3733 Oakfield Dr
Sherman Oaks, CA 91423, USA

Platform Houses

Oakfield Drive in Sherman Oaks contains seventeen unusual Mid-Century Modern homes known as the Platform Houses, for obvious reasons: they are built on massive platforms that cantilever out over the edge of a steep slope, looking down onto the valley below.

These houses were originally designed by seminal architect Richard Neutra for the Stone-Fisher development company, and they are sometimes known as the Stone-Fisher Speculative Houses. After disagreements between Neutra and the developer, he withdrew from the project and architect William S. Beckett finished the buildings’ designs and oversaw their construction.

Completed between 1962 and 1966, these houses look like typical Mid-Century Modern buildings from the street side, with overhanging flat roofs, stucco and wood cladding, and simple window openings. But the view from the side or across Beverly Glen Canyon reveals the majority of each building seems to float in the air, supported by tall, narrow metal posts that seem far too insubstantial to do the work they are so easily doing.

The designs do not seem to be identical (or else some houses have experienced more alterations than others), but they all share basic similarities: a one-story height, simple rectangular plan, horizontal emphasis, and large expanses of windows. The buildings all feature a long balcony stretching the full width of the rear façade, all the better to provide views for the brave and nightmares for those with a fear of heights.

Photo by Hernan Hernandez

Job 3848: Stone-Fisher Platform Houses (Los Angeles, Calif.), 1965

Job 3848: Stone-Fisher Platform Houses (Los Angeles, Calif.), 1965

Photos by Julius Shulman, 1910-2009, was an active architectural photographer from 1936 until 1986. Representing his career, the archive documents the modern movement in architecture spanning several decades and serves as a historical record of the Southern California landscape. Shulman's prolific career has helped to promote and broaden the knowledge of modern architecture by the thoughtful manner in which he conveyed architectural design.

The Stone/Fisher Platform House

Richard Neutra claimed the invention of the ‘Platform House’ for Stone/Fisher Developers to avoid severe grading of hillside sites. This later variant, with enhanced steel supports, was designed by Architect William Beckett. Unfairly maligned, this practical solution to hillside building continues to afford privacy, classic post & beam design & spectacular views across Beverly Hills to the Ocean. Includes open plan living/dining areas with fireplace, wide view deck, 2 bedrooms & 1.75 baths.