{"id":596708,"date":"2026-09-11T03:20:20","date_gmt":"2026-09-11T03:20:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/596708\/"},"modified":"2026-09-11T03:20:20","modified_gmt":"2026-09-11T03:20:20","slug":"rare-mid-century-home-designed-by-famed-architect-john-lautner-hits-the-market-in-pasadena-for-2-6m","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/596708\/","title":{"rendered":"Rare mid-century home designed by famed architect John Lautner hits the market in Pasadena for $2.6M"},"content":{"rendered":"

That’s one cool pad.<\/p>\n

Pasadena’s only home designed by beloved SoCal architect John Lautner has hit the market for $2.595 million \u2014\u00a0giving one mid-century buff the chance to live in one of the visionary’s early works.<\/p>\n

The legendary Lautner became a household name in Los Angeles for his jaw-dropping, gravity-defying Hollywood villain-esque lairs \u2014 like the saucer-like Chemosphere<\/a> in the Hollywood Hills, and the Elrod House in Palm Springs featured in the James Bond classic, “Diamonds Are Forever”.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

The only home in Pasadena designed by beloved SoCal architect John Lautner is on the market for $2.595 million. Cameron Carothers<\/p>\n

But the Dahlstrom House, at 780 Laguna Road in the San Rafael neighborhood, shows a young architect flexing a warmer, rounder design muscle.<\/p>\n

The 1949 two-bedroom, two-bathroom, west of the Arroyo property spans about 1,900 square feet \u2014\u00a0but what it lacks in mega-mansion sprawl it makes up for in geometric wizardry.<\/p>\n

Sitting on a triangular shaped lot, the house was commissioned by book designer Grant Dahlstrom, who owned Pasadena’s Castle Press.<\/p>\n

Right from the start, visitors are greeted by a projecting semi-circular steel overhang, which creates a carport. The rounded details continue inside, and guests enter through a wood-paneled foyer before following a curving hallway into the living room, where a steel ceiling appears to float above walls of glass.<\/p>\n

A cylindrical concrete fireplace anchors the living space, alongside built-in bench seating and a revolving bookcase \u2014 cleverly concealing part of the home’s steel structure. With the glass walls, the boundaries between inside and outside vanish, and make the garden feel like an extension of the living room.<\/p>\n

\"But<\/p>\n

But the Dahlstrom House, at 780 Laguna Road in the San Rafael neighborhood, shows a young architect flexing a warmer, rounder design muscle. Cameron Carothers<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

The home is a nonstop visual treat for any mid-century architecture buff. Cameron Carothers<\/p>\n

\"Sitting<\/p>\n

Sitting on a triangular shaped lot, the house was commissioned by book designer Grant Dahlstrom, who owned Pasadena’s Castle Press. Cameron Carothers<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

The home isn’t a mega-mansion at just 1,900 square feet, but has plenty of stylistic tricks up its sleeve. Cameron Carothers<\/p>\n

Even the primary bedroom gets in on the disappearing act.<\/p>\n

The semicircular suite features a massive curved sliding wall that rolls back to merge the bedroom directly with the living room.<\/p>\n

Outside, curved landscaping disguises the sharp boundaries of the three-cornered, 10,441-square-foot lot.<\/p>\n

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Lautner started out studying under Frank Lloyd Wright as an apprentice \u2014\u00a0and the Prairie School pioneer’s influence is readily apparent here.<\/p>\n

Pasadena records<\/a> specifically point to the home’s “the cantilever of its roof above expanses of glass, as well as the rounded carport overhang” as evidence.<\/p>\n

While plenty of beautiful vintage homes in the Los Angeles area have been subjected to remodels over the years, the Dahlstrom House remains intact.<\/p>\n

\"Lautner's<\/p>\n

Lautner’s early career apprenticeship with Prairie School pioneer Frank Lloyd Wright is evident in the details of the Dahlstrom House. Cameron Carothers<\/p>\n

After buying the home in 2009 for $1.35 million, the seller undertook a careful restoration, refinishing surfaces with materials considered appropriate to the home’s architectural pedigree, listing agent Rob Moore of Compass told Mansion Global<\/a>.<\/p>\n

“It’s all very quiet,” he said. “Nothing is flashy, but really beautifully crafted.”<\/p>\n