When Kali Nikitas and Richard Shelton began renovating a neglected Rudolph Schindler home in Inglewood, California, about 13 years ago, they didn’t realize they were starting what would become a small community.

The couple’s 1,000-square-foot, 1937 house was one of three flat-roofed, mass-producible structures the architect designed for a then largely undeveloped block. Two of the houses, including Kali and Richard’s, sit side by side. The third one is a lot away. They all showcased Schindler’s cost-effective post-and-panel, four-foot-module building systems.

The two-bedroom stucco dwellings had large-seeming L-shaped volumes, built-in furniture, and details Schindler finessed almost a century ago. The utilitarian kitchens and bathrooms were purposely made small, while the open-plan indoor/outdoor spaces were both larger and left undefined, to allow for the myriad uses and “cultural possibilities” Schindler anticipated in such a home, where families would congregate and socialize in ways unbound by traditional room divisions.

“The houses were meant to be lived in by the average person. No one expects grandeur. People appreciate the details.”
—Kali Nikitas, resident

Kali and Richard, who work at the Otis College of Art and Design, settled into the neighborhood as they gradually renovated their home. They found it to be a tight-knit community that loves the Fourth of July, Halloween, and other festive holidays and where “everyone knows everyone’s names,” Kali says. Soon, their house with glass doors that open to a deep backyard became the hub of community fundraisers and artful dinners.

At one such dinner in 2009, writer Nancy Griffin arrived with her husband, architect Steven Ehrlich, who, without being told, sensed Schindler’s presence. To his great delight, the hosts revealed that their house was indeed by the architect, and the uninhabited Schindler next door was in probate. “We all snuck in for a look that same evening,” Richard says. Despite the building’s poor condition, Ehrlich proffered his winning bid the next day.

Ehrlich gutted the house. He removed makeshift awnings and banished flowered wallpaper, but he saved old wood doors and windows, adding safety glass. After the renovation, Ehrlich sold the house to his daughter, fashion designer Onna Ehrlich-Bell, and her husband, industrial designer Joel Bell, who also teaches at Otis. They now live there with their 11-year-old son.

But Ehrlich wasn’t done. In 2017, when he heard through the others that the third Schindler house was for sale, he successfully bid again. Shortly after, matchmakers Kali and Richard had another party. They included Silas Munro, a newly minted graphic design assistant professor at Otis, and his soon-to-be husband, Bill Hildebrand, then the regional director for Knoll in Miami.

During dinner, Ehrlich offered these kindred spirits his Schindler if they wanted to rent it. When they said yes, Ehrlich fixed that one up too, eliminating dropped ceilings and sprayed-on “popcorn” sound insulation but saving an original 1930s diamond-shaped shower/tub pan.

“We’ve all become good friends, and we think Schindler would also have liked this sort of communal living. It was meant to be.”
—Steven Ehrlich, architect

The three families have realized a contemporary version of Schindler’s vision of the social possibilities in clusters of modular homes (their neighbors with a peaked roof are also part of the fold). While walking their dogs, Silas and Bill often pause at the Bells’ to swap homegrown greens from their gardens. If ringleaders Richard and Kali are leaning out of their window, they chat, “and sometimes Kali comes over for tea,” Bill says.

“We are so lucky this happened,” Kali adds. “We get to live in all three homes.”

One Piece at a Time

The history of a set of Schindlers

1937–1938: Architect Rudolph Schindler designs three flat-roofed, post-and-panel spec houses in Inglewood, California.
2007: While house-hunting, Kali Nikitas and Richard Shelton chance upon one of the Schindlers for sale and buy it.
2007–2009: Kali and Richard restore their home.
2009: A 1938 Schindler next door to Kali and Richard’s goes into probate. They show it to L.A. architect Steven Ehrlich, who makes a winning bid the next day.
2009–2010: Ehrlich guts the interior and renovates it for his daughter, Onna, and her family.
2010: Landscape designer Stefan Hammerschmidt combines Onna’s front lawn with Kali and Richard’s front garden to form a communal xeriscape.
2011: Onna and her husband, Joel, purchase their Schindler from Ehrlich.
2017: Ehrlich learns that the last Schindler is for sale and potentially faces destruction. Anxious to save it, he buys it.
2017: Kali and Richard introduce Ehrlich and the Bells to Silas Munro and his future husband, Bill Hildebrand, who decide to rent the third house.
2020: The revived Schindler houses form the core of a community of design-minded neighbors.

Project Credits:

Architect of Record: EYRC / @eyrcarchitects

Builder: Shramek Building Company

Landscape Designer: Stefan Hammerschmidt

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