Modernist Masterpiece, Frank Gehry’s Schnabel House [28 photos]

Modernist Masterpiece Frank Gehry's Schnabel House

Foundation Films production company owner Michael LaFetra has put his modernist masterpiece, The Schnabel Home by Frank Gehry, on the market for just under $15 million. Purchased in 2013 by LaFetra, who happens to restore architecturally significant homes himself, the unusual Brentwood abode was originally built in 1989 by Gehry and fully restored in 2010 by Broadway producer Jon Platt under Gehry’s watchful eye.

Frank Gehry’s Schnabel House

The home’s front entrance and back view:
gehry schnabel house front entrance

frank gehry archtecture

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Frank Gehry’s sketch of the Schnabel house

With 6 bedrooms, 5 full bathrooms and 2 half baths*, the 4,755 square foot home has been described as “a village that looks inward.” Consisting of four separate sculptural structures of stucco, wood, glass, lead and copper it sits on a .82 acre lot with a reflecting pond, a swimming pool and an olive tree orchard. Connected to the main house by a breezeway there’s another building with a garage, a gym, a guesthouse and an office with a dome inspired by the Griffith Observatory. The home is technologically up to date with high tech air conditioning and a smart system that can be controlled by an iPad.

Aerial views of the home and lot:
gehry schnabel house aeirial views IIHIH

The home, which resides at 526 N Carmelina Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90049 was purchased for $9.5 million in 2013 by LaFetra, despite being listed at that time for $13 million by Hilton & Hyland.

As with most Frank Gehry designed homes, written descriptions can’t do it justice. Just look at the following photos of the exterior and interior.

gehry schnabel house

gehry schnabel house

schnabel house

los angeles modernist architecture

schnabel house architecture

Gehry Schnabel house

modernist architecture

gehry schnabel house 1 IIHIH

 schnabel house pool

modernist swimming pool

gehry schnabel house pool3 IIHIH

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modernist architecture

Frank Gehry los angeles modernist house

gehry schnabel house int 4 IIHIH

The home is listed with Cory Weiss of Douglas Elliman Real Estate, who sells many of LaFetra’s impeccably restored homes including his restored John Lautner Steven’s House

*There seem to be some slight discrepancies in terms of the number of bathrooms on various mls listings. Some say 5, others 6 and on LaFetra’s own site, it says 7.5

UPDATE: Since this post was written, Frank Gehry’s Schnabel House located at 526 N Carmelina Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90049, originally listed in 2014 for $14,995,000, had to keep lowering the price until it finally sold in 2016 for $810,000,000 – far under the initial asking price. You can see newer images of the home’s interior here.