Still the Modern buildings come down. Sometimes surreptitiously, sometimes in the clear light of day, the neighborhood or the nation awakens to find one more historic property, a distinguished building from the recent past, lying in heaps. How can we allow this callow disregard for our cultural heritage to continue?

Remarkably, human intention, not hurricanes or flood, accounts for much of the damage. During the past year, in March 2002 we lost the Maslon House by Richard Neutra. Located at the Tamarisk Country Club in Rancho Mirage, California, the house (built in 1962) represented an unfolding, mature essay from the architect’s later period, which ended with his death in 1970. Over the years, many of Neutra’s primary structures have been threatened, despite his seminal role in the development of the Modern movement in California and throughout the country.