Ray Kappe

Of more than 100 houses that Ray Kappe designed over his long and distinguished career, the one he designed for himself and his family in Los Angeles' Rustic Canyon is the most important. "Maybe the greatest house in Southern California," Stephen Kanner, the former president of American Institute of Architects' Los Angeles chapter, said in a 2008 interview. Indeed, that year, when the Home section polled architects, historians, academics and critics on Southern California's best houses of all time, the 1967 Kappe residence ranked No. 8, just behind Chemosphere by John Lautner and the Gamble House by Charles and Henry Greene.

Of more than 100 houses that Ray Kappe designed over his long and distinguished career, the one he designed for himself and his family in Los Angeles' Rustic Canyon is the most important. "Maybe the greatest house in Southern California," Stephen Kanner, the former president of American Institute of Architects' Los Angeles chapter, said in a 2008 interview. Indeed, that year, when the Home section polled architects, historians, academics and critics on Southern California's best houses of all time, the 1967 Kappe residence ranked No. 8, just behind Chemosphere by John Lautner and the Gamble House by Charles and Henry Greene.

THE PRE-EMINENT VIEW in Manhattan Beach is the broad stretch of sand, the sublime Pacific and, of course, the season's newest swimsuits. But attracting more than a glimpse these days is a striking structure recently completed at 16th Street and owned by Lou and Jay Scheimer, who wanted to locate their weekend house in this comfortable community. (Lou Scheimer heads Filmation, which produces children's programs.

Stephen Kanner, who died earlier this year of pancreatic cancer at age 54, was something of an outlier among architects of his generation for the sheer volume and range of his output. The son and grandson of Los Angeles architects, Kanner moved with near-inevitability into the family business and in his 30s was designing the kinds of projects that most architects these days don't land until they are nearing 60 ? or even 70. With his colleagues in Kanner Architects, which he began running in his early 40s after the 1998 death of his father, he produced expansive private houses, condominium projects, courthouses, guest cottages, rec centers, affordable-housing developments, retail outlets and even a gas station.

In the early to mid-20th century, L.A. gave birth to some of the most progressive and successful architecture to date, residential works in particular, from giants such as Greene and Greene, Frank Lloyd Wright, R.M. Schindler and Richard Neutra. Los Angeles-based architect Ray Kappe's work extends this tradition. Kappe has designed about 100 homes around the city in materials that include concrete and steel.

WOOD-BLOCK models, drawings and notes for 200 Modern buildings and projects completed over half a century have taken over four rooms of Ray Kappe's Pacific Palisades house. But in a few weeks, moving vans will transport the architect's life's work a few miles away to its permanent new home: the antiquities-rich Getty Center.

Stephen Kanner, who died earlier this year of pancreatic cancer at age 54, was something of an outlier among architects of his generation for the sheer volume and range of his output. The son and grandson of Los Angeles architects, Kanner moved with near-inevitability into the family business and in his 30s was designing the kinds of projects that most architects these days don't land until they are nearing 60 ? or even 70. With his colleagues in Kanner Architects, which he began running in his early 40s after the 1998 death of his father, he produced expansive private houses, condominium projects, courthouses, guest cottages, rec centers, affordable-housing developments, retail outlets and even a gas station.

"What we wanted, of course, was the building to metaphorically express its function," architect Ray Kappe said. He was referring to the Santa Monica bus administration facility he designed a few years ago with Rex Lotery and Dean Nota. And, indeed, when glimpsed from the 5th Street exit of the Santa Monica Freeway, the streamlined, two-story steel-coated structure with its curved corners and horizontal fins looks very much like a large bus, sleek and on the move.

A sculpted steel-and-glass home, designed with the curved lines of an ocean liner, sits on the Strand in Manhattan Beach, steps from the beach and an ocean view that extends from the Palos Verdes Peninsula to Malibu. The house, owned by Filmation co-founder Lou Scheimer, who co-created the cartoons "Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids" and "He-Man and the Masters of the Universe," was designed in 1988 by Ray Kappe, architect and co-founder of the Southern California Institute of Architecture.

Shielded from its Brentwood street by a shrubbery screen is Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument No. 886, the Gould-LaFetra House. The three-story, glass-and-wood home, which received its designation from the Los Angeles Cultural Heritage Commission, is the latest "sensitive restoration" project of film producer Michael LaFetra -- a sort of one-man architectural preservation society who has purchased and restored a dozen or so homes.

A sculpted steel-and-glass home, designed with the curved lines of an ocean liner, sits on the Strand in Manhattan Beach, steps from the beach and an ocean view that extends from the Palos Verdes Peninsula to Malibu. The house, owned by Filmation co-founder Lou Scheimer, who co-created the cartoons "Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids" and "He-Man and the Masters of the Universe," was designed in 1988 by Ray Kappe, architect and co-founder of the Southern California Institute of Architecture.

Shielded from its Brentwood street by a shrubbery screen is Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument No. 886, the Gould-LaFetra House. The three-story, glass-and-wood home, which received its designation from the Los Angeles Cultural Heritage Commission, is the latest "sensitive restoration" project of film producer Michael LaFetra -- a sort of one-man architectural preservation society who has purchased and restored a dozen or so homes.

WOOD-BLOCK models, drawings and notes for 200 Modern buildings and projects completed over half a century have taken over four rooms of Ray Kappe's Pacific Palisades house. But in a few weeks, moving vans will transport the architect's life's work a few miles away to its permanent new home: the antiquities-rich Getty Center.

In the early to mid-20th century, L.A. gave birth to some of the most progressive and successful architecture to date, residential works in particular, from giants such as Greene and Greene, Frank Lloyd Wright, R.M. Schindler and Richard Neutra. Los Angeles-based architect Ray Kappe's work extends this tradition. Kappe has designed about 100 homes around the city in materials that include concrete and steel.

THE PRE-EMINENT VIEW in Manhattan Beach is the broad stretch of sand, the sublime Pacific and, of course, the season's newest swimsuits. But attracting more than a glimpse these days is a striking structure recently completed at 16th Street and owned by Lou and Jay Scheimer, who wanted to locate their weekend house in this comfortable community. (Lou Scheimer heads Filmation, which produces children's programs.

"What we wanted, of course, was the building to metaphorically express its function," architect Ray Kappe said. He was referring to the Santa Monica bus administration facility he designed a few years ago with Rex Lotery and Dean Nota. And, indeed, when glimpsed from the 5th Street exit of the Santa Monica Freeway, the streamlined, two-story steel-coated structure with its curved corners and horizontal fins looks very much like a large bus, sleek and on the move.

The A + D Museum, formerly housed in the landmark Bradbury Building, has moved twice in as many months. The A + D relocated to Santa Monica in November, after the historic downtown L.A. building was sold to a Hong Kong company. But a zoning issue overparking forced a second move, and the museum has reopened on the Sunset Strip in West Hollywood. "It's been very expensive," says Ann Videriksen, a museum spokeswoman. "But this is it."

The A + D Museum, formerly housed in downtown's landmark Bradbury Building, moved to the Westside this month. When the historic building was sold to a Hong Kong company after the death of owner Ira Yellin, the A + D had to find a new space, said Ann Videriksen, a spokeswoman for the museum.