One of the richest veins of California design history can be traced to the Pomona Valley east of Los Angeles, where an extraordinary concentration of fine and decorative arts and architecture effloresced in the middle decades of the 20th century. Much of the area’s creative ferment was centered around the Claremont Colleges and the pioneering work of artist and educator Millard Sheets, an evangelist of Southern California Regionalism who spread the gospel for nearly two decades as head of the art department at Scripps College. Although many of California’s most celebrated architects worked in the Pomona Valley during this fertile era—among them Richard Neutra, A. Quincy Jones, Myron Hunt, Buff & Hensman, and Greene & Greene—one of the most intriguing practitioners was a little-known local talent named Foster Rhodes Jackson, a Frank Lloyd Wright acolyte who honed his craft at Taliesin West before setting up shop in Chino.
“Wright’s influence is obvious, but Jackson had his own distinct interpretation of organic modernism,” notes LA-based architect Barbara Bestor, who recently completed an exhaustive restoration and expansion of a phenomenal house originally authored by Jackson in 1953 and enlarged by the architect in phases over the following decades. “He had very specific ideas about how houses grow and evolve. Many of the ad hoc additions were improvised with materials that were less than ideal. When my client acquired the property, it was basically a modern ruin,” Bestor continues.
Despite the house’s derelict condition, the new homeowner, an activist and philanthropist with broad interests stretching from climate change to the arts, felt a strong visceral connection to the spirit and soul of both the architecture and the community. “This area has an incredible history of design and collaboration between craftsmen, artists, and architects. It echoes a simpler daily life driven by comfort, aesthetics, and wildness,” she maintains. “My family has found the best of both worlds here: the charm and cultural richness of Claremont, endless wilderness trails for hiking and biking, and a blissful escape from traffic and crowds—yet we’re still just 45 minutes from Pasadena.”
The house’s most distinguishing features are its muscular desert masonry walls of rocks and boulders embedded in concrete, which travel from the exterior to the interior, as well as graphic accordion walls of hemlock. Utilizing the same details and materials, Bestor expanded the footprint of the existing 7,000-square-foot structure with an appended 3,000 square feet of sleeping accommodations, offices, and creative spaces for its multigenerational inhabitants. Her emendations, including revised circulation and the invention of entire rooms and wings, amount to a cut-and-paste exercise remarkable for its apparent seamlessness—discerning old from new is no easy feat. “Our first order of business was to restore the core of the house, and then make sympathetic additions that preserve the original vision while adding softer, curved elements that temper the rectilinearity,” Bestor explains, pointing to new circular and semicircular window apertures and built-ins.
Part of the renovation program involved the preservation of artist interventions and details, most notably the astonishing spiral stair, the construction of which was overseen by Sam Maloof in the 1980s, when the turret was built. Bestor’s team also de-installed and redeployed a variety of stained-glass windows and lanterns by Claremont artist Mike Hill, which now grace the ceiling of the new dining room, an expansive bath, and the entry corridor, among other areas.
For the furnishings fit-out, Bestor collaborated with Jazmyne Crunk and Zeb Knudsen of the LA design firm Zeb & Crunk, with whom the architect had worked previously on a project for actor, filmmaker, and musician Donald Glover. “The house has a masculine vibe, and most of the original colors fell into Frank Lloyd Wright’s palette of strong reds and yellows. Based on the client’s directive, we tried to push it in a more feminine direction,” Crunk says, describing the strategic eruptions of lavender, mauve, and coral that spice up the otherwise neutral palette attuned to the earthy tones of the woodwork and stone masonry. “The client has an extensive art collection, and we all had lots to say as to what got used. But she was very clear that she didn’t want us to design around the art because she changes it constantly. She was pretty adamant about comfort, so nothing is too precious. The upholstery is extra plush and cozy as a counterbalance to the abundant concrete and stone,” Knudsen adds.
Surveying the completed project, the homeowner feels secure that she and her design team successfully fulfilled the dual imperatives of honoring both the home’s architectural legacy and the spirit of her extended family. “In so many ways, this house has brought to life our vision of the very best of Southern California living—a place to gather for holidays and celebrations, to relax and connect both indoors and in nature,” she says. “When we moved in, there was a fox living on the roof and an owl living in one of the trees by the house—it seemed like even the wildlife felt comfortable with our creation.”
This midcentury house refurbished by Bestor Architecture is featured in AD’s July/August issue. Never miss a story when you subscribe to AD.
