Mickey Muennig was nicknamed ‘the man who built Big Sur’, having spent over 40 years pioneering organic architecture in the scenic California enclave before his death in 2021, aged 86. Now his own, experimental, long-term residence, The Glass House, is offered for sale via Sotheby’s International, and it embodies many of his radical ideas.
The Glass House is located on Partington Ridge and is part of a 30-acre estate Muennig acquired in the 1970s. The eco-house was built in stages by the architect, starting with a circular stone volume, housing his studio and bedroom, and crowned by a glass dome.
Photography: Richard Olsen
Photography: Richard Olsen
Photography: Richard Olsen
Photography: Richard Olsen
Photography: Richard Olsen
Photography: Richard Olsen
Across from this is the 2,000 sq ft main house, built into the slope of the hillside concealed by an earthen roof that insulates the volume. Skylights illuminate living spaces below, which unfurl around a huge tropical indoor garden, and include an undulating kitchen and sitting room arranged around a semielliptical fireplace.
A tree grows up through one end of the volume, further bedding it into its surroundings which are a mix of gardens and natural landscape.
In addition to the main house, a two-storey timber Caretaker’s Cottage is designed around a nautilus shell, with huge glass panes that illuminate its interiors and provide views to Big Sur. Like the ribbed roof of the main house, organic shapes come into play inside where a spiral staircase connects the kitchen and living room to an open bedroom above.
In total, there are three bedrooms across the three pavilions, with the estate listed for $6.95m by Jeannie Ford of Sierra Sotheby’s International Realty.
