Inside a $20 Million L.A. Home Designed by Pritzker Prize-Winning Architect Oscar Niemeyer

Wendy Bowman

Mon, June 2, 2025 at 11:00 PM UTC

3 min read

Los Angeles filmmaker Joseph Strick and his wife Anne hired Brazilian architect Oscar Niemeyer to design their Santa Monica home as a response to Niemeyer's blacklisting in the U.S. during the McCarthy era.
The Strick House, completed in 1965 and the only residential project by Niemeyer in the U.S., was nearly demolished but was saved by preservationists and later restored by modernist house collectors Michael and Gabrielle Boyd.
The T-shaped pavilion, named a landmark in 2003, features five bedrooms, six baths, a sunken living room, double-height library, and overlooks the Riviera Country Club golf course and Santa Monica Mountains.

Back in the 1960s, legendary Brazilian modernist architect Oscar Niemeyer had been effectively blacklisted from working in the United States because of his leftist political associations. But that didn't stop Los Angeles filmmaker Joseph Strick and his writer wife Anne from hiring him to create an International-style home for them in the beachside city of Santa Monica.

"The choice of Niemeyer was not only an aesthetic one but, in part, a way of thumbing our noses at the whole McCarthy era because it seemed so reprehensible that a man, simply because of his political views, could be prevented from working in this country," Anne said.

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The glass-walled living room is warmed by an asymmetrical fireplace with a cantilevered hearth.

Niemeyer never actually met his clients in person during the design process, communicating with them instead via a series of letters. Local architect Ulrich Plaut drew up the plans, and Anne oversaw the home's completion in collaboration with interior designer Amir Farr. It wound up being the only residential project ever created in the U.S. by the late Pritzker Prize winner, who was best known for his work on Brasília , a new Brazilian capital city built in the late 1950s and later designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site .

Some 38 years later, the couple sold the place to a developer who threatened to demolish it but was thwarted with a stay of execution after an outcry from architects and preservationists. That's when avid modernist house collectors Michael and Gabrielle Boyd of BoydDesign stepped in and purchased the spread in early 2003 for $3.5 million and spent more than two years meticulously restoring it with architect Nigel Briand . Now, a little more than two decades later, the notable property has again popped up on the market for a speck under $20 million.

A double-height library is lined with bookshelves.

"The Strick House is a one of one acquisition of cultural heritage," says Aaron Kirman, who holds the listing with Dalton Gomez, both of Christie's International Real Estate Southern California. "To see the only Oscar Niemeyer home in America come to market in Santa Monica, one of the most sought-after ZIP codes in the country, is beyond rare, it's historic."

Completed in 1965 and named a landmark by the city of Santa Monica in 2003, the T-shaped pavilion features five bedrooms and six baths in just over 5,150 square feet of single-level living space boasting palm wood floors throughout. Tucked away on nearly three quarters of an acre of blufftop land on La Mesa Drive—a secluded street lined with other architecturally significant homes designed by the likes of John Byers, Paul Williams, Palmer Sabin, and Marston, Van Pelt & Maybury—the striking all-white glass, brick, and stucco dwelling overlooks the Riviera Country Club golf course and Santa Monica Mountains.

A deck overlooks the fairways of the Riviera Country Club golf course.

Highlights include a sunken living room sporting an asymmetrical fireplace with a cantilevered hearth, along with a dining area that connects to an eat-in kitchen. Elsewhere is a double-height library lined with built-in bookshelves, plus a primary suite holding a terrazzo-clad bath equipped with a recessed tub. Outdoors, the grounds are laced with palms and ferns and host a large pool, meandering pathways, and several spots ideal for alfresco lounging and entertaining. There's also an attached two-car garage.

An added bonus: The property transfers with the Mills Act, meaning its homeowners can receive reduced property taxes in exchange for restoring and preserving historic structures.

Click here for more photos of the Santa Monica residence.

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