Where the master architect makes his bed
It’s hard not to chuckle when you walk up to the house where the internationally renowned architect Frank Gehry has lived since 1977. On a humble plot of corner land in beachy Santa Monica, rule-breaking Gehry has built a deconstructionist ramble of an abode that seems to wrap its modern arms around the original Dutch colonial house in a big hug.
Part showcase, part experiment, the structure exudes a devil-may-care insouciance and total rejection of conformity. Random placements of chain-link fencing protrude where you might expect a balcony. There’s an unpainted piece of plywood here and there. Walls of corrugated metal line the exterior, then dip away under a bunch of windows that come together at acute angles – creating an overt contrast of darkness and light. Long horizontal planks of thick, curved wood are used for fencing, with bits of peek-a-boo holes breaking it up. It seems wonderfully ridiculous, a wink at what Gehry is all about.
Info
Address 1002 22nd Street, Santa Monica, CA 90403 | Getting there Unmetered street parking | Hours Viewable from the street only; private residence, not open to the public.| Tip Visit Brentwood Country Mart (225 26th Street, Santa Monica, CA 90402), an intimate upscale shopping center where you’ll likely catch sight of a celebrity while browsing.
Gehry’s first big splash came in 1997 with the inauguration of his Guggenheim Bilbao, a modern and contemporary art museum. In 2010, Vanity Fair asked 52 leading architects, teachers, critics, and deans of major architecture schools what building they thought was the most aesthetically significant since 1980. More than half cited Guggenheim Bilbao and in general, works by Gehry got the most votes, leading the magazine to call him “the most important architect of our age.” The building was trailblazing, taking the world’s breath away with its metallic curves and angles. In Los Angeles, he’s most famous for the silvery, undulating, chunky, and angular Walt Disney Concert Hall in Downtown LA, completed in 2003.
Back on the Westside, visitors can stand on the sidewalk in the (now) posh Santa Monica neighborhood and easily admire the master’s eye-catching clash of shapes and materials.
Back
To the online map