The most famous backyard in Palm Springs is now for sale. Richard Neutra's Kaufmann House, built in 1946, was immortalized in Slim Aarons's Poolside Gossip photo as the epitome of midcentury glamour in 1970. Last October, it was listed for $25 million, but now the price has been lowered to a relative bargain at $16.95 million.
Neutra built the modern, flat-roofed home for Edgar J. Kaufmann, a Pittsburgh department store mogul who also commissioned Frank Lloyd Wright for Fallingwater in Pennsylvania. While the Palm Springs house was not the first house built in the sleek, International Style, Neutra pushed the limits of the architecture with glass walls, Utah stone, and an open-air room that the architect dubbed the “Gloriette.” It now has five bedrooms and six bathrooms from renovations over the years, but its current owners, Brent R. and Beth Harris, carefully restored the building to the best of their abilities (Beth is an architectural historian). This included persuading a closed quarry in Utah to let them source additional stone to match the original and sourcing custom materials like Neutra's specific mix of concrete for the floors.
The legendary pool with its views of the San Jacinto Mountains is still there (rumor has it Neutra had the pool built first so he could cool off while working on the site), now with the addition of a glass-walled pool house and a tennis court on the lot next door.
If sold at this price, the house (listed by Sotheby's International), would be the most expensive sale in Palm Springs history. Personally, we think it would make the perfect West Coast headquarters for Town & Country, who's in?
Olivia Hosken is the deputy managing editor of House Beautiful, where she oversees operations across the brand's print and digital platforms. She also writes about design and architecture and was previously the style & interiors writer at Town & Country and the managing editor of Dwell.
