All products featured on Architectural Digest are independently selected by our editors. However, when you buy something through our retail links, we may earn an affiliate commission.
When Marc Johns and Catherine Gregory began hunting for a new home in 2019, they were initially looking for something with a bit more space. As lovers of midcentury-modern homes with beautiful architecture, they stumbled across a unique listing online, and the photos alone drew them in. Upon kicking off the home-buying process, they soon discovered that the property had a storied past and great significance in the area’s Black history and culture.
“We just fell in love with it right away because it had so much character,” Marc explains. “It had a personality, and [it] just felt like a place where a lot of love went into the design and build.” After getting an overview of the home’s history from the real estate agent, Marc was inspired to research further. “I’m a big history buff, and I have accounts on ancestry.com and newspapers.com. I just started going in and looking up the original owner, trying to find as much as I could about his history. And, between all those different pieces, I outlined the story.”
The home was built in 1954 by Dr. John Robinson, the first Black doctor to ever work at the Los Angeles County General Hospital. His wife, Doris Robinson, was a writer and TV and radio personality. After they were married, Dr. Robinson promised to build her dream home, so long as they could live in West Adams, a Black neighborhood. The architect of the home remains a mystery; through oral tradition, the Robinsons passed down the information that he was a Black architect who studied under Frank Lloyd Wright, but today, the family cannot identify him. The original drawings for the home are simply signed “T.D.” Furthermore, many Black architects had to work under white architects, as white clients did not want to shake their hands or sit next to them as they drew up the plans during that time. This led to the work of Black architects, particularly those without name recognition, sometimes being listed under other names.
“I can’t even fathom the injustices and challenges Dr. Robinson faced in his career, let alone building what he did,” Marc says. “You feel the character of the home when you walk in.” One of the main things that attracted the couple to the home was the beautiful wood throughout. Their main goal upon purchasing the home was to preserve as much as they could. “We wanted to keep true to how it looked when it was actually built. It’s the same way the Robinsons envisioned it, and that has a powerful emotion behind it,” Marc adds.
Dr. Robinson passed away in 1960, but Doris lived in the home until her death in 2016. It was remodeled in 1989 by another famous Black architect, Lester Bankhead, who added the front room. The home eventually underwent an extensive renovation starting in 2017, led by Doris’ niece, Michelle Runles, who inherited the home after her death. “I had to replace the older windows because they were single panes,” Michelle recalls. “But all the sliding glass windows are original. I changed the countertops. I put up walls where there weren’t any to create more rooms, including the front bedroom, the Jack and Jill bathroom, and the small bath in the hallway.” She also raised the ceilings and added the fountain.
Saving the original woodwork was top priority for Michelle, as well as preserving the overall integrity of the home as much as possible. “That entire front area, which is what I remember growing up, is most original to the house. That’s what hasn’t changed. Everything from the desk to the built-in sofas to the sliding glass doors, that whole section is original.”
Michelle remembers the home as bursting with love and energy, as her aunt and uncle’s famous (and soon-to-be-famous) friends floated in and out. “The house was just always full of life. My Aunt Doris was always cooking,” she recalls. “I lived there for several years as a teenager, and I would come home and there would be octopus and things in the sink. She made all kinds of dishes. She was always throwing parties, and we always had a house full of people.” It was a house full of treasures; Michelle once opened a book on a whim that was signed by Maya Angelou. Another time, she found a piece of memorabilia sent to the Robinsons from Ike and Tina Turner. “Actors, celebrities, and prominent people in the community were always coming through. Attorneys, architects, you name it,” she adds.
Marc and Catherine are dedicated to preserving the history of the home. “A house is always more than just architecture,” Marc says. “It’s the stories and everything that took place in it. I think of how LA, and so many neighborhoods, had all the racial covenants. It was unreal that the Robinsons were able to build such a beautiful house as this, at that time and during that climate.”
As far as the couple’s own renovations go, they focused primarily on the electrical and plumbing, and other things needed to keep the house up to code. The house had a third driveway when they purchased it, which they had to remove in order to comply with city regulations. They refinished a ton of the wood indoors, and removed some of the concrete to add more greenery outdoors. “It’s in pretty good shape, and now it’s just honestly about the maintenance work of having a midcentury-modern house,” Marc notes. “We’re always doing some caulking, repairing, and working to keep everything up to date. That’s just part of having a really old house!”
Among the unique pieces of decor that Marc and Catherine have on display are photos of the Robinson family, a visual reminder of the home’s original owners and their inspiring stories. Michelle is touched by the knowledge that her aunt and uncle’s photos remain in the space. “As a part of the neighborhood, and as an African-American family, having something like that in our background is so beautiful,” she concludes. “The home is so historically relevant, and I’m glad that it’s in the hands of people who see and appreciate that.”
