14 Masterpiece Homes for Sale Around the Country
Regular homes can be, well, kind of boring.
They might have everything you want, and if you’re lucky, they have everything you need. But these homes have things you didn’t even know you needed.
We searched around the country for residential homes designed by notable architects, both living and dead, and selected 14 that you could buy right now.
You’ll find giant mushroom pods, walls of steel and glass, and the designs of famed architects in this list.
Marcel Breuer’s home in a sleepy Connecticut town
Marcel Breuer was one of the founding members of the modernist architectural movement, and he settled down at this property in New Canaan, Conn. Breuer built the blocky 4,777-square-foot house in 1951.
Throughout the years it had been renovated and added to, but by the mid-2000s the home was set to be demolished and replaced by a colonial. A new set of buyers stepped in to save it for $2.6 million and went about renovating and adding an expansive glass stairwell to the historic home.
The house has been for sale for over two years, first listing at a $5.85 million price. Currently, it’s up for sale at $4.35 million.
This $42 million vineyard estate
It apparently took five years of planning, designing and building this ultra-modern estate in Helena, Calif.
Designed by architect Lewis Butler, this 20-acre wine estate in Napa Valley was built on-spec and comes with about 14 acres of planted Rutherford cabernet sauvignon grapes, according to the San Francisco Business Times.
It’s certainly a property for only the most prosperous wine seller (or lover) as it features a “steel-suspended, floating system for showcasing a wine collection” according to the listing, which says the property has been approved for a 10,000-gallon-per-day production facility.
A $62 million Mansion owned by Dick Cavett
Tick Hall was a massive Shingle style estate made of southern pine overlooking the Eastern seaboard in Montauk, N.Y., built by architect Stanford White in the 1880s.
It was that. It also still is that.
See, Tick Hall burned down in 1997 (possibly due to roofers leaving behind a blowtorch), leaving only the chimney standing. The owners, television personality Dick Cavett and his late wife, actress Carrie Nye, were devastated. But then they set out with a monumental task to rebuild Tick Hall as it once was.
Cavett and Nye used old pictures, files, memories and a computer model to bring the 7,000 square-foot mansion back to life. It’s listed for sale at $62 million, and according to this listing, it’s the first time Tick Hall has been on the open market in 135 years (of course that’s not really true, but it’s close enough).
A floating glass house
Architect Paul McClean designed this curved construction of glass and steel that seems to float on the bluffs of Laguna Beach, Calif. Dubbed the “New King of Los Angeles Megamansion Design” by Curbed, McClean has been designing California houses for the ultra-rich for nearly a decade.
This floating glass house has been designed to give panoramic ocean views in every room and comes with color therapy lighting throughout the entire house, so you can change the lights to fit your mood. But the real prize might be a three-car garage which auto-lifts your ride from a finished lower floor into the upstairs gallery — meaning that when parked, your car sits indoors like an art piece that constantly reminds you to get your oil changed.
The 5,300 square-foot house is on the market for $13.9 million.
A house stretching into the sea
If a McClean is too far above your price point — and you’d prefer something cozier — consider the late architect Richard Clement’s glass house in Timber Cove, Calif. The 1,200 square-foot one-bedroom, one-bathroom house is inspired by Frank Lloyd Wright and costs a mere $3.9 million.
Built with locally sourced redwood and flagstone (and a bunch of glass), the home is accessed via a spindling walkway that creeps over a stretch of rock jutting 300 feet into the Pacific Ocean.
If you manage to get inside without falling overboard, you’ll be treated to a 1960s retro interior with a sunken living room, flagstone walls and a spectacular view.
This exceptionally trippy home in New York
The late architect James Johnson built this awesomely psychedelic piece — or should we say pods — of architecture in the early 1970s.
The house is comprised of four separate pods connected via hallways and supported by concrete ‘stems’ ranging from 14 to 20 feet in height. Twenty other artists assisted in the details, including unique ceramic light fixtures, tile flooring, handcrafted built-ins and colorful tilework in a freeform hallway and stairwell.
The “Mushroom House” is a town landmark and located in Pittsford, NY, and it’s available for rent for a pretty reasonable price: $6,900 a month.
That might sound steep, but if you bring some friends to the 4,168-square-foot three-bedroom for a getaway weekend, it could be worth the trip.
A modern estate overlooking Austin
Austin, Texas, is one of the most popular places to live in the United States — and has the rent prices to prove it — but living downtown can be so busy.
Why not saddle up at home in this modern masterpiece where you can watch everyone else can keep Austin weird? This $14.9 million estate was designed by noted architect Peter Gluck, a modernist architect who has spent over 40 years designing homes with beautiful glass walls.
He’s known for warping the outside landscaping into curves and dips to hide amenities from view, so the house is on full display.
This “poem on the landscape”
Antoine Predock, one of Architectural Digest’s 100 notable architects & designers, called this creation of his a “a poem on the landscape.”
Known as Mariposa Ranch and located in Arroyo Seco, New Mexico, this $2.9 million, 5,000-square-foot contemporary pueblo-style house sits on a 35-acre parcel surrounded by over 1,000 acres of undeveloped land.
The home features 35-foot ceilings, gigantic windows, mountain views, horse stables and a honeysuckle-covered trellis.
The Brooke Mansion
This massive Victorian has been hailed as one of the world’s most notable homes and has been featured in Architectural Digest.
Known as The Brooke Mansion in Birdsboro, Penn., this incredible 13,677 square-foot home has 42 rooms with 16 bedrooms, nine bathrooms, 10 custom fireplaces and an original wooden elevator. Built by Frank Furness in 1882, it’s currently listed at $1.74 million, but has had trouble selling for nearly a decade.
The mansion has been on and off the market for about nine years. According to Curbed, it might be because the mansion has a weirdly small acreage — about three acres —which may leave potential mansion owners feeling a little claustrophobic. It’s also a bed and breakfast.
This swanky loft in NYC
This 3,150-square foot loft in New York City’s Chelsea neighborhood was featured on the cover of Architectural Digest.
Gutted and reformed by architect Alexander Gorlin and then redesigned by Elvis Restaino, the artistic apartment features mottled plaster walls and ironwork that give it a rustic look that would be right at home in a post-apocalyptic movie.
It’s freshly listed at $5.995 million.
This artful Hawaiian getaway
Designed by noted architect Mark de Reus, this six-bedroom, $13.9 million home in Kamuela, Hawaii, is one of those places dreams are made of.
The 9,500 square-foot, six-bedroom, eight-bathroom home is made of high-quality material like coral stone, marble, basalt, teak, cumaru and travertine.
Most notable is the pool, which wraps around, and almost into, the home.
A Frank Lloyd Wright family masterpiece
Frank Lloyd Wright might be the most famous American architect, but his son, Frank Lloyd Wright Jr., shouldn’t be overlooked. In 1928, Wright Jr. created this Mayan-inspired piece for “Ben Hur” star Ramon Novarro, who had the house built for his secretary, Louis Samuel.
Located in Los Angeles, Calif., the house is listed at $4.295 million, is 2,690 square feet and sits on a 0.3-acre lot. Actors Diane Keaton and Christina Ricci have bought and sold the property, and in 2008, the property underwent a thorough renovation.
After seven years of going on and off the market, the home is now pending an offer.
Where old world meets new world
Created by acclaimed architect Thomas Jakway and renowned designer Thomas Allardyce, this 11,475-square foot Mediterranean mansion in Indian Wells, Calif., blends modernity with old world charm.
It features a subterranean multi-car garage, game room, bar, media room, guest wing and a huge master suite that includes a paneled office with privacy door.
Built in 2008, the five-bedroom, five-bathroom house is listed at $14.999 million.
A touch of traditionalism
Architect Gerald Colcord was a famous Southern California architect who eschewed the modern movement for that classic, more comfortable-feeling kind of house. This home in Los Angeles, Calif., is representative of Colcord’s classic style.
With pitched roofs, exposed wooden beams and at least one stately stone fireplace, this 8,337-foot, five-bedroom, seven-bathroom house is a home with a taste for that old-school kind of architecture.
And listed at $19.5 million, it will probably take some old money to fetch it.