A Pasadena home described in the National Register of Historic Places as one of lauded architect Calvin Straub’s “definitive achievements in post-and-beam residential architecture” is on the market.
The asking price is $2.98 million.
Known as the Thomas and Barbara Wirick House, this 1,744-square-foot house dating to 1958 has three bedrooms, two bathrooms and soaring double-height corner glass walls in the great room. Records show it traded hands for the third time in August 2021 for $1.98 million.
The property contributes to the Poppy Peak National Register Historic District and is under a Mills Act contract, which allows for reduced property taxes in exchange for the preservation and maintenance of the home.
With its flat roof, the two-story house has a separate double carport at the street level joined by a staircase. The steps lead down to the orange-red single entry door.
Inside the open-plan living space, this upper entry level overlooks the great room. It holds the primary suite, which has a walk-in closet that extends into the bathroom through sliding doors. A sitting area conceals a door to a storage area below the carport where a recently added elevator services all floors.
There’s also an interior staircase with clerestory windows that leads to the lower level’s communal hub with cork flooring.
The dining area is at the center of the spacious great room, while a low ceiling and brick fireplace define the living area.
Upper and lower cabinets spatially separate the great room from the eat-in kitchen, which remains historically intact. It has wood and stainless steel countertop surfaces, vintage appliances and translucent stained cabinetry. There’s a low island with seating near the glass sliding door to the large wooden deck surrounded by mature trees.
The outdoor area includes a grid of brick patios and aggregate paving.
Back inside, each of the two first-floor bedrooms come equipped with built-in desks, cabinetry and bunk beds.
Lilian Pfaff and Nate Cole of Modern California House share the listing.
According to the Los Angeles Conservancy , the neighborhood features one of the finest collections of modernist homes, with 30 out of 45 built between 1935 and 1968 contributing to its historical significance.
“Straub’s design for the Wiricks is an important and nearly intact example of his architectural ideas and vocabulary,” the listing reads.
Straub was an award-winning architect and a USC and Arizona State University professor of architecture. He drew inspiration from the arts and crafts movement and California’s early modernists.
The book “Toward a Simpler Way of Life: The Art of Crafts Architects of California” dubbed him the “father of California post and beam architecture.” Julius Shulman’s architectural photographs often accompanied Straub’s published works, mostly residential projects produced during his partnership with Conrad Buff III and Donald Hensman from 1956 to 1961. The firm’s Case Study House No. 20, also known as the Saul Bass House, was the only Case Study House of the late ’50s built from wood rather than steel.
Straub died in October 1998 at 78.