Buy a slice of California’s midcentury modern history with this 1955 Pasadena house

Set among hills, this Pasadena house is a classic example of mid-century modernist architecture with a storied creative history. Up for sale via Sotheby’s International Realty, the Conrad Buff II Residence was designed for artists and writers Mary and Conrad Buff II and completed in 1955.

Step inside Conran Buff II Residence, a modernist Pasadena house

The firm charged with the design of this single-storey, four bedroom was residence was Buff and Hensman, established in 1948 by Don Hensman and Conran Buff III, the son of the clients. Joined by Calvin Straub shortly after the completion of this residence, the firm went on to work on Arts & Architecture Magazine’s Case Study programme, designing house #20 for designer Saul Bass. Other projects included a house for Steve McQueen and the design of Case Study house #28.

After Straub left in 1962, the firm continued, with Buff himself dying in 1989 and the architect Dennis Smith joining the firm as a partner. It was Smith who led a full renovation and extension of the Buff House in 2017, which was subsequently used for a spell as the firm’s office, as well as winning a local historic preservation award. The renovation updated the house throughout and as a result it’s in fine physical condition.

Tucked into a hillside overlooking a canyon, the house is arranged over a single storey in a north-south linear configuration. Behind the automated gates, an elegant carport with a shallow-pitched roof and slender structure defines the entrance façade, with one side leading to the front door and the other to the deck and naturally planted garden by contemporary garden designer Ivette Soler.

Inside, the post-and-beam structure that defined so much of the practice’s residential work in California is very much in evidence. The original walnut cabinetry and storage remains in place, restored and expanded, while cork flooring gives a warm feeling underfoot throughout the primary rooms.

All bedrooms have direct access to the garden and there’s also a sitting area contained in the primary suite.

The neighbourhood is scattered with low-key architectural gems, many of which follow the established mid-century playbook of single-storey, open plan houses that make the most of the Californian climate with their sliding glass walls and slender steel or timber structures.

The Conrad Buff II Residence in Pasadena is for sale via Sotheby’s Realty, Los Feliz Brokerage

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