About

“Samuel-Novarro House” 

Lloyd Wright, architect.

Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument No. 130, Declared 07/17/74.

Click link for the home’s history and significance from the Los Angeles Conservancy

History:

“Art Deco Masterpiece designed by Lloyd Wright in 1928. Here Lloyd Wright translates the textured, precast concrete Mayanesque block into pressed metal. The result hints at pre- Columbian Revival & Art Deco (zigzag) Moderne composition. The main (top) floor is cross-axial, with one arm terminating in an open court with swimming pool.” (Source: Gebhard and Winter, 1985, p.176.) Architectural Record, vol. 67, June, 1930. California Arts and Architecture, vol. 44, July, 1933, pp 1113, 31.

Plans by architect, Lloyd Wright for Louis Samuel. (Source: sw b&c, 04/20/28, p. 60, col.1.)

Actress Diane Keaton remodeled the house in the 1980s when she lived here.

1930 census:
5609 Valley Oak Drive (Value: $40,000): 1) Louis G. Samuel, owner and head of household; 28 year old white married male; married at age 27; born in Budapest Hungary; parents born in Budapest Hungary; speaks Hungarian; to US in 1904, a naturalized citizen; Business manager in the motion picture industry. 2) Grace B. Samuel, wife; 26 year old white married female; married at age 25; born in Texas, parents born in Massachusetts; a free lance artist. 3) Anna E. Feldner, servant; 37 year old white married female; married at age 36; born in Hamburg Germany; parents born in Germany; speaks German; to US in 1929, citizenship pending; a servant in a private family. 4) Henry J. Feldner, husband of servant; 57 year old white married male; married at age 56; born in Iowa; father born in Germany, mother in Ohio; a gardener for a private family.