A bonanza for modern architecture buffs, Silver Lake's Micheltorena Street boasts houses designed by John Lautner, Rudolph Schindler, Harwell Hamilton Harris, Robert Farquhar, and Gregory Ain, whose work can be seen at at least three sites along the winding street, including this one at 1856 that has just hit the market. Completed in 1939 for $4,900, the modest residence was commissioned by newspaperwoman Urcel Daniel.
According to Edward Alwood's book Dark Days in the Newsroom: McCarthyism Aimed at the Press, Daniel was a reporter for the Los Angeles Examiner who later became research director of the Los Angeles Newspaper Guild. A member of the Communist Party for several years, Daniel became disillusioned with the group and dropped out, eventually serving as witness before the House Un-American Activities Committee in the early 1950s and supplying the names of 19 Party members as part of her testimony.
Now, if only the listing was as obliging with information. Unfortunately, no interior photos are provided and there's not a heck of a lot to be gleaned from the copy beyond the facts that the two-level house contains two bedrooms, one bath, a "dining area," and an office within its 992 square feet, along with a resident tenant who is not to be disturbed. Occupying a 7,668-square-foot hillside lot with lovely Silver Lake Reservoir views, the property is asking $849,000.
· 1856 MICHELTORENA St [Redfin]
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