The Importance of Stewardship: A John Lautner Architectural Treasure

There are many things I want when it comes to preserving the architectural gems of Los Angeles, but one of the most important is stewardship.

And one of the best examples of stewardship in this city is James Goldstein, who has preserved his home, a brilliant work of architect John Lautner, and opens it for private tours several times a year.

I have been fortunate enough to benefit from Goldstein’s generosity by being given the opportunity four times a year to bring my UCLA students into the Sheats-Goldstein house, a mid-century modern masterpiece perched on the cliffs of Beverly Crest above Beverly Hills.

This house – which has appeared in movies like The Big Lebowski and Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle – is a stunning example of Lautner’s genius.

With its blending of seamless indoor-outdoor flow and use of concrete triangles, elements of nature and huge glass walls that look out over beautiful vistas of L.A., the Sheats-Goldstein house is one of a kind.

Let me take you on a short tour. We begin at the lush outdoor entry to the home, with a flagstone path built over a koi pond surrounded by exuberant flora. We step inside to a living room with built-in concrete couches covered in brown leather cushions. Against one wall, separated by glass, is an indoor garden of tropical-like plants.

We take this in, but our eye moves to the huge glass wall that allows us to see the swimming pool and the sprawl of L.A. below. It’s a space of angles, with a concrete roof and a wood ceiling.

We could be in a James Bond movie – and as if on cue, a TV screen hidden in the ceiling near the entrance retracts.

You become one with the space. Everything is moving and flowing. John Lautner framed an image that is fluid. It changes depending on how you move in the space.

We step outside onto the concrete veranda with its angled lip. The site is narrow, on a steep, verdant cliff (this is not a place for toddlers or acrophobics). We look back at the pool and the house and notice that a built-in concrete bench flows from the inside to the outside, with the glass wall between.

An open concrete fireplace in a corner of the living room, with its herringbone pattern, blends in so well it’s almost unrecognizable as a hearth.

We go downstairs to an open breezeway to the master suite, just below the living room. With a touch of a button, floor to ceiling windows open to reveal magnificent views – if one dares to step onto the angled lip.

There are surprises in the bathroom: windows into the pool water above; two sinks – one of which is all glass, set against a glass wall, with water pouring outside; an indoor shower next to a glass-enclosed outdoor shower. Just outside on a platform is the sunken Jacuzzi, again with views.

Back upstairs, down an outdoor corridor, we see two bedrooms and a study. There’s a dining room next to a kitchen that has a retractable glass ceiling.

And if that is not enough, Goldstein bought the adjacent property and has built a tennis court. Underneath that, he is constructing a private nightclub, again in concrete with gorgeous views.

Goldstein’s stewardship was demonstrated as soon as he bought the property in 1972 (it was built for the Sheats family in 1963). Previous owners had made some pretty awful changes, including shag carpeting and ceilings painted green and yellow. So, Goldstein brought in Lautner, and the two worked together over many years to restore the house, inside and out, to its former glory. Even after Lautner’s death in 1994, Goldstein has worked with Duncan Nicholson, the last architect hired by the visionary Lautner.

While alive, Lautner was not as appreciated as much as he should have been, though that has changed dramatically. While many talented mid-century L.A. architects left a distinct imprimatur on the city, what makes Lautner unique are the futuristic elements to his work and the incorporation of his architectural forms within the natural surroundings. While the designs of his contemporaries seemed to fit in with their time and space (with features that were inspired by shapes such as Cadillac fins, boomerangs and Sputniks), Lautner interpreted futuristic elements with elegance and eloquence.

And aren’t we lucky that people like James Goldstein have taken the role of steward seriously?