First time on the market in nearly 70 years.  Designed in 1948 as a “Modernique Home” by architect Gregory Ain in collaboration with Joseph Johnson & Alfred Day and landscape architect Garrett Eckbo, the Mar Vista Tract housing development was a socially-minded experiment for the working class and part of the larger post-WWII housing boom.   The 52-home Tract was designated a Historical Preservation Overlay Zone in 2003. 

 

Ain’s design philosophy prioritized function as a means to style so the flexible interior with sliding partition wall can be configured as a one, two or three bedroom residence with 1-bath and open living, dining and kitchen area.  Large glass walls and clerestory windows provide plenty of interior light.  Eckbo’s bucolic public landscape treated the large front yard and sidewalk as a green park to encourage community interaction.  The large backyard with flagstone deck, grass and fruit trees, remained a space for individual expression. 

 

Residence #4 includes a laundry closet and detached 2-car garage and gated parking pad.  A resident since the 1950’s, Gertrude Pomish was a public school teacher who epitomized the working class, community-minded homeowner the Tract aimed to attract. 

 

As was her wish, the sale proceeds will fund student scholarships at UCLA.  The Mar Vista Tract remains a magnet for architecture buffs, but more importantly, it retains its modern appeal.