Williams House by John Lautner, complete overview and walkthrough

hello dear audience today we're gonna visit the house in the heart of the hollywood hills it is located less than a mile away from the famous hollywood sign [Music] the williams house is average in size and not very luxurious but its shape is very unusual and the layout is unlike any other house the design is full of surprises and interesting details the house has two driveways that lead to two different floor levels when you take a look from the street you see that the garden is sunken below street level only the carport is in line with the street from there the garden descends rapidly making the living area above ground level [Music] with a front door that's only accessible by walking up stairs [Music] at the outer left the ground level has fallen so far that there is space for lower floor level when we return towards the street and continue to walk down the road we see that the hill further elevates making the right side of the roof only five feet above the ground the higher floor level is shaped with the lower floor level only half the size but extending at the rear forming a terrace for the higher part the house looks different from each direction in this series of drawings i will show the many faces of the house from each angle from the north east you see that the house has two different parts with their own roof a gentle gable roof and a part with a flat roof the gable roof has an ax that is diagonal with the rear end lower than the front the left and right wing come together underneath the axe of the gable roof there's also the front door and chimney from the south east you see that the left wing is placed diagonal against the right wing it's also larger than a lower floor level on which it is resting the left side of the gable roof is substantially shorter than the right side from the south you see that the two floor levels are shifted among each other with the lower more place to the rear and extending early to higher level creating space for terrace from the rear in the west you have a clear view of the terrace you can also see that the upper floor overlaps lower level here you can see more clearly that axe of the gable roof climbs from the rear to the front the house has two stairs one is enclosed in a staircase and one stair is open and at the outside and from the southwest you see that the house is enclosed on both sides by a climbing hill in north and a descending hillside in the south at the rear the house has many large windows giving it a high and transparent character while the same house has a low and enclosed character from the street the house has three kinds of roof structures the gable roof is on the highest part and it has two triangular skylights [Music] underneath is the flat roof which is partly showth in the living space underneath the gable roof the third roof is the top of the lower floor level this forms partly the terrace and partly the floor of the higher floor level [Music] the walls of the house are made of cinder blocks covered with a coating of lime green plaster the right wing of the house is two feet above ground level and is resting on concrete beams and pillars [Music] from the front door we step right into the magnificent living room [Music] let's remove the roof and take a look at the floor plan we decorate the drawing with furniture to give a good indication of the size of the house turns out to be very compact the sitting and dining areas are in the same space as the front door in the kitchen behind the kitchen are a bathroom and two bedrooms and stairs that lead downwards the terrace is about the same size as the living room the carport is placed under the same gable roof that continues over the living space [Music] the sitting area is just around the corner of the front door and it has a large fireplace made of the same cinder blocks that were used for the walls on this photo the perspective makes the living room look larger but on this photo with more furniture you get a better indication of the actual size the two sitting areas are divided by a difference in the floor level this creates separated spaces without having any walls which makes the room more spatial one area is lower and has a more enclosed feeling it is used for watching television the second area is larger and has a more open feeling [Music] directly behind it is the dining area right behind the dining table is the kitchen the kitchen is placed a few steps lower again creating a separate space without walls the open kitchen is enclosed from a living room with a bar and a built-in fridge a part of the flat roof enters the living space above the kitchen forming a shelter above the front door and creating somewhat of a festival the weight of this roof extension is resting on the fireplace and on two pillars after entering the front door and after walking underneath the festival the ceiling opens above your head with its many lines that go in various directions and creating amazing perspectives like an abstract painting this spectacular ceiling makes the house very special the roof structure is made of three thick supporting arms that are resting on walls and 38 beams that are placed in the length on top of these arms the roof itself is made of pieces of timber that are resting on the structure the bathroom and the toilet are sunlit by two skylights that are placed above each other there's a skylight in a flat roof and a triangular opening in the gable roof because the flat roof is lower the sunlight from the triangular opening enters also the living room two mirrors are placed against each other reflecting even more light in the bathroom and in the kitchen they bring sunlight at every moment of the day behind the bathroom are two bedrooms one has windows at the front [Music] and the other one looks over the rear [Music] from the dining area you can step through a sliding door and a smaller door and walk over the terrace at the outside a part of the roof construction is skeletonized forming a pergola over the terrace originally this terrace was much smaller and there wasn't a lower floor level in this old photo you can see the design the way john loner had wanted it a much smaller house years later the owners decided to enlarge the terrace and to add a new level underneath the stairs that originally led to the garden became enclosed in staircase and they now lead to the lower part this addition is not designed with john lautner and it makes the house less futuristic and more straightforward still though it has some great interiors [Music] the studio goes all the way from the rear to the front of the house and opens towards the lower driveway this small window brings sunlight into the bathroom this series of layered drawings shows how the different floor levels are placed above each other and how they interact with hillside finally we take one look in the garden that is a triangular and has one large palm tree in the middle the strangest thing about this house is how little known it is it deserves more attention because it is a beautiful home and it is full of unique inventions making it one of john lautner's most interesting designs this was your tour guidance thank you for watching and don't forget to like and subscribe i'll see you next time

Channel: John Lautner Architecture Videos

Views: 15,959

Keywords: williams house, williams house lautner, john lautner, lautner williams, hollywood house, mid century modernism, modernist architecture, space age, googie, frank lloyd wright, american architecture, lautner

Id: V5fPXChqvDY

Length: 10min 31sec (631 seconds)

Published: Tue Feb 01 2022