Richard Neutra's Miller House

"In 1936, St. Louis socialite Grace Lewis Miller commissioned internationally acclaimed architect Richard Neutra to design a winter house in the burgeoning heart of Palm Springs, California. The therapeutic value of modern architecture espoused by Neutra - already evident in his V.D.L. Research House and Lovell Demonstration Health House - appealed to Miller, an instructor of the posture-improving Mensendieck System of Functional Exercise. Miller wanted an open, light-filled house that would also accommodate a studio for her avant-garde practicce. This unique program, combined with the incredible beauty of a desert site, attracted Neutra to the small but important project. In 1937, the architect and his sophisticated client produced a masterwork of forward-thinking and artful architecture." "Author Stephen Leet traces the project for the Miller House from conception to realization, illuminating how the Mensendieck System and its staunch advocate influenced its development. He examines the complex relationship between architect and client as detailed in the extensive and impassioned correspondence exchanged by Neutra and Miller. In addition, sketches and drawings by the architect along with period photographs taken by Julius Shulman provide insight into the Miller House, revealing the way in which client and designer, site and program, the desert landscape and the newly emerging culture of health and fitness all intersected in a moment of the architectural sublime."--BOOK JACKET.