Frank Gehry :: The Benson House. Before Bilbao, Walt Disney Concert Hall and the landmark works that would define his global career, Frank Gehry was already challenging the conventions of domestic architecture on a hillside in the Calabasas Highlands. Completed in 1981, The Benson House belongs to a pivotal chapter… Read More in Gehry's early Los Angeles period, when his residential work became a laboratory for the ideas, materials and spatial experiments that would later transform contemporary architecture. Designed for law professor Robert Bob Benson, who famously told Gehry, Whatever you want to do, we will go for, the house emerged from an extraordinary level of creative trust and became one of Gehry's favorite projects and most personal residential works. Set into a slope, the architecture separates from the hillside to create a moat-like negative space, allowing two distinct vertical volumes to emerge. A vertebrae-like wooden walkway connects the bedroom wing with the living and gathering spaces, creating a daily experience of movement, sequence and spatial discovery. Gehry described the composition as almost touching, like two stones in a Japanese sculpture. Clad in humble asphalt shingles and grounded by concrete floors, exposed rafters and raw material contrasts, the home reflects Gehry's early language of recontextualized vernacular, California modernism and architecture as sculpture. The residence offers two bedrooms, three bathrooms, a loft workspace and panoramic San Fernando Valley views. Located within the Las Virgenes Unified School District (public school system). Sited on four contiguous lots, each with its own APN, The Benson House is Calabasas Historical Landmark No. 2 and an important early Gehry residence archived at the Getty Research Institute. Early Gehry homes rarely come to market, making this a singular opportunity to own a formative work by one of the most influential architects of our time. Read Less
Courtesy of Compass 310-652-6285
Listing Snapshot
Days Online
5
Last Updated
Property Type
Single Family Residence
Beds
2
Full Baths
3
Square Ft.
1,719
Lot Size
0.35 Acres
Year Built
1981
MLS Number
26875015
Additional Details
Appliances & Equipment
Dryer, Dishwasher, Washer
Building
1,719 sq ft, Built in 1981, Levels: Multi Levels, Detached/No Common Walls, Architectural
Cooling
Central, Air Conditioning
Disclosures
As Is
Exterior Features
Roof Top Deck
Fireplaces
1 fireplace, Living Room
Floors
Cement, Wood
Garage
Driveway, Driveway - Combination
Water Features
Sprinklers: Sprinkler System, Sprinkler Timer
Heating
Central
Laundry
Inside
Lot
LotSizeArea: 15,116, 2-4 Lots
Parking
OpenOtherSpacesTotal: 4, TotalParking: 4
Pool
None
Property
OtherStructures: Other, PropertySubType: Single Family Residence, ViewDescription: Canyon, Valley, ViewYN: t, Zoning: LCA11*
Spa
None
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