I toured the famous Garcia House designed by John Lautner a few years back. It is truly an amazing property. The sellers, John McIlwee and Bill Damaschke, bought the property back in 2002 from actor Vincent Gallo for $1.2 million. McIlwee and Damaschke hired famous architect Marmol Radziner to renovate the property. Radziner renovated the roof and rebuilt the terrace. Renovating a Lautner property is no small task. They also took Lautner's old plans for an ellipse-shaped pool and built it.
The house was originally built in the 1960s for Russell Garcia, a film composer and conductor, and his wife Gina Garcia. We spoke to Mrs. Garcia at our tour. She had mentioned how important it was to have a dedicated space for Russell to work on his music. Of course, the house became famous for the rest of the world when it starred in one of Mel Gibson's Lethal Weapon films. The sellers declined to name the buyer but stated they were happy to sell it to someone who could carry on the Lautner legacy. It was reported that a Pritzker family heir bought the property.
Photo credit: Roger Davies/WSJ