DIGS is the premiere luxury real estate lifestyle magazine serving the most affluent neighborhoods in the South Bay and Westside of Los Angeles, California.
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A D B | C A S E S T U D Y H O U S E # 2 1 20 DIGS.NET | 12.7.2018 I n January 1945, Los Angeles publication Arts + Architecture announced the Case Study House program, with the goal to create and promote cutting-edge—and accessible—home design models in anticipation of returning American G.I.s, and with them, the need for good residential housing that could be produced on a mass scale. e program summoned leading architects and designers of the day—Richard Neutra and Charles Eames among them—to let loose and experiment to their hearts' delight. ere were 36 Case Study plans published. Of them, twen-something were built—two by California architect Pierre Koenig. Perhaps the most famous home of the program is his Case Study House No. 22, also known as Stahl House, which still stands, elegantly poised above Hollywood. "e importance of these homes that are a part of the case study program have impacted the visual landscape of today's aesthetic," explains Aaron Kirman of Compass. "ey are built in thesis for Southern California architecture and firmly own their place in history." en there's Case Study House No. 21. Also known as Bailey House, the careful Koenig design is a master study in steel and glass, completed in early 1959. At the time, Arts + Architecture lauded his efforts: "e design is beautifully articulated in steel and represents some of the cleanest and most immaculate thinking in the development of the small contemporary home." Nearly 60 years later, Koenig's masterwork sits nestled on a quiet canyon street in the Hollywood Hills, returned to the real estate market in impeccable condition, and listed by Kirman. "Being able to represent homes like the Bailey House is the reason I originally got into real estate, and is something that I continue to cherish every day," says Kirman. He's the right man for the job, having represented both buyer and seller when Case Study House No. 21 was previously sold, and in doing so, setting a Hollywood price record at $4,722 price per square foot. He has deep history with architecture, having represented such gems as Richard Neutra's Kaufmann Residence, Frank Gehry's Schnabel House, and Frank Lloyd Wright's Ennis House, among others. "He's been a player that has represented so much of Los Angeles's rich architectural history," says Andrew Butler, marketing director for Aaron Kirman Partners. "When these properties come to market, there aren't a lot of sellers who don't know him and his history of selling architecture." Koenig had originally designed the home for psychologist Walter Bailey and wife Mary, a hip, prosperous couple who commissioned the architect to design the home, made up of four rooms total: a living room, kitchen, two bedrooms and two bathrooms. e home features a starkly open design, made possible by steel framing. Openness and steel were two Koenig calling cards that the architect innovated to create homes enabling their inhabitants to live in union with the hospitable Southern California climate while enjoying a thoroughly modern lifesle—aims that are neatly satisfied in the home today, just as they were decades ago. e roofline of Case Study House No. 21 is flat, with no overhanging eaves to shield against the sun. Instead, Koenig carefully positioned the home on a north-to-south orientation to make the most of the warm winter sun and reduce its excesses in the summertime. Floor-to-ceiling glass cover the front and rear of the home to merge indoors and outdoors, while privacy is kept intact with white panels that shield the carport and remaining sides of the home. ere are ample sliding doors in the home not just for views and quick access to the outdoors, but for comfortable cross breezes too.