Kimberly Bayley

Scott and I were so happy for the chance to experience the iconic Case Study #22 Stahl House in person, and on a typically spectacular California evening. To think, this was the everyday home to a "regular" family raising 3 small children, imagined and relentlessly (with a little luck and serendipity) brought to completion by a Hughes Aircraft purchasing agent and his wife, Carlotta. The main players who thankfully did not say no to the seemingly impossible task of supporting and building a structure at the tippy top of this Hollywood Hill, "an unusual and challenging site" says architect Pierre Koenig were the brilliant Paul Williams who as a board member convinced the black owned Broadway Federal bank to underwrite the building loan; Architect Pierre Koenig who turned Buck Stahl's preliminary designs of his dream home on his dream lot to a viable architectural building plan and then collaborated with Bethlehem Steel who provided otherwise unaffordable steel at cost; and of course, the Post WWII Case Study program .study.houses. And now, the Stahl family has decided to pass the awesome responsibility of conservatorship to the next owner. I can't wait to see who it will be!


casestudyhouses

This is our Anna Belle at Camp Mystic in 2011. Her favorite camp activity was swimming in the beautiful and refreshing spring fed waters of the Guadalupe River. So many are deeply mourning the unimaginable losses in the Texas Hill Country. If you are a Texan, you know this is the Heart of Texas. It is chilling as parents who sent our sons and daughter for a collective 20 years to camp on the banks of the Guadalupe River, that this was always a possibility. I have a sick lump in my throat and a well of tears in my eyes. I cannot imagine the debilitating pain of those parents who have lost their children. I send my deepest love and condolences to them. This disaster places a renewed focus on the awesome responsibility of camp directors and the naive trust that parents give them. And, on the responsibility of our governments - local, State and National - to protect its trusting and vulnerable citizens with 24/7 accurate weather information and warning systems.