On the market: architects' private homes
6 properties built – and lived in – by leading designers
An architect’s home is a place where they can experiment – test out their ideas unrestrained by a client’s brief, then hone them to perfection. This makes their private dwellings a seminal piece of their work, whether they’ve simply added their own touch to an existing space, or created their architectural fantasy from scratch. Now you can reap the rewards…
Silverlake, Los Angeles
$1.7m Dick E Lowry built 2052 Mayview for his family in 1973. The post and beam house – on the market for the first time – still retains the majority of its original features, including a large fireplace in the master bedroom, built-in closets and an original bathroom suite (complete with a baby blue sink and bath that you’ll probably want to update…) Built into a hillside, the three-bedroom property is wrapped with a deck that looks out over Silverlake and the San Gabriel mountains. Inside, Lowry experimented with proportion, creating voluminous communal spaces flooded with natural light from large picture windows. Via Tracy Do Real EstateHome of Dick E. Lowry
Silverlake, Los Angeles
$1.7mHome of Dick E. Lowry
Silverlake, Los Angeles
$1.7mHome of Dick E. Lowry
Silverlake, Los Angeles
$1.7mHome of Dick E. Lowry
Silverlake, Los Angeles
$1.7mHome of Dick E. Lowry
Silverlake, Los Angeles
$1.7mHome of Carl Trenfield
Ivy Lane, Canterbury, Kent
£270,000 Dating back to the 16th century, this Grade II-listed cottage in central Canterbury is the home of architect Carl Trenfield and was featured on The Times’ list of ‘Thirty Best Homes in Britain’. The two-bed semi might be small, but what it lacks in square footage it makes up for in character. Trenfield has renovated the cottage, restoring the facade and retaining historic features such as wooden beams, while enlisting a master craftsman to install a custom-built kitchen, parquet flooring and bespoke furniture. Landscape architect Eleanor Trenfield designed the courtyard garden. Via The Modern HouseHome of Carl Trenfield
Ivy Lane, Canterbury, Kent
£270,000Home of Carl Trenfield
Ivy Lane, Canterbury, Kent
£270,000Home of Carl Trenfield
Ivy Lane, Canterbury, Kent
£270,000Home of Carl Trenfield
Ivy Lane, Canterbury, Kent
£270,000Home of Lockwood de Forest
Santa Barbara, California
$3.659 m Lockwood de Forest is one of California’s key 20th century interior designers and landscape architects. He created this estate for his family at the height of his career in 1927. The Roman-style single storey home sits within a .76 acre plot, across which de Forest carefully cultivated a series of gardens and ponds. The 3,958 sq ft property has been updated several times over the decades, but its original fireplaces – five of them in total – teak flooring and Damascus tiles have been retained. An adjoining .31 acre lot – complete with a one-bedroom cottage – is also on the market separately, priced at $895,000. Via Sotheby’s International RealtyHome of Lockwood de Forest
Santa Barbara, California
$3.659 mHome of Lockwood de Forest
Santa Barbara, California
$3.659 mHome of Lockwood de Forest
Santa Barbara, California
$3.659 mNagan JohnsonHome of Nagan Johnson
Stockwell, London
£895,000Home of Nagan Johnson
Stockwell, London
£895,000Home of Nagan Johnson
Stockwell, London
£895,000Home of Nagan Johnson
Stockwell, London
£895,000Home of Thomas Sully
New Orleans, Louisiana
$1.67m This 1886 Queen Anne-style Victorian property on St Charles Avenue is the former home of architect Thomas Sully (1855-1939). In addition to this house, Sully built several properties on the street, as well as public buildings across Louisiana, including the Valence Street Baptist Church and Caffery Sugar Mill. The five-bedroom house retains many of its original features, such as an ornate stained glass window in the foyer and a grand wooden staircase. The house doesn’t scrimp on space: spread over 5,202 sq ft, the rooms are all well proportioned, with high ceilings and wooden floors throughout. Via Brooke Arthurs Real EstateHome of Thomas Sully
New Orleans, Louisiana
$1.67mHome of Thomas Sully
New Orleans, Louisiana
$1.67mHome of Thomas Sully
New Orleans, Louisiana
$1.67mHome of Thomas Sully
New Orleans, Louisiana
$1.67mSchnabel House by Frank Gehry
Brentwood, Los Angeles
$9.95 m Maybe we’re stretching it a bit here as starchitect Frank Gehry designed this property for someone else, however Gehry himself says, ‘This is the design I had fantasized for my own house’. The sprawling 5,700 sq Brentwood home was built in 1989 for Rockwell Schnabel and his wife. Listed as ‘one of the 20 greatest houses of the 20th century’, the asymmetric six-bedroom property is spread across four structures (each conceived as an individual volume). Comprising a total of 12 rooms, the house comes with a separate guesthouse and studio, and has been extensively modernised under Gehry’s supervision with ‘smart home’ technology by its previous owner, music producer John B Platt. Via Douglas Elliman Schnabel House by Frank Gehry
Brentwood, Los Angeles
$9.95 mSchnabel House by Frank Gehry
Brentwood, Los Angeles
$9.95 mSchnabel House by Frank Gehry
Brentwood, Los Angeles
$9.95 mSchnabel House by Frank Gehry
Brentwood, Los Angeles
$9.95 m1 of 30
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