Episode 19: Almost Utopia

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What happens to a utopia that never got off the ground? Bits and pieces of one, an experiment in postwar living for the masses, are hiding in plain sight in the hills above Sunset Boulevard. Architect and author Cory Buckner talks about Crestwood Hills, a Modernist vision for a cooperative future that never quite arrived.

MUSIC:

• “Melange,” by Podington Bear
• “Ac-Cent-Tchu-Ate The Positive,” by Johnny Mercer
• “Bargains Galore,” by Stuart/Crombie/Dennis Barry
• “Solan,” by Podington Bear
• “Pink Gradient,” by Podington Bear

Thanks to Cory Buckner, whose excellent book on Crestwood Hills is available here.

Video: The Siegel family moves into their brand-new Crestwood Hills home in 1950.

Groundbreaking, October 1947 (Courtesy Cory Buckner)

Buckner House (formerly MHA site office): Photo by John Dooley