The Harry Gesner-designed home at 1443 Devlin Drive in Hollywood Hills is listed for about $8.4 ... [+]
If Harry Gesner didn’t exist, Hollywood would have created him. Good looking and a lifelong surfer, the self-taught California architect took his inspiration not from the classroom but from Southern California’s rugged cliffs and rocky canyons. His midcentury residences have withstood the test of time with spaces that still possess an of-the-moment feel.
One of Gesner’s creations at 1443 Devlin Drive in the Hollywood Hills above Sunset Boulevard recently hit the market for $8.4 million. The home with glass walls and soaring wooden beams fits neatly into its hillside setting.
Glass walls and soaring wooden beams define the architectural masterpiece.
Below, the city unfolds. In one direction, downtown Los Angeles and the Capitol Records building (itself a midcentury landmark) and, in another direction, the Pacific coast. Want more access to the views? A wide patio envelops the house.
The four-bedroom home with six bathrooms was built in 1960. Gesner’s 6,500-square-foot masterwork is on full display, starting with a signature sunken space/conversation pit anchored by an angled fireplace. Here, the space and floors are defined by sleek stone. The patterned-wood ceiling thrusts outward, with beams that appear to pierce the glass walls. It’s the “soaring” effect that Gesner’s work is known for.
Views from the residence take in downtown Los Angeles and other notable landmarks.
The nearby dining area shares the stone flooring and wide-angled views. A formal dining room and contemporary kitchen lie within. The primary bedroom comes with a fireplace, lounging areas, a bathroom with soaking tub, walk-in closets and, of all things, a three-sided aquarium.
Other features include additional bathrooms, a screening room, wet bar and wine room―as well as a tasting nook―and a gym/yoga room with a marble shower.
Clerestory windows create an atrium-like effect in the dining and living areas.
The property has been updated to include a heated saltwater pool and solar panels. Outdoor decking tiles have also been replaced.
A house designed by a famed architect typically comes with famed residents, and the Devlin Drive residence is no exception.
Gesner's work is known for having a "soaring" effect.
Film director and producer Jack Haley Jr. tapped Gesner to build the hillside home. He lived there with his one-time wife, actress and singer Liza Minnelli, in the 1970s. In 2003, singer Christina Aguilera bought and lived in the home.
Gesner died in 2020 at age 97 at his home in Malibu. A New York Times obituary described him as “a dashing, surf-loving architect whose soaring designs celebrated California’s dramatic landscape in houses that straddled canyons, perched over beaches and cantilevered from cliffs … .”
The four-bedroom home with six bathrooms was built in 1960.
Other Gesner designs include the Boat Houses in the Hollywood Hills that resemble small wooden boats whose prows touch not water but air space over a canyon. They are small―1,200 square feet in size―but accent the indoor-outdoor lifestyle with wraparound decks on two levels.
Several of his works that have become architectural landmarks include the Wave House in Malibu and the Triangle House in the Valley.
A three-sided aquarium catches the eye in the primary bathroom.
Levik Stephan and Anita Stephan of Hilton & Hyland are the listing agents.
Tiers of couches fill out the movie room, which has a snack bar.
Film director and producer Jack Haley Jr. tapped Gesner to build the hillside home.
Haley lived there with his one-time wife, actress and singer Liza Minnelli, in the 1970s. It was ... [+]
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