An award-winning Los Angeles residence by pioneering modernist Richard Neutra has hit the market for only the second time since it was built in the early 1960s. Asking just under $6 million, the Hendershot House, as it’s known, spans nearly 3,400 square feet and sits on a wooded parcel with a stream running through it in Nichols Canyon, a secluded section of the Hollywood Hills.
The influential Austrian-American architect originally designed the three-story home for Robert Hendershot and his wife, artist Harumi Taniguchi. The current owners (a married couple named Eve Steele, an architect, and Peter Gelles, an attorney) purchased the four-bedroom property in 2017 from Taniguchi, per Realtor.com.
Kelly Barrie/Panic Studio LA
A living area overlooks the newly added water feature that Richard Neutra designed but never realized.
Aside from Neutra hallmarks like ribbon windows, a cantilevered roofline, and indoor-outdoor synergy, something that makes the home especially notable is that the architect’s office oversaw not one, but two, expansions. The first occurred in 1982, with an addition by Neutra’s son and partner, Dion Neutra. The second was a 1994 enlargement spearheaded by John Blanton, one of Neutra’s trusted project architects.
Kelly Barrie/Panic Studio LA
An office space features sliding glass doors that open to a terrace.
After assuming ownership, Steele teamed up with fellow architect Pierre de Angelis on a two-year restoration project informed by Neutra’s archives at UCLA and original documents from the Hendershot family. The project included repair work to flooring, cabinetry, fireplaces, and finishes, plus the installation of a courtyard water feature Neutra had designed but never realized. Steele’s renovation also transformed the original open-air carport into an enlarged kitchen and dining area.
The painstaking update earned a 2023 AIA|LA Emerging Practice Award.
Kelly Barrie/Panic Studio LA
One of the home’s four bedrooms.
Among the other standout features are a floating staircase, four terraces, white stucco surfaces with silver-painted frames, and sliding glass walls.
Steele and Gelles have listed the property for rent at least twice in the last four years, per Zillow. This is the first time they’re making it available for purchase.
2866 Westbrook Ave, Los Angeles is listed for $5.95 million with Barry Gray and Mike Deasy of Compass.
Geoffrey Montes is an associate editor at ELLE Decor with a serious love for all things real estate and design. Before that, he worked at Architectural Digest, Galerie, and Preservation magazines, covering everything from jaw-dropping listings to world-famous architects and design events like Salone del Mobile and Homo Faber.