Richard Neutra and the Making of the Lovell Health House, 1925-35 book images, USA architectural publication

Richard Neutra and the Making of the Lovell Health House, 1925-35

August 20, 2025

photo © Grant Mudford

Richard Neutra and the Making of the Lovell Health House, 1925-35 Book

Richard Neutra and the Making of the Lovell Health House, 1925-35. This new book tells the story of the Lovell Health House, designed and built by Austrian American architect Richard Neutra (1892–1970).

95 – Morgan, Lovell House in construction, Chantiers, 1934: showing standard components in detail, including the suspension of windows. Chantiers, March-April 1934: cover, pp. 12-14:

Canadian Centre for Architecture. © 2024 The Neutra Institute for Survival Through Design and reproduced by permission

Perched on a steep hillside with panoramic views of Los Angeles, the home pioneered the use of concrete and steel; radically advanced the ideals of hygienic, carefree, and open-air living; and explored new relationships between space, structure, the natural world, and physical and psychological well-being.

picture © Grant Mudford

It was widely documented and written about in leading architectural journals when it was erected, and these publications elevated the house to the status of an icon in the history of modernism and an essential work of the international modern movement. It also helped to launch the global career of one of the central figures of twentieth-century architecture.

Studies developing variants with entry on the middle level:

Richard and Dion Neutra Papers UCLA Library © 2024 The Neutra Institute for Survival Through Design and reproduced by permission

The book includes new texts by Edward Dimendberg, Crosby Doe, and Nicholas Olsberg, a chronology by Thomas Hines, and historic texts by Willard D. Morgan and Richard Neutra. At the heart of the book are six narrated portfolios of visual and textual documentation on the background, design, making, circulation, reception and resonance of this seminal house. Featuring historical photography by Morgan and contemporary photography by Grant Mumford, this volume will help bring Neutra’s masterpiece to an entirely new audience.

Lovell Health House on cover of Moderne Bauformen (August 1932):

Collection of Nicholas Olsberg. © 2024 The Neutra Institute for Survival Through Design and reproduced by permission

Richard Neutra

Modernism in the Hills: Richard Neutra’s Visionary Lovell Health House

A landmark of twentieth-century architecture, the Lovell Health House embodied Neutra’s radical fusion of steel, sunlight, and well-being.

LOS ANGELES, CA–A pivotal figure in twentieth-century architecture, the Austrian American architect Richard Neutra (1892–1970) designed and built the Lovell Health House from 1925–35, bringing his architectural brilliance to the steep hillsides of Los Angeles. Perched with panoramic views, Neutra’s design pioneered the optimal conditions to experience open-air living. By using concrete and steel, Neutra created new relationships between structure, space, the natural environment, and holistic well-being for the individuals inhabiting this home.

At the heart of Richard Neutra and the Making of the Lovell Health House, 1925–35 (Getty Research Institute, $50) are six narrated portfolios of visual and textual documentation on the background, design, making, circulation, reception, and resonance of this modern property. These are introduced by a detailed chronology from Neutra scholar Thomas Hines, and accompanied by new essays from Edward Dimendberg, Crosby Doe, and Nicholas Olsberg, as well as historic texts by Willard D. Morgan and Neutra himself.

General view from the lower playgrounds, The Studio, London, March 1930:

The Studio 99 no. 443 (London), February 1930, p. 79. Collection of Edward Dimendberg. © 2024 The Neutra Institute for Survival Through Design and reproduced by permission

The volume also features rare archival photography and contemporary images by Grant Mumford, capturing the house in both its raw, unrestored state and its enduring elegance. Nearly a century old and newly conserved, this timely book reintroduces Neutra’s masterpiece to a new generation of readers, scholars, and design enthusiasts.

Edward Dimendberg is a professor of humanities at the University of California, Irvine. He is the editor of the English edition of Anton Wagner’s Los Angeles (Getty, 2022).

Willard Morgan, Framework of Lovell Health House in place, early summer 1929, from Sartoris, Elementi, 1932:

Sartoris, Gli Elementi dell’ Architettura Funzionale, 1932 plate 558. Canadian Centre for Architecture. © 2024 The Neutra Institute for Survival Through Design and reproduced by permission

Publication Information:
Richard Neutra and the Making of the Lovell Health House, 1925–35
Edited by Edward Dimenberg
Getty Research Institute
144 pages, 9 x 11¼ inches
13 color and 132 b/w illustrations
Hardcover
ISBN 979-8-88712-008-9, UK ISBN 978-1-84822-726-2
US $50/ UK £39.99
US Publication Date: July 16, 2025; UK on-sale date: September 15, 2025

Living Room looking west. Moderne Bauformen August 1932, pp 382-89:

Collection of Nicholas Olsberg. © 2024 The Neutra Institute for Survival Through Design and reproduced by permission

Pre-publication endorsements:

“For generations young architects have been pulled toward Los Angeles, entranced by the city’s wide-open culture of architectural ambition and innovation. Wright was drawn to that, as was Neutra, Schindler, Ain, Gehry, and Mayne. Neutra’s Lovell House is an essential protagonist in this century-long story. That such a radical design could be built here is testament to the creative energy of this place. That it still provokes and challenges us today is nothing short of a gift.”
– Michael Maltzan, Michael Maltzan Architecture

“The Lovell Health House has long held a place of honor in the pantheon of modern architecture. The authors of this fascinating volume have assembled an astonishing array of primary sources, providing a detailed account of its history and an introduction to the key tenets and philosophy of the Modern Movement.”
– Martino Stierli, The Museum of Modern Art, New York

“An engaging examination of a key moment of the encounter between European and American building cultures. Like in a slow-motion replay, Neutra’s assimilation and deployment of steel frame construction is traced every step from inception to reception through contemporaneous publications. The way that Neutra’s writing, design and exacting site management are interwoven reveals the intensity of thought that went into this emblematic project.”
– William Mann, Witherford Watson Mann architects

photograph © Grant Mudford

Getty Publications

Getty Publications produces award-winning titles that result from or complement the work of the J. Paul Getty Museum, Getty Conservation Institute, and Getty Research Institute. This wide variety of books covers the fields of art, photography, archaeology, architecture, conservation, and the humanities for both the general public and specialists. Publications include illustrated works on artists and art history, exhibition catalogues, works on cultural history, research on the conservation of materials and archaeological sites, scholarly monographs, critical editions of translated works, comprehensive studies of Getty’s collections, and educational books on art to interest children of all ages.

Entry and Garage. Moderne Bauformen, August 1932, pp 382-89:

Collection of Nicholas Olsberg. © 2024 The Neutra Institute for Survival Through Design and reproduced by permission

Lund Humphries

An independent press based in the UK, Lund Humphries has been a leading publisher of illustrated art books since 1939. The Illuminating Women Artists series sits alongside an existing list of illustrated monographs on modern and contemporary women artists, from Barbara Hepworth to Katharina Grosse.

Richard Neutra and the Making of the Lovell Health House, 1925-35 images / information received 190825