In the 1950s, architect Richard Neutra pioneered hundreds of modern-style residences for his wealthy California clients.
Those first houses with straight lines and open spaces, a reflection of rational European architecture, are currently some of the main hunting objects for architecture lovers in the United States.
The rare occasions in which one of them goes on sale is an opportunity to gossip about the historic interiors that marked the constructions of the 20th and 21st centuries and to see how prices are rising more and more.
The last one to be available is the house owned by producer Ryan Murphy, responsible for series such as American Horror Story and gleein the hills of the luxurious Bel Air neighborhood in Los Angeles for a sum of 33.9 million dollars (31 million euros).
The construction composed of several pavilions is one of the most characteristic examples of Neutra residential architecture that combines economical and luxurious materials. Built in 1955 by the married couple Sidney and Sonja Brown, hence the name Brown House, it winds around the contours of the hills to offer unique views over Los Angeles.
Its current owner has spent two years renovating and decorating it in an eclectic style without losing its original essence. “In a grand mid-20th century house, clean-lined architecture is often the star. But what do stars need to shine? Extravagant supporting characters,” Murphy recently explained in Architectural Digest magazine.
The producer defines himself as an “architecture addict” and this is the tenth house with historical interest that he has renovated to put it up for sale. The price is almost $5 million above the $29 million they paid for it two years ago. host and comedian Ellen DeGeneres and her wife Portia De Rossi.
Another of its famous owners, and also a fan of well-made things, was the designer and film director Tom Ford who acquired it in 1997, when he was creative director of Gucci, for just 2 million dollars and sold it in 2019 for 20 million dollars. The listing for the sale is shared by real estate agencies Christie’s International Real Estate Southern California and Riley Real Estate.
“It is an honor to represent this iconic Richard Neutra property in Bel Air, which offers a unique opportunity to own a landmark of modern architecture, beautifully restored and preserved by Ryan Murphy, whose narrative art is as renowned as the architecture itself,” according to Christie’s listing.
Built of glass, wood and concrete, it has five bedrooms, two kitchens, a large main living room with 180-degree views of the city of Los Angeles and a swimming pool surrounded by Roman-inspired gardens. The home maintains Neutra-era cabinetry, terrazzo floors, black bathroom tiles, and glass walls. It is also sold with various pieces of furniture that Ford left there.
Its author, of Austrian origin who became a nationalized American, was a disciple of the architect Frank Lloyd Wright, author of the famous Fallingwater House in Pennsylvania and the Guggenheim Museum in New York, and always maintained the idea of fusing constructions of geometric lines with nature. .
In the Brown house, this is especially noticeable in the placement of plaster in the living room and on the exterior surfaces with a uniform color and texture that blends with the surroundings to extend the visual experience beyond its walls.
The great milestone of his career took place thirty years earlier when He built what is known as the Lovell House in Los Angeles.. It was commissioned by naturopathic doctor Philip Lovell and the turning point in his career. Neutra imported the industrial elements of European rationalist architecture promoted by the Bauhaus School. It is registered in the National Register of Historic Places. It was the seed that sowed the California hills of steel and concrete frame homes.
