Starchitect Thom Mayne is Tearing Down Ray Bradbury's Cheviot Hills House Right Now

The Cheviot Hills house where beloved science fiction writer and monorail lover Ray Bradbury lived for more than 50 years—until his death in 2012—hit the market last May, and sold in a little over a month for $1.765 million—$270,000 over its asking price, according to listing site Redfin's records. The buyers applied for, and late last month received, a permit to demolish the sunny yellow house. This is what the property looked like last week, as seen in photos posted on sci-fi fan hub File 770. Demolition was probably to be expected, but here's the twist: according to PropertyShark, the buyers were Pritzker-Prize-winning architect Thom Mayne, of the firm Morphosis, and his wife, Blythe Alison-Mayne.

According to John King Tarpinian, who took these photos, a contractor on the site told him that the new property owner's plan is to demolish Bradbury's house to put in a new house with three underground levels—one of which will hold a swimming pool—and two stories above ground. There are no permits on file with the city for the construction right now, so it's not clear whether or not the plans are anything more than that, but whatever Mayne builds will probably be pretty spectacular—he's best known around Los Angeles for his zippy Caltrans building Downtown and the huge, glassy-gutted square of Emerson College's new campus in Hollywood. According to his firm's Morphopedia, it's been more than a decade since he's designed a residence in Los Angeles. We have a call into his office for more details.

· Viewing the Remains of Bradbury's Home [File 770]
· Ray Bradbury's Long-Time Cheviot Hills House Hits the Market [Curbed LA]
· Thom Mayne [Curbed LA]