The Lawrence and Martha Joseph Residence and Apartments, often called the Hobbit Houses, are a landmarked example of the Storybook style of architecture in

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

The informal name "Hobbit Houses" is due to their supposed resemblance to the architecture of Tolkien's

Shire Shire is a traditional term for an administrative division of land in Great Britain and some other English-speaking countries such as Australia and New Zealand. It is generally synonymous with county. It was first used in Wessex from the beginn ...

. Some of the "Fantasy Revival" architectural details include "odd-shaped windows with leaded glass, rustic stone hewn walls, a rough cut cupola, and sloping, uneven roof tiles.” The builder, Lawrence Joseph, worked for Walt Disney Studios and Lockheed aerospace company, and built the apartment complex in his spare time. An expert sailor, Joseph included nautical elements in many aspects of the interior design, including

galley A galley is a type of ship that is propelled mainly by oars. The galley is characterized by its long, slender hull, shallow draft, and low freeboard (clearance between sea and gunwale). Virtually all types of galleys had sails that could be used ...

-style kitchens and "vertical-grain boat planking ... in eccentric circles on the floors". According to one source, "The property boasts of having no door knobs and no 90 degree angles anywhere inside the homes." Rather than door knobs, "Doors open with boat latches and levers, all fashioned by Joseph. Jauntily knotted ropes serve as pulls on many of the drawers." One architectural historian working with the

Los Angeles Conservancy The Los Angeles Conservancy is a historic preservation organization in Los Angeles, California. It works to document, rescue and revitalize historic buildings, places and neighborhoods in the city. The Conservancy is the largest membership based ...

told the ''Los Angeles Times'', "It's almost like a

folk art Folk art covers all forms of visual art made in the context of folk culture. Definitions vary, but generally the objects have practical utility of some kind, rather than being exclusively decorative art, decorative. The makers of folk art a ...

environment along the lines of the

Watts Towers The Watts Towers, Towers of Simon Rodia, or ''Nuestro Pueblo'' ("our town" in Spanish) are a collection of 17 interconnected sculptural towers, architectural structures, and individual sculptural features and mosaics within the site of the artis ...

." The property consists of seven apartments spread across a former single-family residence and two additional two-unit buildings constructed by Joseph. In 2014, ''The Washington Post'' reported on a rental listing for a place in the original building: After Joseph died in 1991, Martha became the sole owner of the property until she died in 2004; Martha "donated an

easement An easement is a nonpossessory right to use and/or enter onto the real property of another without possessing it. It is "best typified in the right of way which one landowner, A, may enjoy over the land of another, B". An easement is a propert ...

on the complex to the Los Angeles Conservancy" to keep the property intact.

External links

The Hobbit House in Culver City

References

{{reflist Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monuments Residential buildings in Los Angeles