Park Moderne, Calabasas

Larry and I headed out to the hills of Calabasas on our day off yesterday. We had a double mission. First, to see the fountain at Park Moderne; second to visit Blinky. Blinky's story will be told tomorrow.

In 1931 art dealer and lover of modernist architecture, William Lingenbrink founded a small artist's colony in Calabasas. He wanted the artists who supplied his art gallery to have a natural environment escape from the City where they could be free and create. The lots cost just under $600 each. Most of the modest cottages were designed by Jock Peters and a few by his mentor, Rudolph Schindler.

A few of the now demolished cottages at Park Moderne

Besides designing the modernist cottages, Jock Peters also designed the fountain which is about the only structure that remains from the 1930s in Park Moderne. 

We parked at the bottom of the hill and ascended the Bird Path to see the fountain.

All of the streets in this area have bird names

The path was steep and narrow, running between two homes. Once we made it to the top we were rewarded with an Art Deco fountain that has supposedly been restored, but could use a bit more work, designed by Jock Peters.

The cement was stained different colors. There was this interesting art glass in a portion of the piece. I'm sure when the fountain was operable with water flowing, it was quite a striking piece.

The art glass embedded in the cement resembles water

Sadly, all of the modernist structures are gone, replaced by newer, large homes. It is still a lovely, wooded area where birds and wild life abound. At the bottom of the hill on Hummingbird Way, there was a particularly intense wrought iron fence depicting the hummingbirds!

The Hummingbird fence on Hummingbird Way, Calabasas