Richard Neutra’s Only Case Study House Lists for $10.5 Million

Midcentury-modern enthusiasts would be hard-pressed to find a more exemplary estate than this one in L.A.’s Pacific Palisades neighborhood, which actually combines two stalwarts of the time period, visionary architect Richard Neutra and the influential Case Study Houses program.

Neutra, a naturalized American citizen who emigrated from Austria, was instrumental in creating Southern California’s midcentury-modern design aesthetic, while the Case Study Houses, a program sponsored by Arts & Architecture magazine from 1945 to 1966, were intended as experimental models for affordable, modern living in postwar America. 

Every so often, a Neutra-designed home or one of the extant Case Study Houses pops up for sale. But this place in the Palisades is the only way to get both icons of 20th-century architecture in one spot because Richard Neutra’s only fully realized Case Study House could now be yours for $10.5 million. Frank Langen at Compass holds the listing. 

The Bailey House is so named for its original owners, dentist Stuart J. Bailey and his wife, June. The couple commissioned Neutra to build the three-bedroom, two-bath home in 1948, and they worked with the architect on two additions in 1950 and 1958. While the property was open to public tours when it first debuted, the Baileys would go on to raise their children there, ultimately living in the house for more than 50 years.

The home was sold to Samuel “Sam” Simon, a co-creator of The Simpsons, in the early 2000s. Working with the firm Marmol Radziner, Simon restored the house and added modern amenities. Rather than living there himself, however, he used the Bailey House as his personal office and guest quarters. He spent most of his time in another residence on the property, which is not included in this sale. In 2016, the two-residence compound was sold to fashion designer Lorna Jane Clarkson and her husband, who, in 2021, sold the Bailey House to John Wise, the former CEO of InvestCloud, for $11.3 million.

The property is being offered fully furnished with pieces that feel true to quintessential midcentury SoCal style. Highlights include a tomato-red kitchen and a fireplace-warmed primary bedroom. Wood-paneled walls and built-ins create a throughline from the open-plan great room to the bedrooms to the greenery-facing office.

Planned around Neutra’s pinwheel-like “four-courter” layout, the two wings of the home sit among courtyards, with a covered breezeway connecting the structures. A patio adjacent to the living room makes it seem like the house simply continues out and into its natural surroundings. The grounds also include a lighted ping-pong table, a tiny glade with a freestanding midcentury fireplace, and, for more practical matters, a two-vehicle carport.

Click here to see all the photos of the Bailey House.