The Goldstein House
John Lautner

Photo: arcspace

The House, designed in 1963 for Mr. and Mrs. Paul Sheats, is a cave-like dwelling with a soaring concrete roof and long frameless glass walls. The unique fittings and furnishings are all designed by Lautner.

With the terrace cantilevered on a cliff's edge, overlooking Benedictine Canyon in Beverly Hills, the James Goldstein house offers spectacular views from every room.

Photo: arcspace

After purchasing the house in 1989 Goldstein wanted to make water a more prominent feature. In keeping with the original design philosophy, and in close collaboration with Lautner until the architect's death in 1994, the barriers between the inside and outside were broken down.

One result of this collaboration is the main entryway which leads the visitor through a a secluded pathway before crossing a waterfall-flanked fish pond. Below the house concrete steps and walkways lead through two acres of tropical forest with unusual foliage and palm trees.

Photo: arcspace

Photo: arcspace

Photo: arcspace

Photo: arcspace

To blend with the raw expression outside, the interior of the house has been constructed from all-natural materials, glass, concrete, wood, steel and leather. The house does not contain any painted items, and there are no 90-degree angles in the furniture or in the house design. The living room is lit by hundreds of small skylights made from inverted glasses impaled in the roof. Even the bed in the master bedroom fits into the angular theme of the house.

Photo: arcspace

Photo: arcspace

Photo: arcspace

Photo: arcspace
A large glass skylight opens over the dining room table, and in some places, entire glass walls, rather than windows, may be opened electronically. Shades for the translucent walls are hidden in the ceiling and are lowered with the flip of a switch.

Photo: arcspace

Steps lead from the house down through the tropical garden that surrounds the house.

Photo: arcspace

Photo: arcspace

Photo: arcspace

Photo: arcspace

The purpose of Architecture is to improve human life. Create timeless, free, joyous spaces for all activities in life. The infinite variety of these spaces can be as varied as life itself and they must be as sensible as nature in deriving from a main idea and flowering into a beautiful entity.

/John Lautner

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Model photo arcspace