California style House

From the colonial cottages of New England to the villas of the Mediterranean, distinct architecture can define geographical regions. In October of 1954's annual home section, Popular Mechanics paid homage to California-style homes, an inventive and modern strain of design that was quickly spreading from the West Coast to the East.

PM turned to architects A. Quincy Jones and Frederick E. Emmons to design the "PM California House." The team, based in Southern California, had built California-style homes for celebrities Gary Cooper and Winthrop Rockefeller. According to the designers, an open-air, outdoor feeling inside the home was essential to its style. "The basic concept was to provide one room without a roof in the center of the house, " Jones said. The central courtyard was surrounded by bedrooms, common areas and garage, all of which had direct access the garden. Glass walls between the courtyard and common areas promoted the "free flow of an open plan and a feeling of spaciousness, " PM wrote.