Modern, but with a history
Landowner Ysidro Reyes built one of the first houses in Santa Monica on this site in 1839 after he fled a home he built earlier on a nearby bluff when mountain lions preyed on his livestock.
The adobe that Reyes built as a sanctuary for his family and his sheep was torn down in 1906. About 80 years later, architect Ron Goldman and his wife, Barbara, bought a ranch-style home built on the site in the 1950s. He created the contemporary house that now stands there, taking advantage of the canyon, mountain and ocean views.
About this house: In 1989, Goldman, a Minimalist, tore down the old walls and replaced them with steel beams. He used curved walls and an open floor plan to pay homage to the original adobe. In the ‘90s, ABC News reporter Bill Redeker bought the house and sold it to the current owners, who asked Goldman, an American Institute of Architects fellow with offices in Malibu, to help them expand the house in 1997. A family wing was built then with steel beams as a second floor over the garage and along the back of the house, connecting with the master suite.
To buffer traffic noise and maintain privacy, Goldman built a gently curved wall with cascading red bougainvillea and queen palms.
Asking price: $3,475,000
Size: The home has four bedrooms, maid’s quarters and six bathrooms in about 5,300 square feet. The house sits on slightly more than 10,000 square feet of land.
Features: There is private access to the home from a circular driveway through a gated security entry to the courtyard. The living room has windows and glass doors facing the pool and Santa Monica Canyon. Next to the living room is a family-media room with a curved tile counter. An office with a corner window facing the courtyard also has a fireplace and a bathroom. The guest suite includes two bedrooms with a separate entrance and two bathrooms, one with a steam shower. Upstairs, there is a playroom between the master suite and two smaller bedrooms. A second office upstairs has a deck overlooking a bamboo garden and the bougainvillea. Other features are a gym, a pool and a spa.
Goldman describes the style of the house as “garden architecture, aiming to shelter without enclosing.”
Where: Santa Monica
Listing agent: Birgitte Aarestrup Michaelsen, Village Properties Realtors, Montecito, (805) 565-8602.
To submit a candidate for Home of the Week, please send color interior and exterior photos (copies only; we cannot return the pictures) and a brief description of the house, including what makes the property unusual, to Ruth Ryon, Real Estate Section, Los Angeles Times, 202 W. 1st St., Los Angeles, CA 90012; or e-mail homeoftheweek@latimes.com.
