In the Palm Springs CA neighborhood of Araby Cove is a house at 2175 Southridge Drive. It overlooks the Coachella valley with mountains in the background. John Lautner, an American architect, built the 8,901 square foot five-bedroom six-bathroom house on one point two acres of land for designer Arthur Elrod in 1968. It sold to Jeremy Scott, a fashion designer, for seven point seven million dollars.
All photos are used with permission from TopTenRealEstateDeals.com
This Is An Unusual House
When a structure is built into and around a great mass of stones, the house designer uses the landscape as part of the house. In the Elrod house, huge piles of stones form the exterior walls. Even the bathrooms are built into and around stone formations for a stunning contrast.
The roundhouse is constructed of concrete walls with glass all around it. The floors are of concrete as well. What makes the house unusual is the domed roof. Made of concrete portions interspersed with finned glass panes, the whole resembles a flower beginning to open.
It’s not all rock and roll, though. Walls of rosewood adorn rooms, some herringbone pattern floors are slate, and the great room offers 60 square feet of space complete with a swimming pool and looking out onto a terrace. You guessed it: stone.
The Rooms
The house is very well lit from natural as well as ambient light. Thus, you’ll see that the living rooms and great rooms are spacious enough to host all kinds of parties and shindigs. Views of the mountains and the Coachella Valley can be enjoyed from any window in the house.
The kitchen is an adventure of chrome and stone. Plenty of room on the natural stone countertops to create wonderful food. The combination of natural, task and focus lighting simplifies your culinary endeavors. Storage shouldn’t be a problem as the extra-long galley kitchen is lined top and bottom with cabinetry. Trust me when I say you’d have to buy new stuff to take up all that storage space.
The bedrooms are paneled in rich wood standing side by side with natural stone making up the walls. You’ll even have a fireplace and built-ins on either side of it against one of the walls. There’s enough space in the bedrooms so you’ll never bump into anyone.
Mountain views. Stone scapes. Bright sunshine. All this viewed from your spa bathtub in your stone, concrete, glass, and herringbone bathroom. Decorative tile, natural stone countertops, and lots of storage complete your Elrod House bathroom experience.
Who is John Lautner?
Lautner apprenticed to Frank Lloyd Wright in the 30s, eventually striking out on his own as an organic architect. This meant that square houses didn’t get built. Using the natural landscape in addition to natural materials formed the nucleus of his modernistic houses.
Lautner became famous for building modernistic houses for California celebrities including Bob Hope, art collecting James Goldstein, and designer Arthur Elrod.
What I love about the house is all that glass from which you have an unobstructed view of the valley and mountains. Lots of natural light appeals to me in addition to enough space to spin around without touching anything.
Photo credit: Kilroy Southridge Properties, photography by Leland Y. Lee
Source: elrodhouse.org
