21 years ago, we stepped into Cory and Nick’s home in the Santa Monica Mountains, which is now a Historic-Cultural Monument and a symbol of the work Cory was doing to protect their community’s history. In celebration of our 25th anniversary this year—and National Preservation Month—we’re resurfacing the story from our archive. – In 1946, four musicians returned from WWII and decided to pool their resources with the intention of buying land and building four houses with a shared pool/playground. Quickly, the group ballooned to around 500 members, each submitting a $25 entrance fee and quarterly deposits of $500 in the hopes of establishing a cooperative community. By 1947, the Mutual Housing Association was formed and 800 acres of land were divided into 350 lots. After a year of interviews with architects, a final design team was formed between architects Whitney R. Smith and A. Quincy Jones, along with engineer Edgardo Contini. By 1956, 150 houses were completed, and the site office—fr...