THE LAWRENCE and
Martha Joseph Residence and Apartments, also known as the ‘Hobbit Houses’
located right around the corner from Sony Studios at 3819 and 3827 Dunn Drive
in Culver City looks more like a scene from a storybook than the average
apartment building.
Lawrence Joseph, a
former Walt Disney artist, brought a fairytale to life between 1946 and 1970
with these residencies in Culver City. Behind trees and tall blades of grass
lies the cottage built in the Storybook Style. Pillars and garage doors made
out of tree trunks, cobblestone exterior, and a wood shingled roof sits behind
the green swamp inhabited by turtles.
A Conservancy's
page on the complex said, "Joseph redesigned an existing single-family
residence and added two two-story buildings with multiple units. He also
created nautically themed interiors for the three buildings. The apartments
feature galley kitchens, vertical-grain boat plank flooring, and built-in
furniture with hardware made from boat latches. The interior looks like you are
in a combination of a boat and tree house."
Los Angeles is a
city built on fantasy, and this becomes even more evident when looking at the
Lawrence and Martha Joseph Residence and Apartments. As I stood in front of the
buildings I forgot I was in the middle of the city until I turned around and
saw the normal street and the normal houses surrounding the fairytale
apartments.
-Nastassja Habers
-Photo Credit: Nastassja Habers
