Hal B. Hayes House, Hollywood California, 1953

Hal B Hayes House Hollywood CA 1953 Exterior Glass Wall
Hal B Hayes House Hollywood CA 1953 Exterior Glass Wall
Hal B. Hayes House, Hollywood, CA Exterior 1953

Though I’ve lately dedicated this site to cutaway drawings from the golden age of illustration art–1930s to 1960s–certain things come along that are so amazing that they trump my mission.  The Hal B. Hays residence in Hollywood, CA is one such thing.

I ran into the Hal B. Hayes residence, which Popular Mechanics described as a House For the Atomic Age.  Ever practical, the magazine notes how Mr. Hayes designed the house to withstand or flex against the stresses of an atomic bomb blast.  The outer walls are “fluted to resist shock waves” and the large front glass window, pictured above, will sweep away in the same blast.  There is an underground concrete-and-steel fallout shelter, as well as another room equipped with bottled oxygen.

Hal B Hayes House Hollywood CA 1953 Exterior Glass Wall

But the house is also whimsical.  The magazine says that the car’s parking spot was cantilevered because “space is at a premium.”  Perhaps:  I don’t know the house’s location, but I assume it’s in the Hollywood Hills.  But I really think Hayes cantilevered the car for the drama of it.

This is drama, this is show and fun.  How else to account for things like the three-story tree growing in the house and passing through a skylight:

Hal B Hayes House Hollywood CA 1953 Tree Through Skylight

Or the underground sanctuary accessed by swimming underwater:

Hal B Hayes House Hollywood CA 1953 Underground Sanctuary and Pool

Who was Hayes?  In 1956, Zsa Zsa Gabor announced that she would marry Hal Hayes.

L.A. Curbed tells us that the house is located at 1235 Sierra Alta Way Los Angeles, CA 90069 but is so built over that it no longer resembles the original house.  It last sold on May 7, 2010 for $8.4 million.

We see from Google Maps that “the tree” mentioned above (or some kind of tree, anyway), is visible in this satellite shot:

1235 Sierra Alta Way West Hollywood CA Satellite View 2013

Source:  Popular Mechanics August 1953

 

 

By Lee Wallender

Deception, influence, fakes, illusions, themed environments, simulations, secret places, secret infrastructure, imagined places, dreamscapes, movie sets and props, evasions, camouflage, studio backlots, miniatures.

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