If you asked 99% of the public what makes a home a home they'd probably have a different answer
than me. For me, a home is something that reflects my mentality. I like the action.
It has to be something that's me not something that an interior decorator came up with.
A reminder of my personal experiences.
I bought the house in 1972.
I walked in and in two minutes I knew this was it.
It had been painted, the concrete was no longer pure but I didn't care, all I saw was a fantastic
architectural design, an amazing view of the city and that's really all that mattered.
I didn't have much money when I first bought it but finally
I decided to convert the living room glass to frameless glass.
I brought John Lautner the architect back to the house he was shocked at what had been done to it,
he helped me with the first project, I saw what a dramatic improvement it was and from that time on,
45 years ago, I have never stopped working on the property.
A person should feel that there is no separation between inside and outside.
Another important principle is that there are no 90 degree angles.
John Lautner was very opposed to anything that resembled a box.
Everything is angular
and finally everything should be natural. I exposed the natural concrete floors
carpeting is very natural and looks like stones.
And John Lautner and I agreed that built-in furniture was the answer
I had started traveling to tropical places I really fell in love with tropical vegetation
and just like my construction experience once I started I never stopped
and I eventually landscaped four acres of hillside
and now I've created walkways that to me are as important as what I've done to the house
I said to myself I have to have a James Turrell Skyspace, the city couldn't figure
it out why someone would want to build this in the middle of the hillside but it blew me away
I have been a big night club goer all of my life after John Lautner passed
the construction of Club James and my office and the terrace had to take place without his help
Fortunately I've learned how to go about it
and we wanted to do it the way John Lautner would have done it had he been alive
He was
somewhat of a rebel just like me he wanted to do things that had
never been done before to challenge the conservative governmental people
If it was something that they didn't understand or comprehend or had never seen before
all the better I am so proud
that I don't want to see anything happen to it when I'm no longer around
I also want the public to share in what has been accomplished here to keep it as a thriving place
an inspiration for good architecture good landscaping and a good overall design