Today Architectural Digest visits a masterful example of Ken Kellogg's organic architecture nestled in the mountains northeast of San Diego, California, The Bailey House.
© J. Paul Getty Trust. Getty Research Institute, Los Angeles (2004.R.10)
© J. Paul Getty Trust. Getty Research Institute, Los Angeles (2004.R.10)
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LifestyleTranscript
00:00I think you can apply the word genius.
00:11I think anyone that looks at the different spaces that Ken has created
00:15sees that they are wonderful, incredible spaces,
00:18but he also understood people and how they move in a space
00:22and what stimulates them and what can add to their life
00:26from their experience with nature.
00:30These ideas welled up within him.
00:33They were an intuitive response to the opportunities that he had,
00:38to the land and the water and the air.
00:43My name is Dave Hampton.
00:45I'm a local San Diegan,
00:48and I'm an author of a book called San Diego's Craft Revolution
00:52and an independent curator.
01:00Dr. and Mrs. Joe Bailey are responsible for the Bailey House,
01:04which is northeast of San Diego in the sort of back country.
01:09He bought raw land in 1972.
01:14Eventually, he and Barbara Bailey together decided to work with Ken Kellogg.
01:20Ken had a lot of appeal because he's one of the few native-born San Diegans
01:28to develop a practice here that was informed by mid-century modern ideas.
01:36Ken also had a handcraft element to his work
01:40and a sculptural element to his work.
01:43Ken Kellogg's architecture had a kind of a roughness
01:48and a kind of a sun and surf sensibility
01:51that there was something about his growing up next to the Pacific Ocean,
01:55but also having the mountains just 10 or 20 minutes away
01:59that helped him to come up with his own signature organic architecture.
02:03So Steve Bailey and I are at the front door of his family home,
02:13the Bailey House,
02:14and the door is an important feature of the artist John Vugren.
02:20John Vugren also worked with Ken on the Kellogg-Doolittle house.
02:25It's on a pin system. It's a custom door.
02:27A locksmith guy just came out to help us with stuff two weeks ago,
02:30and he was like, this is all commercial hardware. It's super rare.
02:33And you can see how the door is built out sculpturally,
02:39so it's dimensional with this curve,
02:41and it's built using laminated individual strips of wood.
02:47The client started out wanting a functional ranch house
02:51that the owner could build himself with their ranch hands.
02:55But what Ken is inspired to come up with
03:01is a really wild, wonderful, complicated design.
03:08Mr. Bailey apparently took this on as a challenge
03:11and built the house himself
03:13with helpers, with ranch hands,
03:16and a number of different carpenters,
03:18most of whom were referred by Ken.
03:21And they do Ken's designs perfectly,
03:24but the house took a really long time to build.
03:28The rock, when you see the rock work in this house,
03:32it's just amazing.
03:34And it was quarried on the site
03:36from down below this hilltop.
03:41I think my dad spent a lot of time
03:43running the cement mixer for this
03:45because he said he lost a lot of his hearing.
03:48It's like layer by layer, stack by stack,
03:50of all these rocks.
03:53Just inside the front door
03:55is a key kind of junction of the whole house
03:59where its two wings meet up.
04:02There's a gap between them that you walk into.
04:06One side has a bedroom.
04:08The other side has the living areas,
04:10the kitchen and the living room
04:12and the fireplace and so forth.
04:17What I see a lot in the Bailey house
04:20is a maturation
04:22and a kind of a controlling
04:24of this language
04:26that Ken had developed
04:27in many, many other houses.
04:29So he's got the circular spaces,
04:32he's got the stonework,
04:34he's got the dramatic dynamic curves
04:36of the roof and the balconies,
04:38he's got all the glass,
04:39he's got all these handmade elements.
04:45One of the qualities
04:46of Kellogg's version
04:48of organic architecture
04:50is a deliberate blurring
04:52of the conventional division
04:54between the exterior
04:56and the interior.
04:57And so the idea
04:58that you have your finished
05:00interior cabinetry
05:01penetrating the exterior space
05:04is unusual
05:05and blurs that distinction
05:07between interior and exterior.
05:09But it's a little bit of a struggle
05:11because part of it's outside
05:12and getting hit by the elements.
05:15It is very difficult
05:16to maintain outside.
05:18It gets slammed by rain,
05:19wind, heat.
05:21We sand and restain it
05:22at least every year.
05:25A couple of things
05:27about the kitchen
05:28that I think are noteworthy
05:29are that it's really
05:30the center point
05:31for all of the structure
05:33of the house
05:34that you see.
05:35And here is where
05:36all these massive laminated beams
05:39supported on the utility poles,
05:41they all come together
05:42in this space.
05:44If you're out in this room,
05:46all these points above you
05:48lead you here.
05:49And then it's echoed
05:50by the built-in table.
05:53Other feature
05:54that comes to mind
05:55with this kitchen
05:56is the skylight.
05:57It's pretty rad.
05:58My brother and I
05:59rode our skateboards
06:00in this thing
06:01when it was standing up
06:02vertically and delivered
06:03out on the garage.
06:04That was a cool memory
06:05that I have of the house.
06:06Definitely.
06:08As the more clean look
06:11of woodworking
06:12that we associate
06:13with the 40s and 50s
06:15in modern furniture design
06:16evolved,
06:18they started to talk
06:20about something called
06:21the California Roundover
06:22where cabinets
06:24and pieces of furniture
06:26had a kind of a curve.
06:28But here it's put
06:29into the kitchen,
06:30into a more utilitarian environment
06:32and it's floated
06:34off the ground.
06:35So everything has space
06:37around it.
06:38so they become
06:39these discreet,
06:40three-dimensional,
06:41very sculptural elements.
06:49There's this idea
06:51that's associated
06:52with Frank Lloyd Wright,
06:53the idea of a big,
06:55hardy fireplace
06:56being the center
06:57of the home.
06:59And what you see
07:00from Ken throughout
07:01his career
07:02is a development
07:04of this fireplace
07:05as a key attraction
07:07and sculptural element,
07:09a kind of a focal point
07:10of the living room.
07:12But he's also highlighting
07:15the sculptural form.
07:17There are gaps
07:18all around the shape
07:19of the fireplace
07:20so that it's
07:20completely freestanding.
07:23The glass pierces the rock
07:25and the fireplace
07:27goes outside and inside
07:29at the same time
07:31and it has these
07:32wonderful floating
07:33hearth
07:34of cast concrete.
07:36It's a way
07:37of distinguishing
07:38one material,
07:40one surface,
07:40from another.
07:41So this big mass
07:43that you see
07:44with this geometry
07:45to it
07:46in plan view
07:47continues down
07:49into the floor
07:50beneath us
07:51creating these
07:52warm walls
07:53for two bedrooms
07:55downstairs.
07:59The house
08:00is really
08:01integrated
08:01to the mountaintop site.
08:03Part of it
08:04is subterranean
08:05and it's down
08:05in the earth itself
08:07and so it's
08:08a perfect example
08:09of a house
08:09that grows
08:10of the hill.
08:12You also feel,
08:13at least I feel
08:14a little bit,
08:15like I'm looking
08:16out the opening
08:17of a cave.
08:19So even though
08:19the glass
08:20and the windows
08:20are high,
08:21he also does
08:22this thing
08:23of creating
08:24a line
08:25that gives you
08:28a sense
08:28of a lowering
08:29of the space.
08:30He's really
08:31called attention
08:32to it
08:32with giving it
08:33a different stain,
08:34a contrasting stain.
08:36This is such a cliche
08:38but it is like
08:39being inside
08:40a sculpture.
08:43This is the
08:45primary bedroom.
08:48This wing
08:49has a lot
08:50of same elements
08:51that the other wing
08:52does.
08:53It has its own
08:54fireplace
08:54but also
08:55it has the same
08:57sort of gap
08:58in the ceiling
08:59that leads
09:00your eye
09:01to the central
09:02skylight
09:03or oculus
09:04and beneath
09:06the skylight
09:07is another
09:07round enclosure
09:09where there's
09:09a dressing area,
09:11closets,
09:12bathroom,
09:13etc.
09:13The headboard
09:14and the built-in
09:15night tables
09:16and shelving
09:17is something
09:18that shows
09:19Ken's preference
09:21for woodworkers
09:22to be able
09:23to design
09:23these very
09:24aesthetically
09:25pleasing elements.
09:27He talked
09:28about a kind
09:29of an honesty
09:30in use
09:30of materials
09:31and so
09:32here he's
09:33showing you
09:33exactly how
09:34it's constructed
09:35and taking
09:36the construction
09:37process
09:38and the structure
09:39itself,
09:39all the elements
09:40and going
09:41this is an element
09:42that I want you
09:43to see
09:43of how everything
09:44is put together
09:45and wherever
09:46you see them
09:47they create
09:48a kind of
09:48visual rhythm
09:49that creates
09:50another part
09:50of the visual
09:51experience.
09:53Ken really
09:54thought that
09:54people should
09:55use glass
09:56in a much
09:57more free way
09:58and I think
10:00that Ken
10:01would use
10:01the glass
10:02in a joyful
10:04way to create
10:05a lively
10:06momentum
10:07and visual
10:08lines
10:09but it also
10:10served to
10:11separate
10:11every single
10:12structural element
10:13that you see
10:14and you get
10:15this fascination
10:17with the
10:18free
10:19interpenetration
10:20of interior
10:21and exterior
10:22space
10:22that the
10:23glass allows
10:23for.
10:32We've got
10:33the circular
10:33patterns
10:34all around
10:35and most
10:37obviously
10:38the mirror
10:38with this
10:40killer lighting
10:41above it.
10:43When you walk
10:43in and you
10:44shift around
10:45it does kind
10:46of an optical
10:46interesting play
10:48where there's
10:48another door
10:49door and
10:50it's like
10:51is it all
10:51cabinets?
10:52Is it a
10:52one-way
10:52entrance?
10:53No, it's
10:53two.
10:54It's kind
10:55of neat.
10:55This relates
10:57to the bathroom
10:58design in the
10:59Doolittle
10:59house where
11:01John Vogrin
11:02did a very
11:02elaborate
11:03version of
11:04this very
11:05same central
11:06structure.
11:07One of the
11:07kind of neat
11:08things about
11:09Kellogg is that
11:10although he
11:11really cherished
11:12this idea of
11:13taking every
11:14client, every
11:15job, every
11:15site and
11:16allowing it
11:17to dictate
11:18a brand
11:19new approach,
11:20he still
11:20had a sort
11:21of familiar
11:22bag of
11:23tricks that
11:23he would
11:24pull out.
11:29These shapes,
11:31these buildings
11:32that he created,
11:33so distinctive,
11:35so wonderful.
11:37If he was
11:38taking in the
11:39information of
11:40what other
11:41architects built,
11:42he took it in
11:43at a kind of
11:43peripheral level
11:44and he mixed
11:45it up and
11:46he created
11:47something super
11:48unique and
11:49wonderful.
11:50That's how I
11:51think he was
11:51a true artist
11:52because that
11:53stuff seemed
11:54to have come
11:54intuitively.