Adams Residence

Attracted to the idea of designing something simple that could be built on a budget by the owner, Lloyd Wright designed the Mat House for Bill and Bea Adams in 1939. The Adams family took four years to build their two-bedroom, 676 sq ft residence on a half-acre lot off a dirt road that would eventually be Tampa Avenue in Reseda. The square house has an angled roof to take advantage of sunshine in the winter and provide relief from the San Fernando Valley’s intense summer heat. Architect and family ended up parting ways when the Adamses nailed down cedar shakes instead of the thatch-like roof he had proposed. Adams’s daughter-in-law, Barbara, worked to have the house, still a private residence, listed as a Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument.

Reseda, Los Angeles County
Photographer: Andrew Schmidt