When the couple found the 4700 square foot house, which had sat unoccupied for two years, it was in such poor condition that a section of the roof collapsed two weeks after closing. A couple of months later, part of the property slid into a neighbor's yard. However, Ronnie was determined to restore the house. She began familiarizing herself with Neutra's work and studying pictures of the Singleton House taken by Julius Shulman when the home was new.
After considerable reconstruction, here are the results of the renovation.
From architecturaldigest.com
All photos from Architectural Digest
Vidal Sassoon died in May of this year. To get the whole story about the 2004 renovation, read the entire article, entitled "Vidal Sassoon's Modernist Retreat."
I love the large spaces that are part of Modernist/Minimalist design, I don't think I could live that way unless I had a large garage somewhere that I could store all the things I see and like then swap pieces out from time to time. Time and money are two things always in demand sadly.
ReplyDeleteI love looking at pictures of minimalist design, but I love "stuff" too much to be very successful with it. Things just keep sneaking into my house.
DeleteWow! This is a dream home. I wish they showed a before shot. Love the pool .
ReplyDeleteI would love to see a before shot too. I can't imagine buying a house knowing I had that much work to do. Daunting!
DeleteAMAZING POST:) Your blog is so wonderful and I will happily follow.
ReplyDeleteIf you want some décor inspiration from Sweden, check out my blog:)
Have an awesome week.
LOVE Maria at inredningsvis.se
(Sweden)
Your blog is so lovely. What a treat for the eyes!
Deleteamazing home tour post..and loved ur collation...what a way to start my sunday
ReplyDeleteGlad you liked both...and hope your entire week is great!
DeleteSuch an impressive home. If only we could get to that level someday! A couple can dream, right? Haha.
ReplyDeleteVery impressive though. I see some inspiration that we might need to work into things we are doing at our home. Maybe now that we have ohmymod.net back up and going we'll even get to share it with everyone else.
Great stuff.
Good to have you back blogging again. Have you met our friend Jim of Retro Man OKC yet?
DeleteI have to agree that it would have been nice to see some befores. It's hard to even imagine having the where with all to accomplish this renovation, but it's fun to dream!! The rest of us will have to take our victories where we can... Gorgeous home!!
ReplyDeleteI don't think I could ever take on such a project...but then I don't have the money they had at their disposal.
DeleteSIGH. So, so pretty. I couldn't live that clean and uncluttered but it sure is lovely to look at.
ReplyDeleteI agree. I try and try to do the minimalist thing, but I just can't.
DeleteI'm sorry that but it's not a Neutra house anymore!
ReplyDeleteTo many additions (about 3,000 SF more), changes of the usage of rooms, the materials & colors. Before it was created to be perfectly intergrated into this beautiful place & nature as a familie home. The material & colors gave the owners of that "breathing" house the imagination to live in a paradise garden, a stunning home to life in it.
Compare this "house" with the original one.
They made it an ultra modern party booth... and the super expensive knickknack art doesn't make it even better.
Neutra would surely turn around in his grave if he would see it now.
C.G.
You make a good point that when too many changes are made to an architect's original vision, it no longer is the house he designed. However, after so many decades and so many owners, it seems almost inevitable that changes would occur. I'm just glad that someone cared enough to repair a house in that state of disrepair instead of razing it. Too many homes from the major architects of that era have been lost.
DeleteThis house of the modernist era is lost, definitely!
DeleteOnce Mrs. Sassoon stated: 'Time & styles change & she don't wanted to live in a house like a museum.'
That is not the point. She is still not aware of what a Neutra house really is. It is a concept of livestyle. The way to live in a healthy house. That's why Neutra always came with a big catalog of questions to ask the owner about their needs & habits in every absurde small detail. He customized the buildings to each owner. It is the overarching concept that makes a Neutra house. It would have been so easy to save & repair the house by keeping the house's concept. They should have asked Dion Neutra, Neutra's son & a good architect, for counseling. He knows about the concept & would be able to find a solution for the Sassoons, for sure. In my opinion, the Sassoons felt in love with the place but not with the house & it's concept.
Again, it's NOT a Neutra house anymore because the concept is lost.
They shouldn't advertise it in the market with Neutra's name, because it's not true.
& btw, Mr. Sassoon is a Bauhaus fan? "Form follows function!" Do you remember it, sir? Neutra followed it consequently from the first to the last step.
Sincerely
C.G.
It is clear that you are very passionate on this subject. I agree that it pains me to see many of the great mid-century houses altered beyond recognition, but it seems almost inevitable that it would happen over many decades and many owners, each with their own needs and likes.
DeleteLet me play the devil's advocate for a minute, however, and ask you two questions. First, since you say Neutra went to great pains to customize each home to the specific life style of each owner, didn't that very fact make it much more likely that the next owner would have to make some changes to adjust the house to his own life style?
And, more importantly, you say the Sassoons fell in love with the place, not the house. Given the choice of their razing the Neutra house and building something else on that lot or making the changes they made, what would you prefer?
Once those homes are torn down, they're lost to us forever. I'd rather someone make changes than demolish them. At least the house is still standing, which allows for the possibility that someday a Neutra fan like you will buy it and restore it to its original condition.
To the devil's advocate: I'm not a Neutra purist. & yes, it's clear that lifestyle & usage changes ower decades. If the Sessoon's & their architect would have stated the house as their own design based on a Neutra original, it would sound better to me, more true. Now, it is a Sassoon house, in fact.
DeleteAgain, they made too many additions & too many changes in detail to call it a Neutra house anymore. It's a matter of taste if you like a family home or a party booth. & yes, you're right when you're saying, the owners have the right to modify this & that with the help of an architect of their choice.
& I agree when they wanted to add modern technical stuff like an air condition, new kitchen equipment or a barely visible flat solar panel system on top of the roof. That was possible without exchanging the usage of the rooms, without changing a family home to a whatever.
As far as I know, the Sassoons have been great art collectors. I think that is the real reason why they modified so many things. It's a spacious art gallery to live in it, now.
If you can imagine how many things have been razed while they "repaired" the house, you would be my opinion that it was more like building up a new house than a refurbishment. The roof is completely new. Also the floor material. Many inner walls have been removed, etc... not to talk about the additional buildings. A few things seem be original, like the swimming pool & the fire place & chimney, the reflecting pool & the walls with the windows.
Too much is too much.
Btw, have you ever seen the Staller House by Neutra? It's on the market, too.
It has been remodeled twice in 1965 & 2001, but you can still identify it as a Neutra. Not bad, in my opinion.
The Sassoons wanted more than $20,000,000 for their house. Maybe it's worth by all the work & money they invested; also a measurable fact for the amount of changes they did, btw. Chanceless, if you have a detailed look at the market. Buying it to set it back to origin? Aweee, yes, if I win the euromillions tomorrow ($250,000,000), we have a deal. :) Chanceless, too...I'm sorry.
It would be interesting to watch Neutra & Sassoon sitting in heaven on cloud nine, discussing about architecture while Sassoon is cuting Neutra's beard, haha...pls, forgive me the last funny sentence, but I'm thinking relaxed about that case.
Sincerely
C.G.