Kesling Modern Structures: Popularizing Modern Design in Southern California, 1934-1962

Practically unknown today, William Kesling and his design/build firm, Kesling Modern Structures, played an important role in the development and acceptance of modern architecture in Southern California. For one year, beginning in November 1935, William Kesling was by far Los Angeles's most prolific and successful practitioner of Streamline Moderne design, breaking ground on more than 20 projects. His better-known peers, Schindler, Neutra, and other modernists could not so easily desert the principles of economy and austerity. The unschooled Kesling was not bound by such dogma but nevertheless was driven by the noble goal of bringing high-quality modern design within easy reach of the everyday home-buying public. Today his houses and small-apartment buildings are considered collectors items for Los Angeles's cognoscenti and while many have been ruthlessly remodelled, many others are being carefully restored to their original elegance. This is an exploration of Kesling's work. Kesling was one of Julius Shulman's first clients, and the images in this volume were taken with Shulman's first vest-pocket camera.