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I hope the Harrises are not spending that money before they sell. A 3200sf house out in the middle of nowhere for 25 million dollars? That's like $8,000 per square foot! Don't get me wrong; it is a beautiful house. But who in the world has that unique combination- equal doses of rich and stupid- to buy this house?

heijiranyc,
It's on 2 acres in Palm Springs, CA, not exactly the middle of nowhere! I hope AT will report on the forthcoming sale price.

Should the price of a Serra sculpture be based on $/pound of steel? Monet's based upon $/sq.in. of canvas?

"But who in the world has that unique combination- equal doses of rich and stupid- to buy this house?"

You're a tool!

Gorgeous in every way. I would change only one thing—get rid of that grass! It'll require copious amounts of water to stay that lush and green. Water is a precious commodity, particularly in Palm Springs region. The photographs illustrate some lovely succulent gardening; native species are the way to go, especially in a desert environment.

How about the pool? does it rely on a environ-unfriendly chlorinated system? Let's hope that the Harris'—the couple who bought and restored the place—considered this and went green.

Jon B, Palm Springs IS in the middle of nowhere, and houses there are relatively inexpensive (compared to LA, SD, SF, etc.). And this is outside of PS to boot! First and foremost, a house is a place to live, and not a trophy or a museum, or some kind of commodity to be traded on the stock exchange. Sure, there is some desirability in terms of its historical pedigree, but that doesn't mean you will not let your dogs run around in it, or piss in the toilets. It's a highly designed piece vs. a piece of art.

So, GHB, I suppose you fit the bill?

priceless

I'd buy that for a dollar!

Just lovely.

Beautiful.

And at 3200 sq ft you could parse out the space and rent it to about 10 New Yorks who could help with the mortgage payments.

The allure of Palm Springs is that it's away from LA, SD and SF.

And anyway, everyone should experience the drive from LA to Palm Springs in a car.

To drive that distance with this home being your destination would be like driving to heaven.

Sorry, hejiranyc - I think you are missing something. Sometimes a house is more than just a house. This house is like the Glass House, or Fallingwater, or several other FLW houses - it is a combination of art and useful thing.

Art yes, but in the end it would still be overpriced real estate - Neutra or not.

Isn't part of modern housing about functionality? It seems that at a certain point, an extreme price begins to suffocate functionality. Not sure where, and it probably differs based on how rich you are, but my point is a bit below $25M.

hejiranyc wrote:
"First and foremost, a house is a place to live, and not a trophy or a museum, or some kind of commodity to be traded on the stock exchange."

Always?

hejiranyc wrote:
"It's a highly designed piece vs. a piece of art."

It's a highly designed piece of functional art, and that's why it's worth a lot of money. It may not be worth $25M though.

25 mil. sure gets people talking.

I am guessing it will not sell for that much.

There are only so many of these "pieces" in existence though. Supply and demand. If people are willing to pay an extraordinary price, they know what they want. Masters of capitalism on both ends. But they are not the only winners, students of architecture and lovers of design have a living relic to continue to appreciate.

hejiranyc is well known for his opinionated crankiness, but go see his blog http://modhampton.blogspot.com/

If I had the money I would buy it in a heart beat and think that it was a bargin. The house is too large for me and my small dog....I know. But living in a space like that would be living in a dream.

OriginalA, again, it's a nice house and everything, but it is hardly a landmark work of architecture ala the Fallingwater house or PJ's Glass House. Neutra designed houses for the middle class, and although they are relatively scarce these days, there are still quite a few of his houses scattered around the West. But given its pedigree and the level of finish and the quality of the restoration, I do agree that it can command a premium over a similarly sized/situated house. I would venture to guess that a comparable "regular" house these days would be somewhere between $800K and $1mio. So this should fetch upwards of 50-100% more. But anything beyond that is just delusion and hype. And anyone who pays more than that to live in the middle of the desert just needs to be institutionalized.

For 25 large, I would say the vast majority of people would prefer an equally beautiful, newly-built, state of the art green home in a most exquisite waterfront setting vs. a decidedly small and old (but beautiful) house in the desert in the middle of nowhere.

Place this same house on the same acreage in the Georgica Pond area of East Hampton, and yes, it will command $25 million.

Commenting that PS is in the middle of nowhere indicates to me that either you've been there & hate it, or just don't know Southern California geography (or real estate).

Beautiful houses on much smaller parcels or land with those gorgeous mountain views in PS regularly command prices of 1M and up, so yes, I can see this going for near these prices.

For those who might say this Neutra house doesn't reach the level of Fallingwater, let me just add that the client was Edgar J. Kaufmann, Jr., the son of the Edgar J. Kaufmann, Sr., who commissioned Wright to do Fallingwater. Among architects and architectural historians, this Neutra house is absolutely legendary and most of us are not at all surprised by the asking price. If I had that kind of money, I'd buy it in a split second.

Oops--the original post was right--it was built for Sr., not Jr. And I stand by the rest.

Love this....I wish I could afford it!

hejiranyc, I skimmed your blog: nice house you're building! I hope we get a full tour here at AT.

I would buy it in a New York minute. Palm Springs is a VERY nice area. It's only just outside PS. The real estate in PS is booming. The nightlife is great and all is well there.

P.S. you mustn't forget all the land that comes with the house's square footage.

Hi,

Max Neutra here, Great Grandson of Richard Neutra.

Speaking of art, stop on by my website and take a peek at how I continue Richard's exploration of physiological phenomena. Drop me a note and let me know what you think.

maxneutra.com

http://youtube.com/user/maxfneutra

Love,
Max