When you have a house that is classical, symmetrical, ordered; architecturally many different styles can fit inside the geometry of the facade.

Architects knew this up until the Second World War. Old neighborhoods in Pasadena, Hancock Park, and many survivors in the West Adams, Hollywood and even Beverly Hills districts carry an eclectic and imaginative grouping of ingredients: Italian, Moroccan, Spanish, French, English, etc.

The gruesome invasion of oversized boxes without any balance, proportions or beauty is an ugly fact of life in modern Los Angeles. These atrocities pop up everywhere, and whole sections of once charming Studio City are now shoulder to shoulder, oversized, white Cape Cods or oversized white coke dealer McMansions. The last type always has a flat roof for parties that never happen and enormous rooms with egregiously visible wine galleries for sober owners, multiple flat screen TVs and no books for their Ivy League educated residents.

It’s probably fantasy to imagine that wealthy people will read this blog and see the lovely houses below and decide to build in this style in Pacific Palisades.

But maybe (in the vein of wishful thinking) the ten wealthiest Angelenos can get together and fund the construction of Neo-Classical houses in Altadena. 1,000 of these would cost $100,000,000 and would also be a welcome addition for the next 100 years.

Ok guys, how about it?

Patrick Soon-Shiong ($20.4 billion), Sean Parker ($16.9 billion), David Geffen ($14.2 billion), John Tu ($11.1 billion), Edythe Broad ($9.2 billion), Edward Roski Jr. ($8.7 billion), Steven Udvar-Hazy ($6.8 billion), Bobby Murphy ($7.9 billion), Stewart Resnick ($7.2 billion), and Evan Spiegel ($6.7 billion). (source: LA Business Journal)