Modernist architect Richard Neutra designed over 300 houses during his career. Still, Kaufmann House in Palm Springs is arguably his best – and his most famous, having been captured by the lens of Julius Schulman.

The Palm Springs property was designed for Philadelphia department store tycoon Edgar J Kauffman Sr – who had previously commissioned Frank Lloyd Wright’s masterpiece, Fallingwater – as his vacation home. Completed in 1946 in an International Style, Kaufmann House is among Neutra’s most significant residential designs.

Richard Neutra conceived the building for its desert plot, connecting it to its arid desert setting in the shadow of the San Jacinto mountains, while also negotiating the site’s climatic extremes. Sliding glass walls open rooms up to the compound’s patios, sheltered by vertical ‘fins’ that protect against sand storms and offer shade from the sun.

The five-bedroom modernist house attracted celebrity owners after Kauffmann passed away but was in disrepair before award-winning practice Marmol Radziner was enlisted to roll back the years.

‘This is one of the 20 best homes in this country, and it deserved that level of restoration,’ practice Principal Ron Radziner told Dwell in a feature about the building’s nip-tuck.

The iconic abode underwent a five-year restoration, with the practice sourcing stone from quarries in Utah and enlisting master masons to recreate mosaic brickwork – identical to the original.

Suited and booted, the Kaufmann House is for sale via Gerard Bisignano of Vista Sotheby’s International Realty for $25m. It’s a staggering sum that would make it the most expensive home sale in Palm Springs.

An architect’s time capsule midcentury home is for sale in Glendale