The Most Desired Unit at the Neutra-Built Strathmore Apartments is Up For Sale

The most desired unit at Richard Neutra’s Strathmore Apartments is up for sale. (And for a Neutra it’s also surprisingly affordable.)

2 bd / 1.75 ba

$815,000

Westwood

The apartments are a collection of 8 historic units located in the rolling hills just West of the UCLA campus (go Bruins) in Westwood. Neutra originally planned this courtyard garden complex to house 4 units but then purchased the land next door and added 4 more to the complex.

This intimate enclave of four flats was owned by the Neutra family for decades. In 2008 4 units were converted to condominiums. This front facing 2 bedroom, 1-3/4 bath flat feels most like a single family home, with a separate entrance, one small portion of common wall, and full-length outdoor decks.

Neutra’s International Style design holds true to form with clean lines, lack of ornamentation, flat roofs, and wall-to-wall steel casement windows. And while the electrical, plumbing, and kitchen finishes have been compatibly redone the original hardwood floors and tile in the bathroom remain.

Each apartment within the City of Los Angeles Historic Landmark No. 351 is unique in plan, section, elevation, and retains an exceptional degree of design integrity.

The Strathmore Apartments have been enjoyed over the years by famous residents like Orson Welles, John Entenza, and Charles and Ray Eames.

Will you be the next person to enjoy this space?

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Listing courtesy of Brian Linder & William Baker – Deasy Penner

Rachel Allen-Designed Modernist Home in Echo Park Will Be Record Breaking

There is nothing like this modernist home in Echo Park and there may never be anything like it again. And I’ll bet you a double latte from Dinette this sale will be record breaking.

3 bd / 2 ba

$1,895,000

Echo Park

When the property hit the market in 2004 it had seen better days. Despite the description reading “The craftsman home needs TLC but there’s plenty of room to upgrade and restore” artist Jonathan Williams and writer Kim Pesenti saw the promise of what could be in the dilapidated structure resting on over half an acre of land.

They hired architect Rachel Allen to create what a 2009 LA Times feature describes as a rural retreat in the middle of the city.

Allen, whose work includes several residential projects, ATX Kitchen in Atwater Village, and Buzznet, explains this simple modern house “nestles into the land.”

Inside you feel suspended in the trees. Walls of windows allow views and light from every direction and a clever design feature of  laser-cut plywood mimicking leafy shadows strategically placed on the central skylight adds to the indoor-outdoor feeling.

The split-level design brilliantly maximizes space and features a large kitchen, an open living and dining space, sustainably harvested walnut and concrete floors, Heath Ceramic tile, custom built-ins throughout, and lots and lots of windows.

There are multiple outdoor areas directly off the house with pathways leading to seating areas and rock gardens, within this park like setting. And all of this is shaded by mature leafy citrus, pomegranate, yucca, pine, and eucalyptus trees plus fruitful citrus and pomegranate.

Since there’s nothing like it and there may never be anything like it again, my guess is the sales price will be a record-setting high for the neighborhood.

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Listing courtesy of Rob Kallick & Tatiana Tensen – Sotheby’s International Realty

Actress Rooney Mara’s Mid Century Modern Home in Los Feliz Hits the Market

The timing is so right. Actress Rooney Mara’s mid-century modern home in The Oaks neighborhood of Los Feliz just hit the market. And, with Mother’s Day around the corner this is a hint, kids.

2 bd / 2 ba

$3,800,000

Los Feliz

Architect Phil Brown originally built this mid-century modern home for his parents. Actress Mara Rooney purchased it a few years ago from fellow actor Alexander Skarsgård and added quite a bit of Hollywood glam to this 1963 glass and steel house.

Sited on a view filled promontory the residence retains its original open floor plan. Rooney added white terrazzo flooring that reflects light through the glass-walled public spaces including a living area with a fireplace, the dining area, and a spectacularly mint colored and expensively equipped galley style kitchen.

Not too far from the kitchen is an office (formerly used as a bedroom.)

The other two bedrooms occupy their own wing on the other side of the house. The master suite is divine. It’s generous in size, and enjoys views filtered through a lush green garden, making it a perfect space for breakfast in bed on those lazy Sunday mornings.

With endless sweeping views of the surrounding city this is your chance to own a rare combination of location, privacy, and modern architecture. (And kids, a great Mother’s Day gift.)

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schedule a personal tour by email or call 323-829-4440

Listing courtesy of JR Davidson & Nina Chea – Keller Williams

Alvin Lustig’s William H. Thomas Residence in Silver Lake Seeks a New Owner

The owners of the William H. Thomas Residence designed by Alvin Lustig in Silver Lake are looking for just the right buyer for this mid-century modern home.

3 bd / 1.5 ba

$1,395,000

Silver Lake

Lustig was one of the most influential graphic designers of the 20th century. In the 1940s he revolutionized the approach to book cover design and is best known for his work with the publisher New Directions.

William H. Thomas, a chief engineer and executive for JBL stereo company, was Lustig’s friend. Over the years he hired Lustig to design everything from brochures, speaker cabinets, and even a helicopter. And in 1946 he commissioned Lustig to design a home for him and his family in the Silver Lake hills.

A student of Frank Lloyd Wright, among others, Alvin Lustig implemented core modernism ideals into this home. In the Spring issue of Dwell magazine (you know this is my all time favorite magazine, right?) the current owner describes the home as, “it’s not showy … it’s supposed to work nicely – completely sufficient and very graceful. It’s not a grand architectural statement, but something that works in an everyday sense.” And that it does.

Located within the coveted Ivanhoe Elementary School district this mid-century home is sited on a hillside lot.

The enviable California indoor-outdoor flow is achieved through floor-to-ceiling windows that also affords an abundance of indirect sunlight to filter in.

Lustig designed asterisk tile and immaculately restored period fixtures remain in the bathroom, the built-in magazine rack of a partition wall, the kitchen cabinet pulls, and a restored straight-grain, old-growth redwood trellis are some of the period details that remain.

And, originally a dark room, a 300-square-foot home office is located on the lower level.

While the current owners have enjoyed several years living in Lustig’s first venture in residential architecture they are now quietly seeking just the right buyer to be the new owner.

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Listing courtesy of Nate Cole – Coldwell Banker

Pasadena Post & Beam With Redone Barbara Bestor Kitchen Is Some Kind of Wonderful

This Pasadena post and beam with a Barbara Bestor designed kitchen just hit the market. And it’s some kind of wonderful.

4 bd / 2 ba

$1,899,000

Pasadena

With the San Gabriel Mountains providing a scenic backdrop this architectural beauty was designed by USC School of Architecture student, Thomas A. Dismukes, AIA.

As you take the long, hedged for privacy drive leading to a motor court and the entrance it’s obvious this home is about to exceed your mid-century modern desires.

The interior centers around well-proportioned open public spaces in the living and dining room. Volume and light and that enviable indoor-outdoor flow are created by continuous walls of glass and double-height clerestory windows.

Entertaining flows from the Barbara Bestor designed chef’s kitchen to expansive outdoor spaces that include a serene pool, garden, northern mountain views, and an expansive southern deck looking out to views of the city below.

Bedrooms are to their own with a remodeled master wing. And if four bedrooms aren’t enough there’s a guest wing that provides three additional bedrooms and bath.

From the grounds to the structure everything is impeccably restored to enhance and respect the original outstanding architecture making this home some kind of wonderful. (The Porsches are not included.)

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Listing courtesy of Jennifer Parker-Stanton – Deasy Penner & Partners

Artist Pauline Annon’s Brick House in Silver Lake Returns to Market

Artist Pauline Annon lived in one of the most remarkable homes in Silver Lake. When it hit the market for the first time in almost 50 years it was a serious fixer. The only buyer who stepped up for the challenge was a developer. And you won’t believe what he’s done with the place.

3 bd / 4 ba

$2,500,000

Silver Lake

Located within the coveted Ivanhoe Elementary School district this circa 1937 Colonial Revival, sited on a hillside lot, hit the market in the summer of 2015.

Stunning period details like a rarely seen brick facade, original steal casement windows, and a beautifully detailed iron balustrade leading to the second floor couldn’t distract you from the sloping floors and the need for several core upgrades.

But heavy fixers are part and parcel for a developer. So, over the course of more than a year this magnificent Silver Lake residence was carefully renovated to highlight its unique architecture.

Now Annon’s artistic sensibility lingers in the easy flow of spacious light-filled rooms, each imbued with creative inspiration and a wonderful sense of tranquility. Every window, deck, and balcony captures views spanning from the Hollywood Sign to the San Gabriel Mountains and beyond.

The living room and formal dining connect to a fully remodeled kitchen. While the upstairs houses a suite of three bedrooms with a master featuring an attached bathroom and its own private deck.

The expansive lower level is a beautifully renovated work-and-play space featuring a den/office, screening room, bar, wine cellar, laundry and a sun room that spills onto the large rear patio and yard.

And while you enjoy the seclusion of your hillside location neighborhood favorites like The Reservoir, Sunset Junction, Intelligentsia, Cafe Stella, Forage, Trader Joe’s, Gelsons and Whole Foods 365 are just minutes away.

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Listing courtesy of Heidi Lake, Marc Silver, and Barry Sloane – Sotheby’s International Realty

The Wohlstetter House by Architect Josef Van der Kar Will Blow You Away

I’m convinced the conservative nuclear arms strategists, Albert and Roberta Wohlstetter, hired their liberal architect friend, Josef Van der Kar, for one reason and one reason only. To blow you away.

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4 bd / 3 ba

$4,495,000

Laurel Canyon

In an issue of Modernism magazine, Van de Kar is described as, “… well known for his political activism as he was for his architecture … he worked with some of the leading architectural revolutionaries such as Buckminster Fuller, Rudolph Schindler, and Richard Neutra … and in the 1940s he collaborated with his close friend and fellow leftist Gregory Ain.”

Surprisingly, his most notable clients were uber conservatives. “The Wohlstetters commissioned their house from Van de Kar after Albert served as vice president of Bauhaus founder Walter Gropius’s General Panel Corporation in the 1940s …”

Once equipped with a hot-line connected directly to the Oval Office this International Style home is set down a gated drive far from noisy neighbors and prying eyes. To add even more privacy, landscape architect, Garrett Eckbo, strategically added bamboo that have fully matured into a lush blanket of greenery to the grounds.

The living areas on both levels provide extra-wide sliding doors to gardens, terraces, and courtyards. Movable panels open the kitchen to the main living/dining room.

Three bedrooms, three baths, and two hearths complete the main house.

The newer guest-house overlooks the giant Koi pond and sleeping porch and has a bath and extra large closet.

Sculptural benches, lounge areas, and modern ramada dot the grounds. And the giant bamboo shades the sunny pool area.

Whether you agree with the Wohlstetters’s foreign policy you have to admit hiring Van de Kar to create a true retreat was a strategic move that generations later still blows you away.

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schedule a personal tour by email or call 323-829-4440

Sarah Clephane & Mike Deasy – Deasy Penner