122 DIGS.NET
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12.16.2016
Of all the amazing architecture in Trousdale Estates, which house do you feel is
most deserving of "icon" status?
I probably have 10 favorites of every style. There's Greek temple style, which
defined the Caesar's Palace era at Trousdale, but then there's Ranch-style
Trousdale, Hawaiian-Tropic-style and Hollywood Regency Trousdale—that was
a very big thing in the '60s. Paul Trousdale himself had a home by Hollywood
Regency godfather John Elgin Woolf, who was not thought to be a modernist, but
actually did apply classic themes in modernist ways.
How many architectural styles are there at Trousdale?
Well, apart from the styles you expect—Post-and-Beam, Tropic-Modern, Greco-
Roman Temple, or Neo-Formalist—Trousdale created a language of its own.
Architects like Hal Levitt really came to define a new look for living, in that the
most evocative homes often don't really look like houses at all. They resemble
museums, or banks, or country clubs, and I think that's what the iconic Trousdale
house is: cool, flat ceilinged and sculpted.
What features of Trousdale architecture support its aura of exclusivity and
social achievement?
The first thing I think announced that in the early era was the application of marble
on columns outside, and very tall double front doors. [Architect] Paul Williams
said that you can tell the quality of a house by the height of its front doors; so they
took that literally. The expanse of the carport—not garage, but carport—so that
cars could be shown off to people driving by. They weren't hidden away. In the
back was always the pool, which you couldn't see from the street but you knew
was there.
The book also explores how Trousdale architecture responds to the mood
of its various eras. Can you expand on this idea as it relates to the 1960s
and 1970s?
The change that happened in the '70s resulted from the turmoil of the '60s. People
began to look backwards. Modernism entered the era of Charlie Manson. When
openness became vulnerability, people really did seek to fortify. The new thing at
the time was Spanish Modern. People called it nostalgia and the reclaiming of our
(from top) Trousdale architecture is known for blurring
the lines between indoor and out; the view from inside.
