A view home with the Wright connection
Artists and longtime friends Janet Payne and Martha Longenecker took a road trip to Arizona with their husbands back in the 1940s to visit architect Frank Lloyd Wright’s landmark home known as Taliesin West.
After they returned from their driving trip through the Southwest, Longenecker’s husband, John, a contractor, built this San Dimas house in 1947 for the Paynes in the Wright tradition, using natural materials to echo the landscape and waxing the wood to lend a softness to the interior.
Sam Maloof, the master furniture craftsman who was also a friend of the Paynes, helped build some of the kitchen cabinetry and furniture pieces.
In 1953, the Paynes persuaded architect John Lautner, once an apprentice to Wright, to remodel and expand the house. With its walls made of stones and poured concrete, it looks more like Wright’s work than Lautner’s, whose modernistic Chemosphere House has been likened to a UFO hovering in the Hollywood Hills.
Lautner continued to emphasize Wright’s concepts in the house, however, and it became known in architectural circles as the Payne Remodel. For the first time in its nearly 60 years, the Paynes’ estate has come on the market.
John Payne, a longtime assistant to the president of Claremont Men’s College, died in the 1980s. His wife, Janet, died in October. In addition to being an artist herself, she collected folk art and other artwork from around the world. Most of her collections are already in museums. None of her art or the furniture is included in the home’s asking price.
Martha Longenecker, who had studied art with Janet at Claremont Graduate School, is founder of the Mingei International Museum in San Diego.
About this house: The house is in need of restoration and has had little done to improve it since Lautner’s work.
Asking price: $679,000
Size: The 1,747-square-foot house is on slightly more than an acre and has two bedrooms and three bathrooms.
Features: The home has panoramic views of the San Gabriel Valley. Its location was chosen to capture dramatic views of Mt. Baldy.
The house has a living room with a fireplace and a dining area with high ceilings; an office; a detached carport with enclosed storage and its original pool. There is a gallery walkway with a glass wall and a separate artist’s studio, where Janet Payne did her painting.
Where: San Dimas, about 40 miles east of Los Angeles
Listing agent: Crosby Doe of Mossler, Deasy & Doe, Beverly Hills, (310) 275-2222
To submit a candidate for Home of the Week, send color interior and exterior images on a CD with caption information 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., L.A., CA 90012. Questions can be sent to homeoftheweek@latimes.com.