Today the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) announced that James Goldstein, the billionaire NBA buff and fashion aficionado, has promised his iconic John Lautner-designed house, its contents and the surrounding estate to the museum. The $40 million property, located near Beverly Hills, is probably best known outside certain midcentury-design-obsessed circles for its prominent role in The Big Lebowski. (The sci-fi-style 1963 structure did a star turn as pornographer Jackie Treehorn’s house in the 1998 Coen brothers cult classic.) And countless prominent photographers—Herb Ritts, Helmut Newton, Steven Meisel, Peter Lindbergh, et al.—have used the distinctive structure, a prime example of American Organic Architecture, as a backdrop for seminal fashion shoots.
The promised gift, the first architectural acquisition for LACMA, comprises a James Turrell Skyspace, Above Horizon, in its landscaped tropical gardens, an “infinity” tennis court and an entertainment complex. Through the historic transaction, the museum will also take ownership of Goldstein’s massive fashion collection, works by artists including Ed Ruscha, DeWain Valentine and Kenny Scharf, and a 1961 Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud. Goldstein, who acquired the property in 1972, worked for more than 30 years with Lautner, who died in 1994, to rebuild and expand the property in a true-to-style and respectful manner; the collaboration even resulted in custom-built minimalist furniture for the living spaces made of concrete, wood and glass.
“Over the course of many meetings with [LACMA CEO] Michael Govan, I was very impressed with his appreciation for the history of the house and the role it has played in the cultural life of Los Angeles, as well as with his vision for continuing that tradition when the house becomes an important part of LACMA’s collections,” Goldstein said in a statement. “Hopefully, my gift will serve as a catalyst to encourage others to do the same to preserve and keep alive Los Angeles’s architectural gems for future generations.”
