aesthetically while also becoming more spatially refined and sophisticated. The essence of his buildings became this simple, refined sophistication, combined with the quality and integrity of their construction.  The location, the natural setting and the views around the building also became as important as the building itself.  Never again did Van Bergen site a new building arbitrarily.  Each had to be placed into the landscape and be constructed of materials and color and texture that complemented the particular topography, geology and flora of a specific location.  These new houses were all low one story buildings, most with flat "ponded" roofs with no eaves.  Besides being an aesthetic consideration, the ponded roofs were a technological consideration as well.  They could be flooded in the summertime and the evaporation of water from the rooftop would cause cooling of the structure.  This was a modest yet efficient form of cooling the home in the summertime.  Combined with regular air conditioning, this could cut costs considerably.

denly, architects were again out of work.  The story of the Van Bergen's lives was little different than most other American families during this time.  Suddenly, John Van Bergen was only barely able to survive, and only then because his good reputation brought him a few of the scraps of work that were still available.  Never again, after the 1920s, would Van Bergen have the volume of new commissions that he had previously enjoyed. 
Through the 1930's and the early 1940's, Van Bergen's career was on a slow boil, although he created some wonderful new designs.  But so many things in home building had changed.  Thus, architects had to change too.  During this period, Van Bergen began to experiment with new ideas about building homes.  As his old admired friend and former employer, Frank Lloyd Wright, was pursuing what he called his "Usonian" vision, and his "Natural House", Van Bergen was inspired to create his own versions of those ideals.  But his would be practical, would be well built and would reflect the wishes of the client as well as the ideals of the architect.  Van Bergen's philosophy never changed. 
What did change in the mid 1940's was that his designs became more simplified