Hodgkins and Skubic House

Jean Louise Hodgkins (October 29, 1914 – August 7, 1987) and Vera B. Skubic (January 7, 1921 – July 23, 1998) built two houses in Isla Vista, California on Del Playa Drive that were historic evidence of the mid-20th century International Style presented by architect Richard B. Taylor from South Carolina. A third house next door, also designed by Taylor, is also part of this small collection of International Style houses.

The first house, The Sunset House, built in 1957, was demolished in 2013, while the second house, the Hodgkins and Skubic House, built in 1967, is still standing. The houses, with a third one built next door, were featured in the book Santa Barbara Architecture, from Spanish Colonial to Modern which was published in 1975; of the surviving house, the book says: "A simple and effective statement using common materials of redwood, block, and glass in its construction."^[1]

Another book was published in 1977 coauthored by David Gebhard, a professor and architectural historian. The book was a guide to architecture in Los Angeles and Southern California, and in the book, the three houses built in Del Playa by Richard Taylor were described as "the only objects of note" architecturally in the area.^[2]

The third house is the Sweeney and Lee House (1968). Beatrice Marcy Sweeney and Paul Hartmann Lee were professors at UCSB in marine biology and physics, and "they helped Marvin Mudrick found the College of Creative Studies at UCSB."^[3]