Santa Monica’s Strick House Lists for $20 Million

The Strick House, the only home in North America designed by Pritzker Prize-winning architect Oscar Nieyemer, is on the market.

The former Santa Monica residence of filmmaker Joseph Strick is available for just under $20 million, Robb Report reported. The home, located at 1911 La Mesa Drive, was completed in 1965 and was named a landmark by the city of Santa Monica in 2003, affording a buyer some potential property tax perks if they take over the property.

Five bedrooms and six bathrooms are spread across the 5,153-square-foot house, complete with a bevy of classic touches including palm wood floors, an asymmetrical fireplace with a cantilevered hearth and a large library with built-in bookshelves. The home has a dining area connected to an eat-in kitchen, and a primary suite with a terrazzo-tiled bathroom with a recessed tub.

Outside, a buyer can enjoy a backyard filled with palms and ferns, take a dip in the pool or simply relax in al fresco lounging and entertaining areas. The 0.6-acre blufftop property overlooks the Riviera Country Club golf course and the Santa Monica Mountains. Parking is available in an attached two-car garage.

Because the property transfers with the Mills Act, the buyer can receive reduced property taxes in exchange for restoring and preserving a historic structure such as this, according to Robb Report.

Strick opted for Niemeyer to design the home partially in response to the Brazilian architect’s effective banning from the United States due to his communist affiliations in his home country.

“The choice of Niemeyer was not only an aesthetic one but, in part, a way of thumbing our noses at the whole McCarthy era because it seemed so reprehensible that a man, simply because of his political views, could be prevented from working in this country,” his wife Anne said.

The Stricks sold the house in 2003 to a developer who wanted to demolish it but was stopped by a stay of execution after public outcry. Michael and Gabrielle Boyd of BoydDesign then purchased the home for $3.5 million and spent more than two years restoring it.

— Chris Malone Méndez