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Photography: courtesy of The Morgan Group
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Photography: courtesy of The Morgan Group
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Photography: courtesy of The Morgan Group
A curvy concrete home by Modernist architect John Lautner has hit the market in Southern California’s Rancho Cucamonga for $1.488m.
Built in Alta Loma in 1961 for teachers Ann and Peter Tolstoy, the 3,000 sq ft home comprises three pavilion-like structures, originally conceived as a residence, music studio and lath house, and set around the property’s swimming pool. They are connected by a taut steel-cable roof system that’s topped by wood sheathing, described by the LA Times as being ‘as daring as anything Lautner ever built’.
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The main 2,000 sq ft residence is set around a futuristic raised-level living room, complete with arched concrete fireplace (a motif echoed across the California property’s swooping semi-circular windows) and built in concrete seating. There are two bedrooms in this part of the home, with a third located in the one-bedroom guest house.
Concrete walls have been left exposed across Tolstoy House – on the market via The Morgan Group, Don and Debra – as have its wooden ceilings. The time capsule property’s original features and details are largely in tact, but it will need some modernising by its new owners.
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Lautner studied under Frank Lloyd Wright, and his circular Elrod House featured in James Bond film, Diamonds Are Forever. The Modernist designer is also among fashion’s favourite architects: his Bob & Dolores Hope Estate served as the backdrop for Louis Vuitton’s Cruise 2015 fashion show.
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