The Los Angeles Times reports on the seemingly imminent demolition of Beverly Hills house designed by Richard Neutra. The beat up and neglected house was bought in January for $5.8m but quickly re-listed in April for $14m. Having failed to sell the place in three months, it would appear that the owners are trying a new approach to adding value to the property:
The house, which is not visible from the street, has been “terribly neglected, but the bones are still there,” said Dion Neutra, an architect who teamed up with his late father, Richard, on the project. “The new owner thinks it would be more valuable to tear it down and have empty land.”
Dion Neutra and the Los Angeles Conservancy say the loss of the Kronish House would be akin to the 2002 demolition of Neutra’s 1963 Maslon House in Rancho Mirage. That 5,000-square-foot, six-bedroom landmark was flattened even after assurances from a real estate agent that the new owner was thinking of restoring it. Preservationists across the nation protested the loss.
Neutra’s Kronish House Appears to be Bound for Demolition (Los Angeles Times)