One of the most dramatic homes in Los Angeles has just been donated to the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Designed in 1961 by John Lautner — an influential Southern California architect — the glass and concrete house clings to the side of a canyon. Its present owner, James Goldstein, has been revising and perfecting it for 35 years.

James Goldstein has just announced that he will donate his landmark Los Angeles residence — designed by architect John Lautner --€” to the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.
James Goldstein has just announced that he will donate his landmark Los Angeles residence — designed by architect John Lautner --€” to the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. - "Minimal is the word ... " he says. "Everything is simple and at the same time beautiful." © JEFF GREEN / LACMA

The Los Angeles County Museum of Art, which prides itself on its encyclopaedic and interdisciplinary collection, has just acquired its first home: John Lautner’s Sheats Goldstein Residence in Beverly Hills, completed in 1963. You probably know the futuristic, angular building from the Coen brothers’ film The Big Lebowski (1998), where it played the home of pornographer Jackie Treehorn. (‘Quite a pad you got here, man,’ says The Dude. ‘Completely unspoiled.’) Or possibly, depending on your proclivities, you might recognise it from Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle (2003), or from Snoop Dogg and Pharrell’s video for Let’s Get Blown (2005), or from auteur porn director Andrew Blake’s film Unleashed (1996). It is currently rented approximately 200 days a year for photoshoots and filming, not to mention swanky private functions such as Rihanna’s 27th birthday party.