Charles and Ray Eames completed their house and studio in Pacific Palisades, California, in 1949. Known as Case Study House No. 8, the project belonged to the housing program launched by Arts & Architecture magazine. Its purpose combined the possibilities of industrial construction with the everyday requirements of a working household.
An earlier proposal, developed with Eero Saarinen, placed a steel-framed house across the meadow. Delays in obtaining materials gave the Eameses time to reconsider the site. They rearranged the available components, adding one steel beam, and placed the residence and studio against the hillside behind the eucalyptus trees. The meadow remained open.
The resulting buildings made a compact setting for both domestic life and creative work. The nearby studio could accommodate experiments, prototypes and film production. Books, textiles, toys and collected objects brought variety to the ordered framework. Charles and Ray moved in on Christmas Eve, 1949, and the house remained their home for the rest of their lives.
Edith Farnsworth House, Plano
