Frank Lloyd Wright cleans up
The Frank Lloyd Wrightdesigned John Storer Residence has sold in Hollywood Hills West.
Closing at $6.8 million, it is the most expensive sale of a Wright house to date, according to transactions tracked by the Frank Lloyd Wright Building Conservancy.
The Mayan Revival-inspired house, set on about a quarter of an acre, features the architect’s reinforced concrete-block construction. The textile blocks, as they are known, are patterned with geometric shapes including horizontal bands and crosses.
Built in 1923 for Dr. John Storer, a surgeon from Wisconsin, the distinct property later served as an art colony of sorts. Photographer Brett Weston had a studio there while Pauline Schindler, whose husband was architect Rudolph Schindler, was renting the house.
The home has an upstairs living room with a two-story-high redwood ceiling, tall narrow windows and columns facing the street. A dining room, a library/study, four bedrooms and three bathrooms are also within the 2,967 square feet of interior space. There are fireplaces in the living and dining rooms.
Two terraces take in cityscape and hillside views.
The swimming pool was in the original plans but not added until restoration work started in the 1980s by film producer Joel Silver, then the home’s owner. Limestone blocks in the swimming pool mirror the pattern of the concrete blocks leading up to it. Also added from original drawings was a concrete block wall along the driveway. The garage was expanded as well.
The Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Landmark previously sold in 2002 for $2.9 million.
Crosby Doe of Crosby Doe Associates handled both sides of the deal.