Restoring a Richard Neutra Designed Home

Famed architect Richard Neutra designed and built 4 homes in San Diego. This residence near San Diego State was built in 1960 and is a beautiful mix of white stucco, floor to ceiling glass and natural redwood. Neutra worked with Frank Lloyd Wright and Rudolf Schindler early in his career. Neutra became known for spare and open structures that took advantage of the moderate west coast climate.

A previous owner had put many coats of varnish over the exterior wood that was originally specified by the architect to be simply oiled. The hard glossy varnish gave the house a “Brassy” look and was blistering, de-laminating and peeling everywhere. The home had lost its organic look.
Our stripping and sanding this beautiful wood was quite a task but my oh my what a pleasure it was to put fresh, penetrating oil on that wood…there is nothing more beautiful than clear heart, tight grained redwood!

This gorgeous structure took a lot of elbow grease  but it was a labor of love….I even have a portrait of the completed guest house in my office! We used various products: Amteco TWP 1501, Sikkens Cetol Marine and Festool vacuum attached sanders to keep sanding dust at a minimum and get this pristine result. The owner was so pleased that we were commissioned to refinish the interior as well.