This $1.9 Million William Kesling Home in Pasadena Was Completed While the Architect Was in Prison
- The Streamline Moderne home known as the Thomas J. Atol Residence in Pasadena, built in 1938 by architect William Kesling, is now on the market for $1.9 million.
Despite its law-breaking history, there's no need to commit a crime to get your hands on this Streamline Moderne home.
Known as the Thomas J. Atol Residence, the Pasadena property was built in 1938 by the architect William Kesling. A prolific architect in the mid-1930s, Kesling ended up serving time in San Quentin for fraud during the same period he was working on the Atol home. While imprisoned, he allowed the John L. Hudson Construction Company to complete the build, and 90 years later, the three-bedroom, three-bath is now on the market for $1.9 million, with the George Penner Team at Compass holding the listing .
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The ceramic tiled primary bathroom is punched up with a chartreuse two-sink vanity.
There are elements of Bauhaus design, but the hillside house, set into a hairpin is fully committed to a casual and quintessentially SoCal indoor-outdoor program, with open floor plans and various entry points to the outdoors. Rising three stories tall, you actually enter the home on the top floor, where large windows flood the living and dining rooms with natural light. The living room features a tiled fireplace for cozy evenings, while the dining area leads to a sizable deck for alfresco dining. A sleek galley kitchen has been updated with a Sub-Zero refrigerator and other modern appliances.
RELATED: A Painstakingly Restored 143-Year-Old Craftsman in Pasadena Lists for $3.8 Million
The primary bedroom sits on the top level as well. There, you'll find a walk-in closet and a sunny bathroom with two-toned beige tile work and funky chartreuse cabinetry. Two extra bedrooms are found on the level below, along with another full bath and a balcony. The bottom floor houses a two-car garage, laundry facilities, and storage. Along with the decks and balconies, nature lovers will find tiered gardens and leafy patios amid a landscape of native desert plants.
A partly covered terrace set in the treetops is idea for catching a cool breeze on a summer day.
Kesling was one of the busiest architects in L.A. between 1935 and 1937, creating more than 20 Streamline Moderne homes across the city. For comparison, that's more than Rudolph Schindler and Richard Neutra during that time. He was hailed for the affordability of his designs, which made them accessible to homebuyers with modest incomes. And Kesling was one of the first clients of Julius Shulman , the renowned American architectural photographer whose archive now resides at the Getty Center.
Click here to see all the photos of the Pasadena home.
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