Case-Study Architect Rodney Walker’s Asher House

Freshly Listed Mid-Century Modern Homes Across the U.S.A 🇺🇸

Aug 31, 2026

Rodney Walker (1910–1986) was a California modernist architect and designer-builder, best known for his residential work in Southern California. Born in Salt Lake City, Utah, Walker studied engineering at Pasadena City College before attending UCLA, where he graduated with a degree in art. In 1938, he worked briefly as a draftsman in the office of early modernist master, Rudolph Schindler.

Walker began designing and building houses independently in the late 1930s. He was unusual among architects of the period in frequently acting as both designer and builder, allowing him to maintain a unique level of control over construction and costs.

Mid2Mod: Rodney Walker — **Rodney Walker (1910–1986)** was a California modernist architect and designer-builder.

Walker contributed three houses to the Arts & Architecture Case Study House program: Case Study House #16, #17, and #18. Case Study House #16 was eventually torn down and later duplicated by his Son, a story for another day. While never famous, Walker’s work was well appreciated and regularly photographed by Julius Shulman and published in a variety of architectural and popular home magazines. Over the course of his career, Walker designed and built over 75 homes in Southern California.

Walker moved to Ojai in the mid-1950s, where he continued designing and building houses. He later left residential design and operated the Oaks Hotel in Ojai, as well as a shop where he sold jewelry he made himself. He died in Ojai in 1986.

One of the Walkers most notable projects, the Asher House (1949) is for sale now.

From the listing: “Located just 1 block from Mulholland Drive. The Asher Residence by Rodney Walker is considered one of his greatest works and an extraordinary and historic example of early midcentury Los Angeles architecture. Rodney Walker, AIA, who contributed three influential projects to the Case Study House program, was commissioned by the Asher family to develop this property which was completed in 1949. It stands as an exquisitely composed study in redwood, glass, and post-and-beam structure, capturing the essence of indoor/outdoor California living.

The residence is set high above Beverly Glen on a quiet ridge a is a true sanctuary that explores the methodology of light as architecture. Every room is composed to draw the landscape and views inward, allowing the outdoors to become a living extension of the interior. Glass walls, shifting shadows, and open volumes transform movement through the home. Many elements are experimental for their time, including a modular concept that allows the expansive living spaces to be easily reconfigured, enabling the home to shift from four to five bedrooms if needed. Upon completion, the house was photographed by Julius Shulman, affirming its place as a significant statement of modernist design. Set high atop the Santa Monica Mountains, the property sits on a private lane between Mulholland Drive and Beverly Glen, on the border of Sherman Oaks and Bel Air.

Its position affords inspiring 180degree jetliner views of the San Fernando Valley and the San Gabriel Mountains, with sunlight tracing the home from sunrise to sunset. The 0.58acre site is exceptional: a rare large usable lot in the hills with a lawn that wraps two sides of the structure, framed by pockets of architectural desert planting and mature avocado, walnut, pomegranate, magnolia, and olive trees that create a lush, tropical environment. The scale and layout of the home, combined with its generous outdoor spaces, make it clear that this is a property designed for family, guests, and effortless entertaining.

Thoughtfully restored and sensitively updated, the Asher Residence remains a rare, intact expression of Walker's architectural philosophy, a place where structure and nature are held in perfect balance within a work of art shaped by one of California's most influential modernists.”