El Pueblo Ribera
La Jolla, California

Architect: Rudolph M. Schindler

Photography: Matt Walla

Austrian-American modernist architect Rudolph M. Schindler designed El Pueblo Ribera Court in 1923 as a vacation settlement above Windansea Beach in La Jolla, San Diego. It is Schindler’s only work in San Diego and was designated San Diego Historical Landmark No. 117 in 1977. The complex repeats a single U-shaped unit twelve times, arranged so each has a private garden court off the living room and a roof terrace above.

The walls were built with Schindler’s experimental “slab-cast” concrete method, poured in horizontal courses using movable wooden forms, and paired with redwood, glass, and sliding doors that open the interiors to the gardens and ocean air. El Pueblo Ribera is an early example of the indoor-outdoor living that came to define Southern California modernism.

Architectural photographer Matt Walla photographed one of the units following its restoration, which received a 2014 People in Preservation award from Save Our Heritage Organisation (SOHO). The images document Schindler’s concrete construction, warm redwood interiors, and a plan built around outdoor living by the Pacific.

Wooden gate marked 248 opening to a lush courtyard with tropical plants and a modern concrete home
Modern living room with a green cushioned sofa, wood storage cabinet, fireplace, and large wood-framed windows.
Modern open-plan living room with exposed wooden beams, redwood-framed windows, built-in shelving, and a beige sofa
Interior view of a wooden hallway with multiple paneled doors and exposed dark wood ceiling beams
Mid-century modern interior with a green plaster wall, exposed wood ceiling, open wooden doors, built-in shelving, and a vertical wall sconce.
Rustic home interior with exposed wooden ceiling beams, wood cabinetry, concrete countertops, and large windows
Midcentury modern interior with exposed wood ceiling beams, glass doors opening to a lush garden, and a large concrete fireplace.
Modern stucco house with open wooden doors, a covered patio, tropical palm trees, and a sunny lawn
Open wooden glass door beside sunlit stone stairs
Sunlit courtyard with tropical plants, stucco walls, wooden pergola, outdoor shower, and glass-paneled door
El Pueblo Ribera historic landmark plaque, No. 17, on a vine-covered wooden building in San Diego