NYT does famous Los Angeles houses

Janelle Brown talks to occupants about what it's like living in Case Study homes or the classic Victorians on Carroll Avenue, given all the tours and tourists that come by.

Los Angeles may lack the most monumental trappings of important urban architecture — iconic skyscrapers and monolithic public buildings — but what it does have, in abundance, are houses. From the Victorians and Craftsmen built during the early days of the city's sprawl, to the influential modernist landmarks, whose architects — Neutra, Schindler, Lautner, Koenig — did much of their most famous work in Los Angeles, there is something here for nearly any architecture aficionado to ogle, or (even better) to own.

Although "own" is not really an accurate word. People who have bought these important houses tend to agree: One doesn't really live in a famous house; one "curates" it, or "caretakes." One isn't an owner; one is a "docent" or "steward." That house is, in a nutshell, a museum. And that means putting up with the endless streams of design students, history buffs and (in a city where famous homes often double as sets) movie fans, who peek in windows and knock on doors and snap photos; with the architecture societies and museums, who plead for tours; and with the hawk-eyed preservationists, who frown upon any renovations that might undermine the integrity of what they consider a landmark.

Move into a famous house, and the first thing to go is privacy.

Most looky-loos stay out on the street, but visitors from far away—Israel, Sweden, Germany, Japan—will often knock on the door. Works sometimes: "I invite people in all the time," said Toby Horn, a retired hospital administrator who owns a graceful brick house by Paul Williams.

Via Echo Park.net