Richard Neutra's Lovell Health House in the hills above Los Angeles is reportedly going up for sale.
According to a recent report in The Real Deal, the current owner of the 4,807-square-foot cliffside, International Style home is currently working to build buzz around the house in advance of a potential sale.
The owner, Ken Topper, grew up in the home, which was owned previously by his parents Betty and Morton Topper. Morton, who purchased the house back in 1960 for $60,000, passed away in 1971, while Betty continued to live in the home until last August when she herself passed away.
Now, the aging home is in need of a slate of repairs, including structural upgrades, though it is largely intact. The Mortons purchased the home from the original owners, Morris and Leah Lovell. The home features off-the-shelf factory windows that wrap around the exterior walls in long ribbons and is widely considered as the first steel-framed residential building in the country. The design of the home also includes a series of outdoor sleeping porches as well as interior rooms that flow into one another. Neutra served as the contractor for the project, according to The Real Deal, and was responsible for articulating the building's gunite-covered exterior cladding.
The home is featured prominently in several Hollywood movies, including the 1997 film LA Confidential, where it was depicted as the home the character Pierce Patchett, played by David Strathairn. The house was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1971 and was listed locally as Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument #123 in 1974, according to Docomomo. The home has been documented as part of the Historic American Building Survey.
Topper tells The Real Deal, “My mom would want to see someone become a proper steward for the house.This place became very special to her. She left it for people to enjoy it.”
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