His linear, glass houses embodied Hollywood cool in the swinging, mid 20th-century.  Today, they command millions on the market, attracting celebrities and design aficionados alike.  But despite his famous name and architecture street cred, the house Richard Neutra once called home is in danger of vanishing from the landscape.  The VDL Research House -- named for Dutch philanthropist Dr CH Van Der Leeuw who loaned Neutra the cash to build it – was more than a famous designer's home (design modern furniture).  It was more like Neutra's living lab, where he and son Dion (fun fact – he was named for Neutra's wife Dionne!) continued to push the envelope in their quest for clean, modernist design.

After their deaths, Neutra and son left the house to the Los Angeles-area University Cal Poly Pomona's College of Environmental Design.  Students have studied the house and the university conducted (and still conducts) receptions and tours at the site.  But now, thanks to budget cuts, the house has fallen on hard times and is in urgent need of repair – especially since the roof is on the verge of collapse.  VDL House resident director Assistant Professor Sarah Lorenzen has organized a campaign to raise $30,000 by October 1 to stave off this catastrophe, but if College can't raise the money by this early autumn deadline, this important architectural landmark may be lost.