Greta Grossman’s personal residence, showcasing her architectural acumen, sells for almost $4.3M

It’s hard to believe Greta Grossman’s name isn’t mentioned more often throughout the history of modernism, especially after you see the mid-century residence she designed for herself in Beverly Hills Post Office.

LA Conservancy says “After decades in the shadows, Grossman’s work has recently gained the recognition it deserves, with books, exhibitions, and hefty auction prices for original works.” And just last month we saw activity on two of her architectural designs: one of the Nelson Houses hit the market and her own personal residence sold.

Grossman used her 1948 two-bedroom, glass, stunner, located on a cul-de-sac of only 4 dwellings, to showcase her architectural acumen.

Later, using original blueprints and vintage photos, the LA Times says in 2009 then-owner Darryl Wilson, a designer, and architect Tony Unruh enlarged and remodeled the entire house. Some of Wilson’s design choices included gladding the exterior in maintenance free copper sheets and swapping out the redwood paneled walls and floors to African mahogany.

He also expanded the galley kitchen and added Gaggenau appliances, “including a high-pressure steam oven normally found in restaurants and notes, I have to believe that if Greta were alive, she’d want a dishwasher and microwave, Wilson says of his attempts to modernize the house.”

Other features include a spectacular master suite, a media room (located downstairs with a full bath that could be converted to a guest room,) a pool and spa, and a private garden with outdoor dining. Oh, and let’s not forget that view.

The home hit the market in asking $4,295,000. It was in escrow within four days and sold for $4,270,000.

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Listing courtesy of Joshua Greer – Hilton & Hyland

Echo Park Cottage 60 Steps Above Sunset Blvd Seeks $800K

The last time this turn of the century cottage in Echo Park hit the market was in 2008. Now it’s back, sporting a new paint color and still full of quirky charm.

2 bd / 1 ba

$799,999

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Past the cozy front porch is a light filled interior with an open living, dining, and kitchen with bar seating, two boldly colored bedrooms, and a bonus office.

Like other residences built on stair streets, this home offers a unique, private, setting. Measuring nearly 7,000 square feet, the surrounding flat yard has tons of potential for exercising your green thumbs while enjoying the views of Downtown. There’s also a guest studio with an outdoor shower.

And, while you feel tucked away and far from it all in this unique setting, you’re near some of the neighborhood favorites like Guisados, Ostrich Farm, Dodgers Stadium, and Elysian Park.

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Listing courtesy of Kenya Reeves-Costa – Keller Williams

Midcentury in the Los Feliz Oaks with Dramatic Ceilings Asks $1.7M

You’ll love the serene tree-lined cul-de-sac and all the original details this mid-century in the Los Feliz Oaks has to offer.

3 bd / 3 ba

$1,697,000

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Curbside, this two-story post and beam built in 1966 is nestled on a 9,523-square-foot upsloping lot, surrounded by mature trees.

Well-preserved throughout the years, the roomy interior offers 2,413-square-foot of living space with three bedrooms and two bathrooms. The living room features dramatic high beamed ceilings with floor-to-ceiling windows, a two-story fireplace, and loft landing.

Adjacent, the formal dining room leads to an updated chef’s kitchen complete with newer appliances, a breakfast area, and a wine fridge.

All the bedrooms are located on the upper level and take in views of the woodsy street.

While some residents of the Los Feliz Oaks come and go, the current owners purchased their home in the ’70s for $84,500. The asking price is now $1,697,000.

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Listing courtesy of Rose Ware & Terry Canfield Schmidt – Berkshire Hathaway

Woodland Hills Midcentury Fixer with Potential Galore Wants $749K

With many of the original details intact this midcentury modern fixer in Woodland Hills has potential galore.

3 bd / 3 ba

$749,000

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The home was designed by Charles DuBois who built “A distinctive collection of rambling, horizontally oriented Contemporary Ranch buildings on curvilinear streets, Woodland Hills’ Woodside neighborhood was completed in 1959 and remains a wonderfully intact postwar neighborhood.”

Scraping the popcorn ceilings, removing the stained carpet and floor tile, and treating the entire house to a good coat of Simply White paint by Benjamin Moore is just what this open living room with vaulted and beamed ceilings and a huge stone fireplace needs.

While the kitchen is a gut with a little design input it’s large enough to be an eat-in space.

Light pours in through floor-to-ceiling windows, glass sliders, and clerestory windows in the bathroom featuring vintage sinks and tile.

Built on a one-third-acre lot the spacious interior leads to a large backyard enclosed with a swimming pool with diving board.

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Listing courtesy of Holly Hatch – Keller Williams

Cozy Bungalow on Silver Lake Stair Street Quickly Steps into Escrow

Hotel architect, R. C. Ferguson built three of the many bungalows that line a famous stair street in Silver Lake. One of them recently hit the market.

1 bd / 1 ba

$639,000

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Perched high above the city, Loma Vista Place is only accessible on foot. The home is built on a “long, narrow, steep set of stairs. On one side of the hill there are six flights of 166 stairs. On the other there are ten flights of 182. Residents’ cars and waste bins are parked at the bottom on either side” reports KCET.

Dating back to a time when silent films and the Pacific Electric Railway still existed, this large one bedroom offers a mix of retro details and modern upgrades.

Measuring 752 square feet the inside offers a wood-paneled living and dining room combo, featuring a vintage fireplace. The newly renovated kitchen is equipped with a Subzero fridge and has granite counters, along with a large skylight. Penny tile is a highlight of the updated bathroom.

Outside is filled with mature trees, meandering brick paths, several outdoor patios, garden beds, and a fully functional claw foot tub where you can soak and enjoy views of the mountains.

There’s plenty of street parking it’s close to Whole Foods 365, the Silver Lake Reservoir, and other neighborhood shops and restaurants.

This home last sold in 2008 for $419,000. After just 8 days on the market it’s in escrow with an asking price of $639,000.

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Listing courtesy of John Seffker – Deasy Penner

Rare Hollywood Hills Midcentury by Greta Magnusson Grossman Seeks $925K

In a male dominated industry, it wasn’t easy for Swedish born architect, Greta Magnusson Grossman, to earn a place in history as a significant modernist architect. But she did.

2 bd / 1 ba

$925,000

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Grossman lived and worked in Los Angeles as an architect and furniture designer. A story in a 2010 issue of Home magazine reports Grossman was the first woman to receive the Furniture Design award from the Swedish Society of Industrial Design and describes her furniture designs as, “distinguished by playful details, like ball-handle accents, tapered angles and feminine but asymmetrical proportions.”

In her book “Greta Magnusson Grossman – A Car and Some Shorts : One Architect’s Journey from Sweden to Southern California,” states she was also trained in architecture and construction but as author, Andrea Codrington Lippke, points out “Furniture was a man’s game – and you can forget about architecture.”

Despite this in Grossman’s biography, the gallery R20 writes, “Between 1949 and 1959 Grossman designed at least fourteen homes in Los Angeles, one in San Francisco and one back in her native Sweden. Of these, at least ten are still standing. The homes were often perched on stilts at the top of a hill, overlooking a canyon, with magnificent views through curtain walls of glass. The homes featured extensive built-in shelving and the uniquely open and free flowing floor plan popular at the time.”

The Nelson Houses, two homes built circa 1954 on adjacent lots for Frances Nelson, are unlike other modern hillside homes of the era that either step up or down a slope. Instead, “each sit on one level slab extending through the entire enclosed space, and are cantilevered out over their slopes” writes LA Conservancy.

Although each home is small in scale features including a modular design, floor-to-ceiling glass framed in wood, tall ceilings, overhanging roofs and trellises extending from the slabs makes each residence feel roomier than their actual size.

While both homes were built at the same time only one is currently available for purchase.

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Listing courtesy of Daniel Carson – Nourmand & Associates

The Hammerman House by Neutra Hits the Market

Built on a knoll with city-to-ocean views, the Hammerman House by Richard Neutra hits the market giving modernist fans an opportunity to own a home by one of history’s greatest architects.

4 bd / 5 ba

$13,500,000

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Considered one of the founding fathers of California Modernism, Neutra built this home circa 1954. It was designed as a single story residence and featured clean lines and an effortless indoor-outdoor connection.

Prior to hitting the market in 2004, the home got a new look. Then owners hired architect John Bertram, a man who lives and breathes the famed architect (Bertram lives in the 1939 McIntosh house in Silver Lake and has restored five historic Neutra residences.) LA Times reports, “Architect John Bertram oversaw the restoration, adding a second floor following Neutra’s original renderings. The recent addition complements the rest of the home, which has crisp lines and walls of glass.”

Floor-to-ceiling walls of glass combining ash casework, wall paneling,  and stainless steel accents induce an awe-inspiring reaction.

Downstairs, the master bedroom has head on views, a generous walk-in closet, a terrazzo bath with sunken tub, and a steam shower and dual vanity. The upstairs suite with sweeping views has an additional bedroom/office. In addition there’s a maid’s quarters, a laundry room, ample parking and Crestron Home Automation throughout.

And, of course, there’s a pool to complete this masterpiece of modernism.

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Listing courtesy of Drew Fenton & Amber Cohen – Hilton & Hyland