Ray Kappe’s Modernist masterpiece asks $11.5 million in Pacific Palisades

An iconic property that has been described as possibly “the greatest house in Southern California” just hit the market for the first time ever in Pacific Palisades. Asking price: $11.5 million.

A Midcentury masterpiece, the home served as the primary residence of Ray Kappe, the late architect who co-founded the Southern California Institute of Architecture (SCI-Arc). He designed the place himself in 1967.

Kappe died in 2019, and his wife Shelly, who also co-founded SCI-Arc, died last year. Now, the property is being sold by their family trust.

Tucked on a hillside in the Rustic Canyon neighborhood, the house floats above a natural spring that flows through the property, resting on six concrete columns sunk 30 feet into the ground. The 4,157-square-foot floor plan is split across seven levels, featuring five bedrooms, five bathrooms and free-flowing living spaces wrapped in redwood and glass.

One critic called it “a controlled explosion of space.” An architect called it “the quintessential treehouse.” In 2008, when the L.A. Times Home section created a list of the 10 best houses in L.A., which featured creations from Richard Neutra, Frank Lloyd Wright and Pierre Koenig, former American Institute of Architects’ L.A. chapter president Stephen Kanner said Kappe’s “may be the greatest house in Southern California.”

The 1960s home floats on a hillside lot in Rustic Canyon.

(Cameron Carothers)

It’s not a house that could be built today — for a handful of reasons. First, the hovering stairs and footbridges that navigate the property have no handrails, which are now required under current construction code.

Also, the house features a ton of glass. Too much glass, according to modern California building code. The home’s skylights, clerestories and towering windows that take in the wooded scene surrounding it make up roughly 50% of the floor plan — much higher than modern limits allow.

Outside, cantilevered decks and platforms overlook a lap pool, spa, sauna and cabana shrouded in eucalyptus, sycamore, oak and bamboo.

The 4,157-square-foot house is wrapped in concrete, redwood and glass.

(Cameron Carothers)

The end result is a striking space that feels entirely unique, even in a region as architecturally eclectic as Southern California. In 1996, it was deemed an L.A. Historic-Cultural Monument.

Ian Brooks of Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices California Properties holds the listing. He said calls asking to tour the property have been coming nonstop since it surfaced for sale.

“The Kappe residence will resonate with discerning buyers who value architectural provenance, impeccable design and cultural importance — a rare opportunity to own an enduring piece of architectural history,” he said.