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When I was in fligh-school, I was required to take a second language; my head told me I should become fluent in the flashy South Pacific Gull, but my heart was settled on the language of plants, taught by example and mastered by silence. Elmer Grey, a pioneer of the New American architecture in the early 20th century, must have, likewise, studied this slow tongue, as evidenced by the Spanish Style manor that I invite you to peruse this weekend.
Built in 1922 (10 years after he designed the legendary Beverly Hills Hotel and 18 after he abandoned a successful career in the Midwest to work on a Hollywood citrus ranch), the stately residence at 541 South Arden Boulevard is a culmination of an architect’s life enriched by nature and the belief that great buildings must work in tandem with their surroundings. The structure itself smacks of a certain Seville royalty, and when the original California hardwood floors are flooded with light from the home’s many French doors, nation and time slip away to reveal what is true: the language of the earth, that leads the rancher to Windsor Square and the flamingo to WeHo.
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