World-renowned architect John Lautner, known for his futuristic, post-war designs, has one up for grabs for $7.5 million. The Silvertop House in Los Angeles, California, is considered one of his best designs, and is now officially on the market for the first time in 40 years.

This is the spacious living room with a white sofa that stands outa gainst the dark hardwood flooring. On the far side is a large concrete structure that houses the fireplace. Image courtesy of Toptenrealestatedeals.com. — This is the spacious living room with a white sofa that stands out against the dark hardwood flooring. On the far side is a large concrete structure that houses the fireplace. Image courtesy of Toptenrealestatedeals.com.

This is the bedroom with swiveling wooden windows on the side and a large concrete fireplace across from the bed. Image courtesy of Toptenrealestatedeals.com.

This is a view out the glass wall of the house adorned with a cactus garden just outside the glass wall and a view of the pool on the far side. Image courtesy of Toptenrealestatedeals.com.

All photos are used with permission from TopTenRealEstateDeals.com

The Silvertop House was originally commissioned in the 1950s and falls in line with Lautner’s post-war themes. Its design was way ahead of its time then, and even now a number of its elements are still considered futuristic. In the years since then, it has come to be known as an important touchstone in the evolution of architectural design not Just in Los Angeles, but internationally as well; when it was built it was one of the most technically and structurally innovative houses in the world.

The design, as is true for most of Lautner’s work, was optimistically inspired by technology. Some features of the Silvertop House unique to Lautner’s design style are large concrete fireplaces, expansive glass walls, and swiveling windows that open a room to uninterrupted views. Other innovations that the Silvertop House is home to are an infinity-edge pool, a concealed heating and cooling system, and a custom mechanical glass living room door.

The architecture of the house follows the curve of the land — a feature in step with the architect’s lifelong impressions of natural surroundings, and his architectural style of promoting harmony between man and nature. In the case of the Silvertop House, this also optimizes the expansive views ranging from the Southern Californian mountains out to the Pacific Ocean.

The home sits on an acre of the hilltop, with three bedrooms and four baths totaling 4,721 square feet, and is on the market for the first time in 40 years. Other features are expansive floor-to-ceiling windows, electric skylights, an office, a library, multiple patios, a swimming pool, tennis court, and a guest house with a private darkroom.

While his career was sometimes misunderstood, John Lautner was an incredibly important twentieth-century architect, leaving a lasting mark on the built environment of Southern California. His designs incorporate “organic architecture” concepts made famous by Frank Lloyd Wright, and the unique Southern California landscape lent itself well to using large panes of glass and exposed wood.

With a knack for engineering, Lautner made great use of different angles and shapes, and he was a pioneer of using concrete as a sculptural element as well as an architectural element — his designs are both organic and futuristic. The Silvertip House features Lautner’s first major use of monolithic concrete.

The Silvertop House is no exception to Lautner’s mid-century future thinking, with a cantilevered concrete driveway and Panoramic views extending out over the city from the mountains to the Pacific. Priced at $7.5 million, this stunning house is on the market for the first time in 40 years, after a major three-year revitalization to digitize many hidden mechanical elements, and to repair and restore the dining area and kitchen to the spirit of the original design.

Source: architectureforsale.com