Neutra's Strathmore Apartments

At dinner the other night, we were talking about the places that felt like home but slipped through our fingers. All of the apartments we applied for, the ones we lost. The luxury of renting in LA—the never-ending cycle of throwing your savings into someone else’s mortgage. If you get really really lucky, your savings can fund the mortgage on a really really dope place. A potentially iconic place. The kind of place that becomes the backdrop to a whole chapter of your life, like the home in Three’s Company.

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And then it hit me.

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That apartment on Strathmore, the one I almost got, the one that had me spiraling for a minute when I lost it to some guy who could afford to drop three years of rent in cash...

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It was a Richard Neutra. I was obsessed with it before even realizing that fact- the impeccable efficiency and feeling of the home’s design was more than enough to hook me. I was hesitant to dive into the history of the apartment- reopening wounds and whatnot… but I did it anyways while we were still enjoying our favorite Thai spot. I figured if I was ever going to relive the loss it should at least happen while my papaya salad could console me. 

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The Strathmore Apartments were designed in 1937, inspired by the stacked homes of New Mexico and Mexico City. Neutra had spent time in Albuquerque, taking in the way homes naturally cascaded into the landscape. That inspiration found its way into Strathmore, a complex of four buildings, eight interlocking units that feel both private and deeply connected.  

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Stretched across an awkward sloping hill, no two units are alike. Every apartment has a unique floor plan, accommodating intentionally chosen views and private balconies. Walking the stairs between them feels like navigating a small, self-contained world. Since each level is staggered across the slope, the vantage points are an integral part of the interior experience. It was my first time tasting a bit of proper modernism on the West Coast… and while standing in the unit, my jaw still on the floor, I thought it would be mine.

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Built in furniture including its modular functions were designed by Neutra himself. Steel and glass windows. Primarily wood with silver aluminum trim.

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Where Charles and Ray Eames lived and worked from 1941-1949, immediately prior to moving in to the Eames House, Case Study House #8 (a different unit, but that's still way too cool).

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Who knows where my creativity would’ve landed in some alternate timeline where I lived here. Sadly, the internet didn’t bless us with many interior shots. But hey, here’s a tour video (yeah, it’s vertical...deal with it).

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