Designed by Legendary Architect Raphael Soriano, Gogol House in L.A. Is Listed for $3.5M

“This particular home was one of the first modern homes around Los Angeles, and even the neighbors didn’t know what to make of it,” explains the listing agent, Brian Courville. “Obviously, as time goes on, these kind of homes become very appreciated for their uniqueness and architecture and design.”

So it figures the current owner is a designer who purchased the home in 2011. Over the past decade, the home has been meticulously renovated, while keeping Soriano’s original ideas intact.

“It’s special because it has been preserved, restored, and renovated with respect to what my client feels the architect would have appreciated,” Courville says. “A lot of these homes have been bastardized—or have been destroyed and torn down. It’s becoming rare to find a nice architectural home that’s either in somewhat original condition and preserved well—or updated respectfully. These are becoming rare gems to find.”

A buyer must be prepared to pay a premium for this particular gem. With 2,779 square feet of living space, the three-bedroom home is priced at $1,258 a square foot. But Soriano’s designs are hard to find, and the attention to detail in the renovation makes this a work of art.

One shining example is a reconfigured hallway. “There was a long hallway to a bedroom and a bath, and [the current owner] changed the hallway and reimagined it into a gorgeous library,” Courville explains. “It has become this gorgeous sitting space to sit, ponder, think, and do some work.”

___

Watch: This Insanely Expensive $169M Penthouse in NYC Rises Above the Rest

___

---

MORE FROM REALTOR:

---

The library also features a hidden kitchenette. It’s not the only design element tucked away: A bedroom at the end of the lower-level hallway sits behind a hidden pocket door.

On the main floor, the kitchen is bright and sleek, with Gaggenau, Miele, and Bertazzoni appliances. There’s also a custom stainless-steel cooking station with a sink and cooktop.

The revamped kitchen fits in with Soriano’s modernist style.

“Traditionally, the kitchen was a room like all other rooms, with an entrance and an exit. This layout is like 90% of the kitchens from that period,” Courville explains. “My client believes in elegance and minimalism, so there’s definitely luxury—but very minimal.”

Walls of glass in the living room let plenty of light in and lead out to a terrace, perfect for watching the sunset. There’s also a rooftop deck for outdoor entertaining.

“According to Soriano, he envisioned people using the deck as an outdoor living room, because it basically covers the whole footprint of the house,” Courville says.

Soriano died in 1988 and helped define what would become midcentury modern architecture. Using mostly modular prefabricated steel and aluminum, he built more than 50 buildings in the course of his career, many of them in Southern California. Natural disasters and wrecking balls have destroyed all but 12 of them.

The Gogol House was originally built for a surgeon, Louis Gogol, and his wife, Bessie, who lived in the home with their two daughters.

From the outside, the classic residence doesn’t look like much. Secluded from the street, the design offers a true getaway in L.A.

“While you get a sense of the house from the street, you really don’t understand what it looks like until you ’til you get inside. I had a lot of people that were very surprised with what was on the interior of the house,” Courville says. “While you can see an element of the house, it still has a big sense of privacy.”

The post Designed by Legendary Architect Raphael Soriano, Gogol House in L.A. Is Listed for $3.5M appeared first on Real Estate News & Insights | realtor.com®.