An iconic property that has been described as probably “the best home in Southern California” simply hit the marketplace for the primary time ever in Pacific Palisades. Asking value: $11.5 million.
A Midcentury masterpiece, the house served as the first residence of Ray Kappe, the late architect who co-founded the Southern California Institute of Structure (SCI-Arc). He designed the place himself in 1967.
Kappe died in 2019, and his spouse Shelly, who additionally co-founded SCI-Arc, died final yr. Now, the property is being offered by their household belief.
Tucked on a hillside within the Rustic Canyon neighborhood, the home floats above a pure spring that flows by the property, resting on six concrete columns sunk 30 toes into the bottom. The 4,157-square-foot flooring plan is cut up throughout seven ranges, that includes 5 bedrooms, 5 loos and free-flowing residing areas wrapped in redwood and glass.
One critic referred to as it “a managed explosion of area.” An architect referred to as it “the quintessential treehouse.” In 2008, when the L.A. Occasions Residence part created a listing of the 10 finest homes in L.A., which featured creations from Richard Neutra, Frank Lloyd Wright and Pierre Koenig, former American Institute of Architects’ L.A. chapter president Stephen Kanner stated Kappe’s “would be the best home in Southern California.”
The Sixties house floats on a hillside lot in Rustic Canyon.
(Cameron Carothers)
It’s not a home that might be constructed in the present day — for a handful of causes. First, the hovering stairs and footbridges that navigate the property haven’t any handrails, which are actually required beneath present building code.
Additionally, the home incorporates a ton of glass. An excessive amount of glass, based on trendy California constructing code. The house’s skylights, clerestories and towering home windows that take within the wooded scene surrounding it make up roughly 50% of the ground plan — a lot larger than trendy limits enable.
Exterior, cantilevered decks and platforms overlook a lap pool, spa, sauna and cabana shrouded in eucalyptus, sycamore, oak and bamboo.
The 4,157-square-foot home is wrapped in concrete, redwood and glass.
(Cameron Carothers)
The tip result’s a placing area that feels totally distinctive, even in a area as architecturally eclectic as Southern California. In 1996, it was deemed an L.A. Historic-Cultural Monument.
Ian Brooks of Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices California Properties holds the itemizing. He stated calls asking to tour the property have been coming nonstop because it surfaced on the market.
“The Kappe residence will resonate with discerning patrons who worth architectural provenance, impeccable design and cultural significance — a uncommon alternative to personal an everlasting piece of architectural historical past,” he stated.
