By far, my personal favorite piece of architecture by the Eameses is their personal home and studio in Pacific Palisades. First built in 1949, the house was actually a commission as part of the Case Study House program. The goal of the program was to design and build cheap and efficient model homes that might house the millions of soldiers returning home from World War II (Kenney, 2019). I think that’s a very interesting motivation even though, as we know, things did not move in that direction. With how exposed the side is, it’s hard for me to imagine in areas without dense trees covering it, as they benefited from.

Charles Eames himself said the house was “unselfconscious” (Eames Foundation, n.d.), and it certainly comes across that way. Every design element seems as if it’s in place not to impress or seem sophisticated but as an expression of the core Eameses’ personal sensibilities.

It seemed to fit them so well that they never moved from the home until their death. Today, it still stands as a National Historic Landmark and visited by some 20,000 visitors per year (Kenney, 2019).