New Gehry Residence Part of Conservancy Tour

By Jorge Casuso

October 17, 2018 -- When Frank Gehry built his first Santa Monica home in 1978, an outraged neighbor shot at it one night. Forty years later, his new home in the beach city is part of an architectural tour.

The Santa Monica Conservancy will include the internationally acclaimed architect's new home -- although not the interior -- when it sponsors its walking tour of Adelaide Drive, "Santa Monica's premier street," on October 21.

Frank Gehry house on Adelaide Drive ( Photo by Tom Hofer courtesy of Santa Monica Conservancy)

"Frank Gehry’s second self-designed home in Santa Monica stands in stark contrast among its more traditional neighbors," tour organizers said.

"Replete with the postmodernist’s signature expressions of jutting roof forms, glass walls and exposed framing, the home showcases the deconstructivist style that has made Gehry so famous."

The tour features "breathtaking ocean and hillside vistas," as well as "beautiful Torrey pines and ornate lampposts," as well as two historic houses ("Santa Monica Conservancy Offers Tour of Exclusive Adelaide Drive," Octobeer 9, 2018).

Gehry's new house showcases the style made famous by his first residence on 22nd Street and Washington Avenue -- chain link fencing, raw redwood beams and glass skylights jutting askew. The new house also features the ornate doorway that serves as "an imposing curbside gate," Conservancy officials said. It is all that remains of the Spanish Colonial Revival style home that originally sat on the lot. (Photo by Steve Loeper)

By contrast, Gehry's first self-designed residence preserved the orginal structure, which the then shocking design seemed to inflate into an angular shapes.

The new 7,300-square-foot compound -- which has received surprisingly little attention -- includes a two-story main house powered by an unique sustainable energy system.

Photo by Steve Loeper

The rear complex features "a spa, studio and caretaker's quarters," Conservancy officials said.

Gehry originally had chosen a site in Venice, spurring speculation he was building his "dream house" across the Santa Monica border.

But he abandoned the site, and began designing a second home on Adelaide, where a teardown reportedly sold $7.6 million.

The October 21 walking tour of Adelaide Drive starts at 1 p.m. Tickets purchased in advance are $30 for members and $35 for the general public. Those purchased on the day of the tour are an additional $10. Accompanied children under 12 years of age are free.

For more information visit http://www.smconservancy.org