Friday, May 16, 2008 – Malibu Tile

The Adamson House, Pacific Coast Highway at Malibu Lagoon State Beach - Stiles Oliver Clements, 1929 – extensively decorated with Malibu Tile:

The lavish use of exquisite ceramic tile, produced by Malibu Potteries (1926-32), is a hallmark of the house. The use of decorative tile has always been characteristic of Spanish Colonial Revival architecture. Mrs. Rindge wisely decided to utilize the unique red and buff burning clays that existed in the Malibu area, as well as an abundant supply of water from a spring in Sweetwater Canyon, to establish the Malibu Potteries.  Beginning in 1926, a profusion of brilliant tiles flowed from this establishment to hundreds of residential and public buildings throughout Southern California.

Some examples –

Next page – 1929 Fountains

If you wish to use any of these photos for commercial purposes I assume you'll discuss that with me. And should you choose to download any of these images and use them invoking the "fair use" provisions of the Copyright Act of 1976, please provide credit, and, on the web, a link back this site.

Technical Note:

Photographs after March 3, 2008, were taken with a Nikon D200 – or a Nikon D70 when noted. All previous photographs were taken with the D70. The lenses used are (1) AF-S Nikkor 18-70 mm 1:35-4.5G ED, or (2) AF Nikkor 70-300 mm telephoto, or (3) AF-S DX Zoom-Nikkor 55-200 mm f/4-5.6G ED. Photography here is modified for web posting using Adobe Photoshop 7.0.  The earliest photography in the archives was done with a Sony Mavica digital still camera (MVC-FD-88) with built-in digital zoom.

All text and photos, unless otherwise noted, Copyright © 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010 - Alan M. Pavlik