Preservation Nightmare – Charles Moore’s Orinda Home Eaten by Oversized Ranch

Before

After

I’m not sure how this was allowed to happen, but it appears that Charles Moore’s famous Orinda home was desecrated sometime in the last ten years. This small house, designed by Moore for himself and built in 1962, was considered by many to be the quintessential expression of third bay region residential architecture. It received numerous awards and was published around the world.

Originally one bed, one and one half baths, and 1545 SF, it has now ballooned to four beds, three baths, 3291 SF. The original structure is now barely discernable within the greater whole. The new gabled porch over the originally unadorned entry masks most of what used to be the facade. The entire interior has been drywalled over and whitewashed, and glazed walls have been replaced with clusters of vinyl windows and doors.

This may be the most compelling recent example I have seen of why it is important to document and preserve our important architectural resources. This is now especially true for the work of our important mid-century designers because their structures have until quite recently been largely overlooked by the preservation community.