In context:

The Paul McCobb Museum is located in the Silver Lake neighborhood of Los Angeles, 90026.

We are positioned between Sunset Junction and Micheltorena Street, centered on the route between Richard Neutra’s iconic VDL house and the recently re-opened Hollyhock House by Frank Lloyd Wright in Barnsdale Park.

Design historian, Esther McCoy, wrote of the neighborhood and it’s contribution to mid-century design:

“Micheltorena is a collector’s street of small houses. It is part of the Silver Lake area facing away from the lake. On Micheltorena is Schindler’s Oliver House (1933), the first of his cubistic style; John Lautner’s own redwood house (1939) on a sliver of land, and his “Silvertop” (1957), almost the first of his large innovative houses of the period when he was turning away from redwood to concrete. Within half a square mile around Micheltorena on the west side of the lake is the richest lode of architecture in Los Angeles: nine Schindlers, an early Neutra, a Soriano, three houses by Ain, and his Avenel cooperative (1947).”

While Paul McCobb wasn’t an architect per se, his Planner Group was clearly an architectural concern. It was specifically designed around new models of home “planning” and the subsequent new ways of living that emerged in the post-war era. Planner Group specifically functions in an interior-architectural manner—designed to be arranged in an “all-around”, “open” and “living” functional format, as expressed through the lives of its inhabitants.

As such, the Paul McCobb Museum is positioned as a compliment to the rich architectural design history that resides in this singular neighborhood. In this context, it only makes sense to share a small slice of the history of furniture and living concepts that shaped the new American consciousness of the mid-century era.