright devised in the desert of Taliesin West.
As so often the case with a Wright home, you enter through a low passage way and enter a larger expansive space within. The cut out pattern windows are a Wright signature design feature.
A peek within. “The Hearth” was always a focal point of Wright’s living areas. When construction was finally complete, it includes Wright designed furniture.
Architecture
Welcome to Springbough. Beyond the FLLW designed gate is the Frank S. Sander House in Stamford, Connecticut. Source Dami’s Findings
Springbough was completed in 1955. I had a chance to visit in August of 1980. The home since then went through a period of decline. But in 1996 was lovingly restored by Anne Del Gaudio.
It is a 2,200 square foot Frank Lloyd Wright designed home on 2.3 acres of land. Ms. Del Guadio bought the house after the death of her husband, a Scarsdale dentist. Buying this home was a new life for her.
Wright’s design, built onto a rock outcropping, makes her feel “connected to the earth,” she said, adding, “As a widow I need that grounding energy.”
Ms. Del Gaudio spent several hundred thousand dollars replacing 14 skylights and restoring all of the exterior mahogany to its original amber finish. She also repaired extensive water damage to walls and ceilings. “Wright never built a roof that doesn’t leak,” she said.
She made the house glisten. But in 2003 she put the house on the market.
“I babied the house,” Ms. Del Gaudio, 65, said. “Now it’s someone else’s turn.”
She enlisted the help of the Frank Lloyd Wright Conservancy to help find a sympathetic owner. Source NY Times
A sky-lit living space cantilevers over a rock outcropping. Wright was close to 90 years old when this house was built. It was also the most prolific period of his long career. “I can’t shake them out fast enough,” he said, demand for his work was that high.
Springbough, detail. Brick and Mahogany.
Springbough entrance. WoodDance studio has a story to tell about the restoration of these doors. It’s a bit scary!
“Not too long after I started working on a Frank Lloyd Wright home here in Connecticut I was asked to fix the front storm door because it was badly warped and one of the screws holding the handle in place had stripped out, leaving the handle a bit loose.
After altering the door in my shop I brought it back to the residence and set it outside. I left it leaning there against the stone wall in the carport while I worked on the jamb and passive side. I replaced the passive side and left for the night.
The next morning at 5:30am the garbageman stopped to collect the trash and for some reason, took the door as well.
When I showed up at the job site, just a few hours later, and couldn’t find the door, panic set in. We raced to phone the sanitation company. They said the door had been taken, dumped at the transfer station and had by now been driven over by large debris moving caterpillars. The original Frank Lloyd Wright front storm door was destroyed!
While working on this home, I removed some large boards of mahogany from the deck area. Every piece of this Frank Lloyd Wright original that I removed, I labelled and stored neatly in one of the out-buildings. I brought a few pieces to my shop and reconstructed the door using that material from the site.
Having the opportunity to affect repairs on what I consider to be an important structure, at times, holds more meaning to me than to the client. The work I do, in a way, can be a personal interaction between myself and the original Architect, Builder and/or carpenters. I have my hands on things that homeowners never see; the guts of a house. In a forensic sort of way, I can get a feeling for the job as it might have been for the crew putting it together.
Using wood that came from the house was important to me but furthermore I wanted to use wood that Frank Lloyd Wright likely had set his own hand upon.
Frank Lloyd Wright began using the red square symbol as his signature mark around 1904. This home was built in 1952. In this image we can see the original signature block on the left hand side.
Thank the lucky stars we didn’t leave that door off too!”
Source: http://wooddance.com/
Springbough, driveway, carport. Wright preferred a carport, not a garage.
Springbough, driveway, carport.
