Editing Case Study Houses (section)

== History ==
The "Case Study" House program, spearheaded by [[Arts & architecture magazine|''Arts & Architecture'']] editor [[John Entenza]], was announced in the January 1945 issue of the magazine.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Hofmann |first=Michelle |date=February 5, 2021 |title=The Case Study Houses Forever Changed American Architecture |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/michellehofmann/2021/02/05/the-case-study-house-program/ |access-date=2025-01-27 |website=Forbes |language=en}}</ref> The magazine initially commissioned eight nationally known architects to create contemporary single-family homes within a specified budget, with the magazine itself serving as the "client" for each project.<ref name=":1">{{Cite journal |date=January 1945 |title=Announcement: The Case Study House Program |url=http://www.artsandarchitecture.com/issues/pdf01/1945_01.pdf |journal=Arts & Architecture |issue=January 1945 |pages=37–41}}</ref>

The program was envisioned as a creative response to the impending building boom expected to follow the [[House|housing]] shortages of the [[Great Depression]] and [[World War II]]. The initial program announcement stated that "each house must be capable of duplication and in no sense be an individual performance" and that "the overall program will be general enough to be of practical assistance to the average American in search of a home in which he can afford to live."<ref name=":1" /> Entenza encouraged participating [[architect]]s to use donated materials from industry and [[manufacturer]]s to create low-cost, modern housing [[prototype]]s that might foster a dialogue between architectural professionals and laymen.

The first eight architects commissioned and profiled in the January 1945 announcement of the program were [[JR Davidson]], [[Sumner Spaulding]], [[Richard Neutra]], [[Eero Saarinen]], [[William Wilson Wurster]], [[Charles Eames]], and [[Ralph Rapson]].<ref name=":1" /> The program employed a "design-build-publish" model,<ref>{{Cite web |last=Fisher |first=Paul |date=May 5, 2020 |title=How the Case Study House Program Inspired a California Modernist Movement |url=https://admin.goldenstate.is/how-the-case-study-house-program-inspired-a-california-modernist-movement/ |access-date=2025-01-31 |website=Golden State |language=en}}</ref> publishing the prototypes alongside the architects' comments.<ref name=":1" /> [[JR Davidson|JR Davidson's]] design was the first feature of the series, with the exteriors and interiors appearing in the February and March 1945 edition of ''[[Arts & Architecture]],'' respectively. Davidson's design was labeled Case Study House #1, thus inaugurating the numbering convention, which refers to the order in which designs were published, rather than constructed.

As outlined in the program announcement, construction was intended to commence immediately following the World War II [https://www.huduser.gov/portal/hudtimeline_1940.html moratorium on domestic housing construction.] Case Study House #11, also designed by Davidson, was the first house constructed, and was permitted in December 1945.<ref>{{Cite web |date=December 17, 1945 |title=LADBS Records System |url=https://ladbsdoc.lacity.org/ |url-status=live |access-date=2025-01-31 |website=ladbsdoc.lacity.org |id=1945LA20747}}</ref> Construction on Case Study House #11 began on January 9, 1946, prompting the design for the home to precede the publication of Case Study House #10.<ref>{{Cite journal |date=January 1946 |title=Case Study House #11 |url=http://www.artsandarchitecture.com/issues/pdf01/1946_01.pdf |journal=Arts & Architecture |issue=January 1946 |pages=40–44}}</ref>

The program announcement called for each house to be open to the public for a six to eight weeks upon the conclusion of construction. Houses were to be furnished "under a working arrangement between the architect, the designer, and the furniture manufacturer".<ref name=":1" /> By January 1949, the magazine had published designs, models, for 19 houses. Of the 19 profiled, nine houses were complete and five were "in various stages of construction."<ref name=":2">{{Cite journal |title=Case Study House Program: Project for 1949 |url=http://www.artsandarchitecture.com/issues/pdf01/1949_01.pdf |journal=Arts & Architecture |issue=January 1949 |pages=31}}</ref> Several houses were not constructed for unspecified reasons beyond the control of the magazine and architects.<ref name=":2" />

In January 1949, the magazine announced "having come this far with it, we feel that we have proved our point to the extent that we need no longer be so ambitious as to numbers," and pivoted to sponsoring one house each year, starting with Case Study House 1949.<ref name=":2" /> By July 1954, the program had yielded 16 constructed houses.

In total, the program commissioned 36 prototypes, including single-family homes, multi-family homes, and apartments, of which 25 were constructed.<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite web |title=Case Study House Program |url=http://www.artsandarchitecture.com/case.houses/houses.html |url-status=live |access-date=2025-01-27 |website=Arts & Architecture}}</ref> The majority of the constructed houses were built in [[Los Angeles County, California|Los Angeles County]]. Additional case study houses were built in [[San Rafael, California|San Rafael]], California;<ref>{{Cite web |last=Wood |first=Betty |date=October 16, 2015 |title=Property of the week: Beverley David Thorne’s Case Study House in California |url=https://thespaces.com/property-of-the-week-beverley-david-thornes-case-study-house-26-in-northern-california/ |access-date=2025-01-27 |website=The Spaces |language=en-US}}</ref> [[San Diego]], California;<ref>{{Cite web |last=Lagdameo |first=Jennifer Baum |date=June 19, 2017 |title=10 Iconic Case Study Houses in Southern California |url=https://www.dwell.com/article/10-iconic-case-study-houses-in-southern-california-7e5ad7c0#:~:text=Triad%20(Case%20Study%20House%20#23A,houses,%20while%20still%20maintaining%20privacy. |access-date=2025-01-27 |website=Dwell}}</ref> and [[Phoenix, Arizona|Phoenix]], Arizona.<ref>{{Cite web |date=March 10, 2016 |title=The Triad, Case Study Apartments No. 1 {{!}} Eames Foundation |url=https://eamesfoundation.org/visitors-submissions/1439/ |access-date=2025-01-27 |website=eamesfoundation.org |language=en-US}}</ref> Of the unbuilt houses, #19 was to have been built in [[Atherton, California|Atherton]], California, while #27 was to have been built in [[Smoke Rise (community)|Smoke Rise]], New Jersey.

The [[Eames House]] was added as a stand-alone site to the National Register in 2006.<ref>{{Cite web |title=National Register Database and Research - National Register of Historic Places (U.S. National Park Service) |url=https://www.nps.gov/subjects/nationalregister/database-research.htm#table |access-date=2025-01-28 |website=www.nps.gov |language=en |id=06000978}}</ref> In 2013, a group of 10 case study houses, all located in Southern California, were added to the [[National Register of Historic Places]], while House #23A was determined eligible for the registry, but not officially listed due to an objection by the owner.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Kudler |first=Adrian Glick |date=August 20, 2013 |title=LA's Most Famous House Finally Makes the National Register |url=https://la.curbed.com/2013/8/20/10244720/las-most-famous-house-finally-makes-the-national-register-1 |access-date=2025-01-27 |website=Curbed LA |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Case Study Houses |url=https://www.laconservancy.org/save-places/issues/case-study-houses/ |access-date=2025-01-28 |website=LA Conservancy |language=en-US}}</ref>

=== Shulman Photographs ===
A number of the houses appeared in the magazine in iconic black-and-white photographs by architectural photographer [[Julius Shulman]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=2017 |title=Julius Shulman: Case Study |url=https://www.sfomuseum.org/exhibitions/julius-shulman-case-study |url-status=live |access-date=2025-01-26 |website=SFO Museum |publisher=San Francisco Airport Commission}}</ref> Shulman's May 1960 photo of the Stahl House is widely regarded as one of the most famous architectural photos of Los Angeles, and is one of Shulman's most reproduced photos.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Melton |first=Mary |date=2016-12-05 |title=A Shot In The Dark: The Unknown Story Behind L.A.’s Most Celebrated Photograph |url=https://lamag.com/architecture/a-shot-in-the-dark |access-date=2025-03-07 |website=Los Angeles Magazine |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2015-05-12 |title=Julius Shulman |url=https://stahlhouse.com/julius-shulman/ |access-date=2025-03-07 |website=Stahl House |language=en-US}}</ref>

In 1989 Shulman's photographs of the Case Study Houses were exhibited at the [[Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art]] in an exhibit titled "Blueprints for Modern Living". The exhibition had a major role in reintroducing and redefining the program to a more modern audience.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Smith |first=Elizabeth |title=Case Study Houses |publisher=[[Taschen]] |year=2021 |isbn=9783836587877 |pages=13}}</ref>