Edward H Fickett

THOUGH he designed about 60,000 houses by one estimate -- 10,000 in the San Fernando Valley alone -- Modernist architect Edward H. Fickett never achieved the public prestige of such midcentury contemporaries as Richard Neutra, Craig Ellwood, Gregory Ain, Clifford May, A. Quincy Jones and even his former colleague Pierre Koenig. Which is not to say he was unappreciated.

To the cognoscenti, Edward H. Fickett was the award-winning architect behind the Port of Los Angeles, La Costa Resort & Spa, Edwards Air Force Base and tens of thousands of airy, affordable tract homes throughout Southern California. To Better Homes & Gardens, he was the " Frank Lloyd Wright of the '50s" -- a visionary who designed mansions for the likes of Joan Crawford and Groucho Marx, and more modest accommodations for regular folks. But to Joycie Fickett, he was simply Eddie, the handsome, life-of-the-party husband who greeted her each morning with an original love song and breakfast in bed. "We laughed every day of our lives together," she said.

To the cognoscenti, Edward H. Fickett was the award-winning architect behind the Port of Los Angeles, La Costa Resort & Spa, Edwards Air Force Base and tens of thousands of airy, affordable tract homes throughout Southern California. To Better Homes & Gardens, he was the "Frank Lloyd Wright of the '50s" -- a visionary who designed mansions for the likes of Joan Crawford and Groucho Marx, and more modest accommodations for regular folks. But to Joycie Fickett, he was Eddie, the handsome, life-of-the-party husband who greeted her each morning with an original love song and breakfast in bed. "We laughed every day of our lives together," she said.

FIVE DECADES AGO a young architect made his pitch to Norman Chandler, publisher of the Los Angeles Times: Build a suburban house that embodied forward-thinking design. Make it affordable for a middle-class family. Then document the process in the newspaper, from planning to construction to the completed home. Chandler jumped at the idea, and the Times Home Magazine House was born. On Jan. 5, 1958, a nine-page spread detailed the architecture by Edward H. Fickett, with interiors by Arthur Elrod.

I was delighted to read the article on architect Edward H. Fickett ["L.A.'s Great Unknown," June 29]. He designed a home of my parents, Mr. and Mrs. Mel Dorfman, in 1978 in Trousdale Estates. It was featured in Architectural Digest July/August 1980. The home was sold three years ago after my parents had lived in it almost 25 years, a most creative and well-designed house for today as then. It was a wonderful home built on a difficult lot in Trousdale, with a magnificent view as well as a tennis court.

ONE Sunday while touring a dismal string of open houses -- the overpriced, the over ugly and the forlorn, under buzzing electrical towers -- I happened onto a little nook off Nichols Canyon Road in the Hollywood Hills. It was a neighborhood of low-slung 1950s suburban houses. The property for sale was, to be kind, very unassuming from the street: just a garage and a windowless wall. My then-girlfriend (now wife) and I walked in, and almost immediately Jessica said it: "This is our house."

FIVE DECADES AGO a young architect made his pitch to Norman Chandler, publisher of the Los Angeles Times: Build a suburban house that embodied forward-thinking design. Make it affordable for a middle-class family. Then document the process in the newspaper, from planning to construction to the completed home. Chandler jumped at the idea, and the Times Home Magazine House was born. On Jan. 5, 1958, a nine-page spread detailed the architecture by Edward H. Fickett, with interiors by Arthur Elrod.

Edward H. Fickett, award-winning Los Angeles architect who created stunning residences from Malibu to Palm Springs and such resorts as the La Costa complex in Carlsbad, has died. He was 76. Fickett died in Los Angeles on May 21 of pneumonia and was buried after services June 4 at Forest Lawn Hollywood Hills.

MY husband and I were thrilled to read the article on Edward H. Fickett ["L.A.'s Great Unknown," June 29]. My husband played tennis with him twice a week for more than 15 years. He was always a very modest individual regarding his architectural work. Ed was always a gentleman and had a great deal of inner self-confidence. It was always a joke when he would purchase a dozen pairs of tennis shoes at one time while the rest of the men would purchase one pair at a time and hope to outlive that pair!

QUESTION: Thanks for the article on houses designed by architect Edward H. Fickett [June 29]. In the cover photo of one of the houses, a concrete block privacy wall with decorative circular holes is featured. I have been searching for that exact block for a couple of years -- to no avail. Do you have any idea where it can be purchased?

I was delighted to read the article on architect Edward H. Fickett ["L.A.'s Great Unknown," June 29]. He designed a home of my parents, Mr. and Mrs. Mel Dorfman, in 1978 in Trousdale Estates. It was featured in Architectural Digest July/August 1980. The home was sold three years ago after my parents had lived in it almost 25 years, a most creative and well-designed house for today as then. It was a wonderful home built on a difficult lot in Trousdale, with a magnificent view as well as a tennis court.

ONE Sunday while touring a dismal string of open houses -- the overpriced, the over ugly and the forlorn, under buzzing electrical towers -- I happened onto a little nook off Nichols Canyon Road in the Hollywood Hills. It was a neighborhood of low-slung 1950s suburban houses. The property for sale was, to be kind, very unassuming from the street: just a garage and a windowless wall. My then-girlfriend (now wife) and I walked in, and almost immediately Jessica said it: "This is our house."

THOUGH he designed about 60,000 houses by one estimate -- 10,000 in the San Fernando Valley alone -- Modernist architect Edward H. Fickett never achieved the public prestige of such midcentury contemporaries as Richard Neutra, Craig Ellwood, Gregory Ain, Clifford May, A. Quincy Jones and even his former colleague Pierre Koenig. Which is not to say he was unappreciated.

Edward H. Fickett, award-winning Los Angeles architect who created stunning residences from Malibu to Palm Springs and such resorts as the La Costa complex in Carlsbad, has died. He was 76. Fickett died in Los Angeles on May 21 of pneumonia and was buried after services June 4 at Forest Lawn Hollywood Hills.

The tale of this Beachwood Canyon house is one of two architects: Edward H. Fickett, who designed it in 1953 for a Lakewood couple as their pied-a-terre in the city, and Jeffrey Skorneck, who bought the house in 1979. Fickett was not yet a fellow in the American Institute of Architects when he designed the house. But he was beginning "the most fertile decades of his career," according to Skorneck.