It’s Gehry putting on the dogs

NEW homes: 1 bdr., no bath, leash-option; must sniff to appreciate! $350,000.

You won’t find these fetching properties in the real estate ads. No, the two unique, soon-to-be-built residences, to be designed by renowned architect Frank Gehry, have already been sold. To dogs.

Actually, it was their owners who signed the checks -- but two lucky canines are destined to move into the first-ever Gehry-designed doghouses, auctioned this month at a star-studded Las Vegas fundraiser to benefit the battle against neurological diseases and help pay for the $100-million, Gehry-designed Lou Ruvo Alzheimer’s Institute in downtown Las Vegas, slated for completion in 2008.

It’s a lot to pay for a woof over doggie’s head, and the identities of the purchasers and their privileged pets are being closely guarded. But businessman Larry Ruvo -- Lou’s son and founder of the Keep Memory Alive Foundation, which is funding the Alzheimer’s facility -- reveals that one dog is big, one is small, and both live in Vegas. There was no price break on the small-breed residence, but both pets will get original designs. As part of the deal, Gehry will pay a visit to the owners’ homes. “He’ll look at the aesthetics and, if the dog doesn’t bite, he’ll pet the dog too,” Ruvo says.

Gehry is the devoted owner of two Shar-Peis but says he’s contributing his efforts for the charity, not the animals. “I thought I was going to do just one, for one guy, for $150,000 or $50,000 or something,” he says. But when the price reached $350,000, Ruvo asked Gehry if he’d do two, and “I was onstage -- I couldn’t say no,” the architect says.

No decision yet on whether the canine chateaux will feature Gehry’s signature curves. “I can’t start until I meet the dogs,” he says.

Diane Haithman