There is hardly a hotter property among fans of American modernist architecture than the Walker Guest House. Designed in the early 1950s by architect Paul Rudolph, it formed part of the hefty Sarasota, Florida, vacation property of the great art patrons Walter and Elaine Walker but punched far above its lightweight. Conceived on an 8’x8′ grid, with wide banks of glass and wall panels that function as ventilators, overhangs and hurricane shutters, it inspired generations of admirers.
It has also become one of the world’s greatest investments. Seven years and two massive hurricanes ago, the 54 sqm house was, rather presciently, disassembled, boxed up and, after a stint at Modernism Week in Palm Springs, sold at auction for $750,000. Today, the Guest House is once again on the market — this time for $2m via Chris Pomeroy of Brown Harris Stevens.
It remains one of the foremost examples of the Sarasota School of Architecture, or Sarasota Modern. After the first sale, the architectural journalist and historian Paul Goldberger wrote, ‘[The Walker Guest House] will almost surely leave Sanibel Island, but the trade-off will be knowing that one of the most important designs by one of the 20th century’s most important architects — one that, by its nature, is not specific to its site, and could be set down almost anywhere — will be preserved.’
The appeal of the Guest House lies in its remarkable versatility and temperature moderation. Rudolph attached red weighted steel orbs to sustain the opening and closing of the wood wall panels so that when the balls are lowered, the panels rise perpendicular to the walls to act as sun-shielding canopies. When they’re raised, the walls close in to create privacy and safety. Pure – but also unusual – in form, the project earned two nicknames: Cannonball House, for the red orbs, and Spider in the Sand, for its spindly wooden support beams.
‘When the panels are closed, the pavillion is snug and cave-like, when open, the space psychologically changes and one is virtually in the landscape,’ said Rudolph himself years after the design was complete. ‘These panels… transformed the space from an enclosed cave to an open screened porch, and thus, began for me a long and continuing search for ways to modify space for results of feeling, mood, mind and symbol.’
In 2015, a full-scale replica of the house was commissioned by the Sarasota Architectural Foundation – it too was auctioned, as we reported in 2020.
Descendants of the late Walkers believe the house — small by today’s living standards — will be preserved as a novelty rather than a living space. Elaine’s daughter Tian Dayton said recently, ‘… people wanted a huge modern guest house instead. If you have children and grandchildren, you can only fit a couple of people in there.’
