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Location: Sausalito, California
Price: $1,425,000
Born in Peru of Russian descent, midcentury Bay Area architect Violeta Autumn had worked closely with Bruce Goff, a disciple of Frank Lloyd Wright known for his eccentric designs. Autumn’s first major architectural work, her personal home and office built into a near-vertical site in Sausalito, CA, influences from Goff and Wright in its natural material palette and bold gestures, but comes infused with her own sensibilities.
Built in 1959, the 1,000-square-foot structure is a rich blend of wood, concrete, cork, and glass, with huge windows overlooking the San Francisco Bay. "The view is explosive, yet the house has a feeling of protection because I’m inclined to be an introvert," Autumn told the Daily Independent Journal in August 1963 for a profile series on the working women of Marin County. "An extrovert would have opened it out."
That piece also details how Autumn, along with her husband, spent eight months hand-sanding the interior’s redwood and Douglas fir to a satin finish. "I like materials to be truthful, not to pretend to be something else, like formica made to look like wood," she said. Indeed, all the wood, whether it’s the exposed beams, walls, staircase, or cabinetry, looks gorgeous to this day.
Newly on the market or $1.4M, the two-bedroom house also features built-in furniture, stained glass windows, a fireplace with a super cool full-height copper hood, as well as a separate art studio. Take a tour, below.
- 521 Sausalito Blvd [Decker Bullock Sotheby’s]
- 18 of the Most Drop-Dead Gorgeous Houses for Sale in 2015 [Curbed]