Artist’s former home atop Mt. Washington comes with lovely garden for $1.1M

Just around the corner from the Self-Realization Fellowship Headquarters and down the road from A. Quincy Jones’ Pilot House in Mt. Washington is where you’ll find this unique property.

Built in 1953, it was originally the home of Benji Okubo, an accomplished painter and illustrator whose ascendant art career was sadly derailed by World War II, when he was sent to internment camps. Following the war, Okubo worked as a landscape architect, “designing gardens for prominent businesses and celebrities,” per the Densho Encyclopedia.

Okubo’s former home has been heavily altered by subsequent owners, but some of the artist’s original touches, including a sizable boulder in the home’s entryway and a rock waterfall in the master bedroom, are still in place.

Other notable features of the 1,412-square-foot residence include cherry wood floors, a moon-shaped doorway, oversize glass sliders, an Aga stove, a double-size refrigerator-freezer, and two freestanding fireplaces. There’s also a 9-by-20-foot basement.

Outside on the 9,478-square-foot grounds, there are multiple waterfalls, Okubo’s rockscapes, a koi pond with a bridge, abundant fruit trees, an outdoor daybed positioned for enjoying bucolic canyon views, a massive sculpture made from part of a tree that had fallen nearby, and two separate bonus studios.

3931 Rome Court is listed with Dan Mancinelli and Brian Moore of Berkshire Hathaway Home Services for an asking price of $1.098 million. Open house is scheduled for 1 to 4 p.m. Sunday.