12450 Rochedale

A. Quincy Jones & Whitney R. Smith, Architects
The Morris & Lydia Gelb House, 1950
Rehabilitation by Bruce Norelius, AIA, Architect, 2014
City of Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument No. 1332

Set within the utopian experiment of Crestwood Hills, the Gelb House is a rare, highly intact example of A. Quincy Jones’ Mutual Housing Association vision—where architecture was not a luxury, but a disciplined framework for living.

Completed in 1950, the house embodies a rigor that feels increasingly scarce. The post-and-beam structure is expressed with clarity—Douglas fir framing, concrete block, and redwood working together without ornament or redundancy. Every decision is economical, never compromised.

Sited into the hillside, the plan unfolds with quiet logic: private rooms at one end, living spaces opening outward, and structure doing the work of both enclosure and expression. A concrete block fireplace anchors the interior, while skylights along the ridge beam draw light deep into the plan.

Owned by the original family for decades, the house remained largely untouched—preserving the intent of the MHA experiment, a community that reimagined postwar housing as cooperative, modern, and connected to landscape.

The restoration by Bruce Norelius Studio approaches the house with restraint. Systems have been updated and key spaces—kitchen and baths—reworked with a sympathetic material palette, while the original structure remains intact. Interventions are legible and deliberately quiet—a careful continuation.

On a large corner lot surrounded by mature trees, the flat pad offers potential for expansion, with room for a pool or additional living space. In a market where “mid-century” is often diluted, the Gelb House stands apart as the real thing.

Photography © Tim Street-Porter