The first home is the residence that Jones designed for actor Gary Cooper and completed in 1955. It is located in the Los Angeles neighborhood of Holmby Hills. According to the previous owner, who sold it for $15,500,000 in July of 2010, the neighborhood sits above Sunset Boulevard and is less known than Beverly Hills but more upscale. The 6000 square foot, 4 bedroom/5.5 bathroom house has a single-sloped roof rising to a wall of windows, mitered glass corners, ranch-like wings, a stone fireplace and a small pool with a miniature waterfall that is half inside the house and half out, flowing beneath a glass wall.
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| Gary Cooper home eichlernetwork.com |
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| Interior of the Gary Cooper home eichlernetwork.com |
Next is the Hamma residence, a 1731 square foot 3 bedroom/2.5 bath home in the Los Angeles area. It was built in 1951 and declared a Los Angeles Historio-Cultural Monument in 2005. The home sold in June of this year for $1,575,000.
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| Hamma residence realtor.com |
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| Interior of Hamma residence realtor.com |
The third home, originally listed at $29,000,000, makes the other two homes seem like a bargain, even at its marked down price of $24,900,000 ($2,929/sf). This 8500 square foot home sits on 3.6 acres in Bel Air and boasts ocean and city views, glass walls, a vineyard, a guest house and meandering paths leading to the gardens, pond and swimming pool. The house was built in 1965.
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| Bel Air home realtor.com |
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| Pool area of Bel Air home realtor.com |
Wishing I could take a dip in that pool. This dreary weather is getting to me. Now where'd I put that spare 15 1/2 million?
ReplyDelete@Nick: I was just sitting here thinking that I should have called dibs on Gary Cooper. When I was a kid playing cowboys with my cousins, I always wanted to be Rex Allen. Not only does no one remember who he was, I bet he didn't have a house this cool either, dammit!
ReplyDeleteInteresting that Gary Cooper played Howard Roark a Maverick architect in The Fountainhead released in 1949. In an earlier show of This Old House a tour of his house was shown. One could probably catch it at PBS.org.
ReplyDelete@JohnBachman: I read an article which said people in Hollywood believed Cooper so strongly identified with the Roark character that he attempted to actualize the persona by having Jones design this house...with a lot of his own input. His daughter debunked that idea and insisted that Cooper and his wife had been fans of modern design for years and had built two other homes before having hiring Jones for this project.
ReplyDeleteInteresting, any other stars (beside yourself) that have modern houses? I know Steve Jobs had planned a simple Zen like house I found on a web site.
ReplyDeleteHi Dana (I'm back).
ReplyDeleteLove the 50s Gary Cooper home! The centerpiece table stood out for me right away.
@I dream lo-tech: Hey, Ton! I'm so glad you're back. I've missed your posts, but after reading about Cebu, I don't begrudge you the three weeks away. It looked like an awesome trip! I can't wait to read your next travel notes.
ReplyDeleteAs for the Gary Cooper home, I'm still looking back longingly at the furniture and that beautiful fireplace.
Impressive home and I'm very exited about the work. thanks for sharing.
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