Listing of the Day
Location: Pacific Palisades, California Price: $18.25 million
Welton Becket is best known as the renowned modern architect who designed such iconic Los Angeles buildings as the Beverly Hilton Hotel, the Capitol Records Building, and the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion at the Los Angeles Music Center.
Becket also designed modern private homes, including ones for stars like James Cagney and Robert Montgomery.
And one of his homes, a 1946 gem at 1619 San Remo Drive in the ultra-exclusive upper Riviera neighborhood, is now on the market for $18.25 million.
"This was the largest single-family residence he was ever commissioned to do," said listing agent Jordan Eamer, whose grandfather, Richard Eamer, lived in the house for 46 years.
"My grandfather kept the house in immaculate shape," Mr. Eamer said. "He had a live-in handyman who was here six days a week."
"it’s just an older house—it has great bones, great charm," he added.
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The well-proportioned home has split-level dual master suites and two ground level wings. The main living areas, which include the great room, living room, dining area and den, open to a covered terrace overlooking the pool, spa, pool cabana, and tennis court. A media room with a vaulted ceiling opens to a back patio and more grounds.
"My memories of it are just what it has to offer now," Mr. Eamer said. "I remember it as a private getaway inside of Los Angeles, a place where you could actually get away from the craziness that is L.A."
"It’s so tranquil and quiet, and dark at night," he adds. "It’s always been a retreat for my family."
The Stats
The one-story, 6,321-square-foot house has five bedrooms and six bathrooms. The Eamers decided not to renovate the original kitchen and bathrooms, letting the next owner make those decisions.
The 1946 house sits on a flat 1.06-acre lot, which is large for this area. "It’s now only one of five or six that are over 1 acre," Mr. Eamer said.
Design Pedigree
Welton Becket and his partner, Walter Wurdeman, did everything for their clients, creating the notion of "total design." Along with architectural design, they did the master planning, engineering, interiors, furniture, fixtures, landscaping and signage. For their restaurant clients, they even designed menus, matchbooks, silverware and napkins.
Becket’s long list of credits includes the UCLA Medical Center, Pan-Pacific Auditorium, General Petroleum Building, Santa Monica Auditorium, the Theme Building at the L.A. airport, and the Pauley Pavilion at UCLA.
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Amenities
The property has a large, deep pool with flagstone decking, tennis court, sauna, gazebo, billiards room with a fireplace, and an attached garage. The very private grounds feature thick hedges, tall trees, flowering gardens and spacious lawns.
"The pool is larger than others in the neighborhood because no one else has the space," Mr. Eamer said.
Celebrity Cachet
"It’s littered with celebrities up here," Mr. Eamer said of the Pacific Palisades location. "Goldie Hawn is four doors down, Ben Affleck is here, Adam Sandler, Blake Griffin, Steven Spielberg."
Agent: Jordan Eamer of Compass
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