Completed in 1941, the Kelton Apartments has been noted for its architectural excellence since its completion. Architect Richard Neutra’s mastery is exhibited here in a building type rarely seen in his work, that of a small multi-residential apartment building. While retaining some key character-defining features of the International Style, the Kelton Apartments embodies a more relaxed, regionally responsive composition. It features a more woodsy palette and a “breaking of the box” approach seen in extended terraces and roof overhangs that allow for fuller engagement with nature. Fully exploiting a challenging sloping site, the three-unit design appears to be a single-family residence. While modest in square footage, Neutra’s principles ensure that each unit feels expansive, bright, and flexible.

Richard Joseph Neutra (1892 – 1970) is regarded as one of the most influential architects of the 20th century. Born in Vienna, Austria, he studied at the Vienna Technical Institute (now the Technical University, Vienna).

Neutra immigrated to America in 1923. After living and working a short while in New York he was hired as a draftsman for the Chicago firm, Holabird and Roche, where he mastered new steel skyscraper framing techniques. Neutra and his wife Dione continued west and worked for Wright in his atelier, Taliesin, in Spring Green, Wisconsin, in late 1924. They then moved to Los Angeles in 1925 and made the city their permanent home.

Neutra’s international fame was established by the Lovell Health House, which was one of the few West Coast designs included in the iconic “International Exhibition of Modern Architecture” held at the Museum of Modern Art, New York, in 1932. He went on to build hundreds of homes, including tract developments, military housing, and private residences, primarily in Southern California.

The Los Angeles Conservancy has held an easement on Kelton Apartments since 2022.