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Create a media accountPress Kit | no. 2757-45
Press release only in English
Los Angeles-based Conner + Perry Architects, the current architects of record for the Sheats-Goldstein Residence and Estate, unveil the property’s newly completed annex, Club James. Originally envisioned by renowned mid-century architect John Lautner and estate owner James Goldstein, the development and completion of the accessory entertainment facility symbolizes a fully collaborative effort between Goldstein and three design teams that spans nearly fifty years.
As one of Los Angeles’s most famous mid-century homes, the Sheats-Goldstein Residence is nearly as iconic as the Hollywood sign itself, having been featured countless times in film, television, fashion, and music videos, and widely revered in architecture and design circles. With a long and complex construction history that initially began in 1962 between John Lautner and the Sheats family, and later with Lautner and current owner James Goldstein, the famed Beverly Hills enclave has been expanded upon and enhanced numerous times throughout the last seven decades in collaboration with three different architectural teams. Kristopher Conner and James Perry, of Conner + Perry Architects, have collaborated with Goldstein on the design and have overseen subsequent additions since 2015. Prior to that, the duo worked as Project Architects with Duncan Nicholson, Lautner’s apprentice and associate, who continued work at the property following Lautner’s death in 1994.
The newest work on the property, Club James, is located adjacent to the original residence. It was determined, due to the intensive nature of construction required for the planned hillside tennis court, that the office and a new entertainment space should be located beneath the new structure.
While Lautner’s original master plan can still be seen in the wood and cardboard model hanging in the house today, the current design for Club James was initially a collaboration between Goldstein and Nicholson, and later Conner + Perry Architects. Construction first started in the early 2000’s and, as the project continued, the program expanded and evolved to include an entertainment space, VIP room/library, offices for Goldstein and his assistants, a movie screening room, an outdoor terrace with dining and kitchen facilities, and a pool and spa. The current team's latest design for the outdoor terrace, which includes the main stair, restroom, kitchen and BBQ zones, dining tables, locker room, and pool, was completed in 2023.
“The most rewarding aspect of this project is working with a client and patron like Jim who enjoys the process as much as the outcome and has the perseverance to pursue an architecture that will stand the test of time,” notes James Perry.
“It was a huge responsibility and an honor to take over the reins of this project and to be included in the lineage of amazing designers involved in the development and expansion of the property over the decades." adds Kristopher Conner. "It is a delicate balance to preserve and respect the genius of the original residence while developing designs that are in dialogue with it. We look at our work as an evolution of the visual language established by Lautner. The DNA of the house is there, but the expression is adapted to the environment and functions of the new spaces.”
Beyond cultivating these new and ever-changing designs, Conner + Perry Architects also oversee maintenance and restoration work on the original Sheats-Goldstein Residence, as well as repairs and upgrades to the James Turrell Skyspace installation “Above Horizon.” Just like Nicholson before them, Conner and Perry’s designs aim to honor Lautner and Goldstein's architectural legacy by keeping with the tenets of the philosophy of organic architecture, adapting core ideas to meet new functions, inventing new details and forms, and creating spaces that celebrate freedom in the human spirit.
“The thing that differentiates this property from many other significant mid-century homes in LA is that it is not a static museum frozen in time or a private retreat," says Perry. “It is full of life, with tours, and shoots, and events, all of which expose the public to this unique work of art; and it is alive in that it is continuously progressing and improving, with a lineage of three generations of architects and a team of consultants and trades people who make it all possible.”
In fact, in a remarkable act of philanthropy, Goldstein has bequeathed the entire property, as well as his extensive fashion and art collections, to the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA), ensuring that this architectural treasure and cultural mainstay will be preserved, shared with the public, and serve to inspire future generations of designers.
“John Lautner's work is a radical advancement in his teacher Frank Lloyd Wright's search for a uniquely American architectural language; it is somehow both of its time and timeless, an expression of boundless optimism and freedom, an attempt to reconnect us to nature through an embrace of technological advancement with a deep appreciation of human craft," concludes Conner. "The Sheats-Goldstein residence is one of the best examples of these pursuits, as Lautner was given the opportunity, the time, and the means to perfect the home over years of collaboration with Goldstein. James and I have had the privilege of continuing Lautner and Goldstein’s work, while making our own unique contributions to the property’s legacy.”
Sheats-Goldstein Estate Design + Development Timeline
1962 – 1963, JOHN LAUTNER: Paul and Helen Sheats commission and complete construction of the original Sheats Residence with John Lautner for their family of 5.
1972: James Goldstein purchases the property.
1979 – 1994, JOHN LAUTNER: Goldstein hires Lautner to revisit the house and begin a series of renovations that they would term “perfecting” the house; to bring the construction more in line with Lautner’s original vision for the architecture and to collaborate on new improvements with Goldstein.
1994 – 2015, DUNCAN NICHOLSON: John Lautner’s associate, Duncan Nicholson, forms Nicholson Architects and continues to evolve the designs in conjunction with James Goldstein, overseeing the completion of the Nightclub, Offices, and Tennis Court portions of the project, as well as completing the James Turrell Skyspace “Above Horizon”.
2015 And Beyond, CONNER + PERRY ARCHITECTS: Architects Kristopher Conner and James Perry, who had been working on the Goldstein property under Nicholson since 2007, found their eponymous firm Conner + Perry Architects, and take the reigns as the architects of record for the property. The firm’s future work will include the next phases of development at the estate, including a theater and a guest house. In 2016, James Goldstein bequeathed the entire property, as well as his extensive fashion and art collections, to the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA).
Technical sheet
Client/Homeowner: James F. Goldstein
Architect (Current): Conner + Perry Architects
Architect (Past): Nicholson Architects
Architect (Original): Lautner Associates
Structural Engineer: Andrew Nasser, Omnispan Corporation
Civil Engineer: CRC Enterprises
Soils Engineer: Robertson Geological Inc
Geologist: Irvine Geotechnical Inc
Mechanical Engineer: The Sullivan Partnership Inc
Landscape Engineer: Eric Nagelmann
Lighting Designer: SJ Lighting
Sound Consultant: Sound Investment AV
General Contractor (Current): Empire Group Fine Construction Inc
General Contractor (Previous): Ostermann Construction
Metal Fabricator: Breakform Design
Glass Contractor: Giroux Glass Inc
Tennis Court Contractor: Zaino Tennis Courts Inc
Electrician: Erik Rettedal
Upholstery: Gina Berschneider, Inc
Photography: Joe Fletcher
Additional Project Detail
Number of Floors: 4
Site Area: 2.22 acres
Square Footage: 7,125-square-feet; 4,389-square-feet of patios and decks
About Conner + Perry Architects
Conner + Perry Architects was founded in 2015 in Santa Monica, California, by partners Kristopher Conner and James Perry, who came together while working with Architect Duncan Nicholson. There, they both were trained in the philosophy and tradition of Organic Architecture as it was taught to Duncan by a world-renowned master of modern Architecture, John Lautner. The legacy of this architecture can be traced back through Lautner to his predecessors, Frank Lloyd Wright and Louis Sullivan. Conner + Perry Architects strives to bring this philosophy of design to bear on a contemporary practice that addresses the challenges and concerns of today’s clientele and marketplace, while maintaining a sense of timelessness that is inherent in an architecture that is at once unique, profound, and useful.
For more information about Conner + Perry Architects, James Goldstein, and architectural plans for Club James, follow the link below:
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Club James: The newly completed accessory complex, Club James, emerges from the lush jungle landscape, its crystalline geometries playing against the surrounding wild flora and bright blue southern California skies. The infinity tennis court roof sits atop the canted glass enclosure of the office, which floats effortlessly above the lower terrace and pool.
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Club James: The unique custom stainless steel entry signage mounted on the project’s elegant board-formed concrete, announces your arrival as you walk down the stairs into the nightclub.
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Club James Nightclub: Concrete entry into Club James looking back at the main entry stair. Here you can see the interplay of light and shadow with the complex geometries and the versatility and subtlety that the various treatments of the concrete surfaces bring to the space.
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Club James Nightclub: Concrete seating with custom upholstered silver leather cushions surrounds the stainless-steel dance floor. The cantilevered DJ booth in the background is the control center for state-of-the-art sound and lighting systems that give the space a fully immersive nightclub experience. A portrait of owner Jim Goldstein in his iconic couture, shot by photographer Mikael Jansson, watches over the space near the main entry.
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Nightclub: Below the court is a fully functioning private nightclub. This facility includes a full concrete and stainless-steel bar, state-of-the-art sound and light systems controlled from a cantilevered stainless-steel DJ booth, stainless-steel dance floor, a 26-foot-long LED display wall, and operable glass façade framing the panoramic view of the city.
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Nightclub Bar: The club’s one-of-a-kind concrete bar cantilevers dramatically at one end pointing toward the hidden entry to the VIP Room/Library and Restrooms. In this image one can see the various treatments of each concrete surface. The floors are a pebble finish, matching the walking surfaces throughout the property both inside and out. The walls and vertical surfaces are board-formed with a 1-1/2” wide plank, a subtle variation of the wider plank utilized more sparingly in the original residence. The countertop is highly polished and waxed, as are all the other horizontal utility and seating surfaces. And the ceilings are board-formed but have been sand blasted to provide a subtler texture and expose more of the aggregate.
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Offices: Goldstein’s office is located at the southwest corner of the building and features a unique canted frameless glass enclosure that heightens the dramatic sense of the space pushing out into the view beyond. A custom cantilevered concrete desk dominates the room providing a spectacular perch from which to look out on the city. Custom stainless-steel shelves and built-in concrete and leather cabinetry house basketball memorabilia and photographs of Goldstein with a variety of celebrity friends.
Behind (Off-Camera, Right) are the offices of Goldstein’s assistants, featuring glass clerestories and custom built-in concrete and leather office furniture.
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Club James Office: Behind the striking cantilevered concrete and stainless-steel desk of James Goldstein one looks out over the garden to the panoramic views of Los Angeles beyond as day breaks on the city.
Joe Fletcher Photography
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Club James Office: Looking out through the canted frameless glass enclosure of Goldstein’s office at dawn, the dynamic angles and minimal custom fittings create a crystalline form that pushes out into the space over the terrace and pool. Featuring the "Tetra Chair" by Jude Chaaban and Aya Elmokadam.
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Club James Office: View from inside the dynamic canted glass enclosure of the office looking east along the nightclub façade toward the lower terrace pool and lush vegetation surrounding the original residence beyond. Here you can see how the geometry and minimal frameless glass details give the sense of the interior pushing out into the open space beyond.
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Lower Terrace Stair: Elevation view of the main entertainment terrace cantilevered concrete stair; with a bar and lounge area behind, and leading up to the office and nightclub second level. The stair is an excellent example of the intense collaborative design process between the architects and owner James Goldstein: after the lounge area was completed Goldstein requested that the stair be redesigned to preserve the views as much as possible. In response Conner + Perry cantilevered the entire structure from a single point, and following Goldstein’s suggestion added the triangular opening in the stair stringer, a detail which references similar motifs found in the original Lautner-designed residence.
Joe Fletcher Photography
Medium-resolution image : 9.6 x 7.2 @ 300dpi ~ 1.7 MB
Lower Terrace Stair Detail: The stainless-steel handrail seems to delicately hover in mid-air, supported only by the frameless glass guardrails. The project’s characteristic board-formed concrete provides a substantive yet refined backdrop for their dramatic angular geometries.
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Lower Terrace Lounge: Built-in concrete seating with custom upholstered cushions wrapping around a cantilevered concrete table. The composition is emblematic of the firm’s design approach, adapting the visual language established on the project to new functions and contexts, continuing to blur the line between architecture and furniture.
Medium-resolution image : 7.2 x 9.6 @ 300dpi ~ 1.8 MB
Lower Terrace Formal Dining: Below the club and offices is the outdoor entertainment terrace, which features multiple dining areas each with dramatic concrete tables. The table in the formal dining area is an engineering marvel, its slender profile cantilevering approximately 11 feet in both directions from a single tapered center support.
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Lower Terrace Restroom: Water cascades from the custom-fabricated cantilevering stainless-steel faucet into the all-glass sink as it is carried down the inside edge of the glass guardrail to a drain in the pebble finished concrete slab below. The sink is an homage to the Lautner-designed glass sink in the original residence’s primary bathroom, providing an unobstructed view into the lush tropical landscape beyond.
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Lower Terrace Infinity Pool: The pebble concrete deck becomes the pool as a striking glass shard defines the corner overlooking the pool spillway, gardens, and views of the city and Pacific Ocean beyond.
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Club James: View from the lushly planted tropical garden pathway below, looking through the steel Arc sculpture by Bernar Venet, back up at Club James; with its hovering 100-foot-long concrete pool, cantilevered stair up to the nightclub and office level, and the infinity tennis court on the roof.
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Lower Terrace: The newly completed lowest level of Club James. In the foreground, the new pool reflects the upper levels of the office and tennis court above in the dwindling evening sunlight. The outdoor entertainment terrace features multiple dining areas with dramatically cantilevered concrete tables, a lounge area, full bar, and a fully functioning catering kitchen with a custom concrete and stainless-steel bar-b-que. Bordering the terrace on the south edge lies a pool with a 100-foot-long infinity edge. At the cantilevered western end of the pool is a triangular spa separated from the pool by a nearly invisible acrylic wall. Adjacent to the spa is a fire pit and cantilevered concrete bench. A restroom with outdoor glass sink and a changing room were also added.
Medium-resolution image : 7.2 x 9.6 @ 300dpi ~ 2.8 MB
Lower Terrace Stair: A concrete cantilevered stair winds from the terrace level down into the lush gardens below. As the architecture reaches out into the landscape it becomes more dynamic responding to the topography and wild fauna. The angular stainless-steel handrail floats above the structure supported only by frameless glass stanchions.
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Sheats-Goldstein Residence: View of the original Lautner-designed residence’s main entrance vestibule with a koi pond garden featuring a waterfall and glass and concrete foot bridge. The entire entry procession and secondary spaces of the main floor are covered by a low-slung redwood ceiling that compresses the space giving it a more intimate scale and emphasizing the dramatic transition into the iconic living room space beyond.
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Sheats-Goldstein Residence: View of the operable frameless corner windows of the primary bedroom suite looking out to the view of Century City and beyond. The built-in concrete and leather lounge with swiveling cantilevered stainless steel and triangular glass cocktail tables, the exotic Bubinga wood floors, frameless glass, and exposed concrete were all part of the improvements to the original residence undertaken with Lautner and Goldstein between 1979 and 1994.
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Sheats-Goldstein Residence: The living room, the focal point of the home, immortalized in film and an icon of modern architecture. It is one of Lautner’s truest expressions of his interpretation of organic philosophy. The famous concrete triangle coffered ceiling with hundreds of tiny round skylights is at once massive and light. The frameless glass wall and continuity of the building with the landscape blurs the boundaries between the indoor and outdoor space.
Medium-resolution image : 9.6 x 7.29 @ 300dpi ~ 2.2 MB
Sheats-Goldstein Residence: View stepping out from the living room onto the pool deck wrapped in pebble finished concrete. The powerful yet light triangulated concrete coffered roof structure hangs overhead, punctuated with tiny skylights that allow the sunlight to dapple through. The zero edge of the pool sits flush to the surface of the deck and was the first of its kind in the United States.
Medium-resolution image : 9.6 x 7.2 @ 300dpi ~ 2.5 MB
’Above Horizon’ Turrell Skyspace: The Skyspace oculus and window are opened up during the day, framing the brilliant azure sky. The artwork was originally intended by Goldstein to be a collaboration between James Turrell and John Lautner, however Lautner passed away before the design process could begin in earnest. The installation was completed in 2004 under the direction of architect Duncan Nicholson. Most recently the lighting and programming have been upgraded by Turrell’s studio in consultation with Conner + Perry.
Medium-resolution image : 7.2 x 9.6 @ 300dpi ~ 1.7 MB
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