Ray Kappe’s Goetschel Residence is for sale

SCI-ARC founder Ray Kappe’s first-ever residential commission is for sale in LA’s Glendale – a 1954 home that’s undergone a top-to-toe reno courtesy of HabHouse.

The LA-based firm bought the dilapidated Gordon & Hildred Goetschel House in October 2021 for $1.33m, according to the Pasadena Star-News, and used Kappe’s original drawings, sketches and archive materials from the Getty Research Institute to mastermind its rehabilitation of the Verdugo Woodlands building.

Everything that could be salvaged was. The 1,721 sq ft house was taken back to the studs and meticulously reinstated per the SCI–ARC founding architect’s detailed plans, down to the midcentury-modern interior colour scheme of pistachio and orange.

HabHouse’s major deviation from Kappe’s original is the kitchen: originally a separate room, it’s now the focal point of an open-plan kitchen dining room and is decked in period 1950s pastel shades. Sliding glass doors lead out to the garden where the original swimming pool has undergone a 21st-century update with new plaster, tiles and coping, and the addition of an outdoor show.

The three-bedroom Los Angeles property is asking for $2.189m via Nate Cole of Unique California Property. He co-listed the home with Joseph Kiralla and Michelle St Clair of Sotheby’s International Realty.