John Sowden House
Encyclopedia
John Sowden House, also known as the "Jaws House", is a residence built in 1926 in the Los Feliz
section of Los Angeles, California
. Built by Lloyd Wright
, the house is noted for its use of ornamented concrete blocks and for its striking facade, resembling (depending on the viewer's points of cultural reference) either a Mayan temple or the gaping open mouth of a great white shark
.
(eldest son of Frank Lloyd Wright
), to build their home in Los Feliz. The house has been recognized as one of Lloyd Wright's most important works and a landmark in the Los Angeles area for its imposing Mayan-style front facade and temple-like features. When Lloyd Wright died in 1978, the Los Angeles Times
wrote that Sowden house had been "hailed as the apogee of his residential work."
The house is also noteworthy for Lloyd Wright's continuation of his father's work in the early 1920s with textile-block construction and Mayan themes. His father had used the textile blocks in building the Millard House
, Samuel Freeman House
, Ennis House
, and Storer House. On the Sowden House, Lloyd Wright used ornamented concrete blocks to decorate a distinctive entry that it has been said "challenges the street." From the street, the home has the appearance of a Mayan fortress or temple. The sharp ridges and lines of the facade have been said to resemble the gaping open mouth of a great white shark, resulting in the home's being known in Los Angeles as the "Jaws House." It has also been described as having a "cultic, brooding" appearance. The Los Angeles Times has also described it as a "quasi-Mayan-style mansion, an otherwordly apparition that looms over Franklin Avenue in Los Feliz." A guest arriving at Sowden House passes through sculpted copper gates and then up "a narrow, tomb-like staircase" to the house. Sowden wanted a house that would be a showplace where he could entertain his friends in the Hollywood film community.
From 1945 through 1951, the house was owned by Dr. George Hodel, a Los Angeles physician who was a prime suspect in the infamous Black Dahlia
murder, although he was not publicly named as such at the time. The doctor's own son, Steve Hodel, himself a retired City of Los Angeles homicide detective, argued in his 2003 book "Black Dahlia Avenger" that the Black Dahlia victim, Elizabeth Short, was actually tortured, murdered and dissected by his father inside of the Sowden House, in January 1947.
The house was used as a shooting location to depict the home of Ava Gardner
in Martin Scorsese
's film "The Aviator."
. In addition to restoring the stonework, Balbes converted the three-room kitchen area into a large open kitchen, added new upscale bathrooms, and installed a pool and spa in the central court. On viewing the renovations, Eric Lloyd Wright praised the new kitchen and landscaping, but criticized Balbes' decision to install a pool and spa in the middle of the courtyard. All of the house's rooms open onto the long central courtyard, which was originally a lawn that was used for seating during performances at the home. Eric Wright felt it was a "mistake" to break up the courtyard space with a pool and spa. Dana Hutt, an architectural historian who has written on the works of Lloyd Wright, was also critical of Balbes' alterations. She objected to the pool, to the refinement of the entry staircase, and to the addition of Asian elements that were "completely wrong" for Wright's Mesoamerican design.
Los Feliz, Los Angeles, California
Los Feliz, also Rancho Los Feliz is an affluent, hilly neighborhood in the Hollywood district of Los Angeles, California, named after its land grantee José Vicente Feliz....
section of Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
. Built by Lloyd Wright
Lloyd Wright
Frank Lloyd Wright, Jr. , commonly known as Lloyd Wright, was an American landscape architect and architect, most active in Los Angeles and Southern California...
, the house is noted for its use of ornamented concrete blocks and for its striking facade, resembling (depending on the viewer's points of cultural reference) either a Mayan temple or the gaping open mouth of a great white shark
Great white shark
The great white shark, scientific name Carcharodon carcharias, also known as the great white, white pointer, white shark, or white death, is a large lamniform shark found in coastal surface waters in all major oceans. It is known for its size, with the largest individuals known to have approached...
.
Architecture and design
The original owner, John Sowden, was a painter and photographer who hired his friend, Lloyd WrightLloyd Wright
Frank Lloyd Wright, Jr. , commonly known as Lloyd Wright, was an American landscape architect and architect, most active in Los Angeles and Southern California...
(eldest son of Frank Lloyd Wright
Frank Lloyd Wright
Frank Lloyd Wright was an American architect, interior designer, writer and educator, who designed more than 1,000 structures and completed 500 works. Wright believed in designing structures which were in harmony with humanity and its environment, a philosophy he called organic architecture...
), to build their home in Los Feliz. The house has been recognized as one of Lloyd Wright's most important works and a landmark in the Los Angeles area for its imposing Mayan-style front facade and temple-like features. When Lloyd Wright died in 1978, the Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles Times
The Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....
wrote that Sowden house had been "hailed as the apogee of his residential work."
Millard House
Millard House, also known as La Miniatura, is a textile block house designed by Frank Lloyd Wright and built in 1923 in Pasadena, California. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1976.-Wright's textile block houses:...
, Samuel Freeman House
Samuel Freeman House
Samuel Freeman House is a Frank Lloyd Wright house in the Hollywood Hills of Los Angeles built in 1923. As an example of Wright's pre-Columbian or early Modernist architecture, the structure is noteworthy as one of the four textile block houses built by Wright in the Los Angeles area, the other...
, Ennis House
Ennis House
The Ennis House is a residential dwelling in the Los Feliz neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, USA, south of Griffith Park. The home was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright for Charles and Mabel Ennis in 1923, and built in 1924....
, and Storer House. On the Sowden House, Lloyd Wright used ornamented concrete blocks to decorate a distinctive entry that it has been said "challenges the street." From the street, the home has the appearance of a Mayan fortress or temple. The sharp ridges and lines of the facade have been said to resemble the gaping open mouth of a great white shark, resulting in the home's being known in Los Angeles as the "Jaws House." It has also been described as having a "cultic, brooding" appearance. The Los Angeles Times has also described it as a "quasi-Mayan-style mansion, an otherwordly apparition that looms over Franklin Avenue in Los Feliz." A guest arriving at Sowden House passes through sculpted copper gates and then up "a narrow, tomb-like staircase" to the house. Sowden wanted a house that would be a showplace where he could entertain his friends in the Hollywood film community.
From 1945 through 1951, the house was owned by Dr. George Hodel, a Los Angeles physician who was a prime suspect in the infamous Black Dahlia
Black Dahlia
"The Black Dahlia" was a nickname given to Elizabeth Short is an American woman and the victim of a gruesome and much-publicized murder. She acquired the moniker posthumously by newspapers in the habit of nicknaming crimes they found particularly colorful...
murder, although he was not publicly named as such at the time. The doctor's own son, Steve Hodel, himself a retired City of Los Angeles homicide detective, argued in his 2003 book "Black Dahlia Avenger" that the Black Dahlia victim, Elizabeth Short, was actually tortured, murdered and dissected by his father inside of the Sowden House, in January 1947.
The house was used as a shooting location to depict the home of Ava Gardner
Ava Gardner
Ava Lavinia Gardner was an American actress.She was signed to a contract by MGM Studios in 1941 and appeared mainly in small roles until she drew attention with her performance in The Killers . She became one of Hollywood's leading actresses, considered one of the most beautiful women of her day...
in Martin Scorsese
Martin Scorsese
Martin Charles Scorsese is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, actor, and film historian. In 1990 he founded The Film Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to film preservation, and in 2007 he founded the World Cinema Foundation...
's film "The Aviator."
Renovation by Xorin Balbes
The house, with seven bedrooms, four baths, and 5600 square feet (520.3 m²), was listed on the market at $1,575,000 in 2001. It was purchased that year by Xorin Balbes for $1.2 million. Balbes, who said the house was "a wreck" when he bought it, spent $1.6 million to restore the house, though some of his alterations drew criticism from preservationists as well as Lloyd Wright's son, Eric Lloyd WrightEric Lloyd Wright
Eric Lloyd Wright is an American architect and the grandson of the famed Frank Lloyd Wright.Wright was born in Los Angeles on November 9, 1929 to Helen Taggart and Lloyd Wright , a landscape architect and architect who was the eldest son of Frank Lloyd Wright Sr.Educated at the University of...
. In addition to restoring the stonework, Balbes converted the three-room kitchen area into a large open kitchen, added new upscale bathrooms, and installed a pool and spa in the central court. On viewing the renovations, Eric Lloyd Wright praised the new kitchen and landscaping, but criticized Balbes' decision to install a pool and spa in the middle of the courtyard. All of the house's rooms open onto the long central courtyard, which was originally a lawn that was used for seating during performances at the home. Eric Wright felt it was a "mistake" to break up the courtyard space with a pool and spa. Dana Hutt, an architectural historian who has written on the works of Lloyd Wright, was also critical of Balbes' alterations. She objected to the pool, to the refinement of the entry staircase, and to the addition of Asian elements that were "completely wrong" for Wright's Mesoamerican design.
External links
- Sowden House rental site, showing interior photographs of the home