Dion and Richard Neutra recreate the VDL Penthouse for Kettal
Using updated construction methods but staying true to the VDL Research House 1963 original, Richard Neutra's son Dion recreates the penthouse of our dreams

Built by Richard Neutra for his family in 1932, the VDL Research House in LA is a landmark in the development of American Modernism. The house was razed by a fire in 1963 and Neutra worked with his son Dion to rebuild it, preserving the original footprint but fine-tuning the design and adding new elements. Including the penthouse of our dreams.
Outdoor furniture brand Kettal is similarly enamoured, to the point of working with Dion Neutra to replicate it. Kettal’s standalone penthouse replica is built using updated construction methods, but the design stays true to the 1963 original. An automated smart home system – of which Richard Neutra would have approved – has also been installed to control lighting, heating and air conditioning. We can’t wait to put one in our garden.
AS FEATURED IN THE WALLPAPER* DESIGN AWARDS 2020 ISSUE
INFORMATION
Receive our daily digest of inspiration, escapism and design stories from around the world direct to your inbox.
Ali Morris is a UK-based editor, writer and creative consultant specialising in design, interiors and architecture. In her 16 years as a design writer, Ali has travelled the world, crafting articles about creative projects, products, places and people for titles such as Dezeen, Wallpaper* and Kinfolk.
-
Out of office: The Wallpaper* editors' picks of the week
The London office of Wallpaper* had a very important visitor this week. Elsewhere, the team traverse a week at Frieze
-
Alexandre de Betak on getting lost to find himself in London
As the world-renowned artistic director opens his first personal studio in London during Frieze Week, Alexandre de Betak reflects on leaving the fashion runway behind to explore light, space and creative freedom
-
Step inside Faye Toogood's intimate cabinet of curiosities at PAD London
For PAD London 2025, (until 19 October) Faye Toogood presents The Magpie’s Nest with Friedman Benda
-
Explore Tom Kundig’s unusual houses, from studios on wheels to cabins slotted into boulders
The American architect’s entire residential portfolio is the subject of a comprehensive new book, ‘Tom Kundig: Complete Houses’
-
Ballman Khaplova creates a light-filled artist’s studio in upstate New York
This modest artist’s studio provides a creative with an atelier and office in the grounds of an old farmhouse, embedding her practice in the surrounding landscape
-
The most important works of modernist landscape architecture in the US
Modernist landscapes quite literally grew alongside the modern architecture movement. Field specialist and advocate Charles A. Birnbaum takes us on a tour of some of the finest examples
-
Jeanne Gang’s single malt whisky decanter offers a balance ‘between utility and beauty’
The architect’s whisky decanter, 'Artistry in Oak', brings a sculptural dimension to Gordon & MacPhail's single malt
-
An idyllic slice of midcentury design, the 1954 Norton House has gone on the market
Norton House in Pasadena, carefully crafted around its sloping site by Buff, Straub & Hensman, embodies the Californian ideal of the suburban modern house embedded within a private landscape
-
Herzog & de Meuron and Piet Oudolf unveil Calder Gardens in Philadelphia
The new cultural landmark presents Alexander Calder’s work in dialogue with nature and architecture, alongside the release of Jacques Herzog’s 'Sketches & Notes'. Ellie Stathaki interviews Herzog about the project.
-
Meet Studio Zewde, the Harlem practice that's creating landscapes 'rooted in cultural narratives, ecology and memory'
Ahead of a string of prestigious project openings, we check in with firm founder Sara Zewde
-
The best of California desert architecture, from midcentury gems to mirrored dwellings
While architecture has long employed strategies to cool buildings in arid environments, California desert architecture developed its own distinct identity –giving rise, notably, to a wave of iconic midcentury designs