Eames House

A pilgrimage site for modern design: the steel-and-glass home of Charles and Ray Eames, unchanged since 1949.

The Eames House in Pacific Palisades, Los Angeles, is one of the most influential residential buildings of the 20th century. Charles and Ray Eames designed it in 1949 as their personal home as part of the Case Study Houses program — an experiment by Arts & Architecture magazine demonstrating how steel frames and prefabricated industrial components could create genuinely livable homes. The building consists of two connected pavilions set in a dense eucalyptus grove: a residence and a studio. The large frame panels were infilled with colored and clear glass panes and fiber boards, giving the facade an almost Mondrian-like quality. Inside, the Eames assembled an eclectic collection of toys, shells, folk art and their own furniture. Today the house is a National Historic Landmark open for tours — it feels as if its inhabitants have only just stepped out.