Designed in 1939 by Frank Lloyd Wright for a Lockheed engineer, with construction overseen by architect John Lautner, the George D. Sturges House in Los Angeles's Brentwood Heights was the first of FLW's Usonian-style homes built on the West Coast, and is purported to be the only one in Southern California. The cantilevered redwood-and-brick residence was purchased in 1967 by actor/playwright Jack Larson, best known for playing Jimmy Olsen in the 1950s Adventures of Superman TV show, and his partner, Paperchase and Urban Cowboy director James Bridges. Serious art collectors and philanthropists, the couple shared the home for decades. Bridges passed away in 1993, survived by Larson until this past September. Next month, the 1,200-square-foot residence, along with several pieces of FLW-designed furniture from the house and an art collection including works by David Hockney and Andy Warhol, is set to hit the auction block in an estate sale conducted by Los Angeles Modern Auctions and Sotheby's.
Per the press release for the auction, proceeds of the house and collection "will benefit the Bridges/Larson Foundation, founded by James Bridges and Jack Larson, to be used for charitable, scientific, literary, and educational purposes."
The pre-sale estimates for the sale of the landmark property is $2.5 to $3 million; however, in an interview with Art + Auction, Los Angeles Modern Auction owner Peter Loughry notes, "The condition of the house is not great, it needs a lot of work. When Jack and Jim bought it in 1967, they hired John Lautner to restore it. Lautner worked for Wright and was the architect on this specific project. It now needs to be restored again, but the good news is that it has all the right things wrong with it. It needs decisions to be made by somebody like a Lautner."
· Frank Lloyd Wright's Sturges Residence Goes to Auction to Benefit Foundation [LAMA]