Levit House / Richard Neutra

  The William H. and Barbara Kaiser Levit House (1961) by Richard Neutra is the setting for the fourth BLAKEHAUS, curated by Peter Blake Gallery. 

As described by the gallery, BLAKEHAUS BEVERLY HILLS is a site-specific installation traversing the disciplines of art, design, and architecture, bringing historically significant modern design and museum-quality contemporary art into dialogue with Neutra's geometric architectural sensibilities.

Willy Guhl

Scarpa, Angelo Mangiarotti and Pierre Laporte


A classic Neutra fireplace

KEM Weber

Percival Lafer

Ettore Sottsass and Carlo Mollino


Sculpture by Stephanie Bachiero

The site is pretty incredible. The wildfires in LA were still burning when I was there so the view that day was eerily smokey. However, on a clear day, the San Gabriel mountains can be seen on one side, the skyline of downtown LA on another side and the Pacific Ocean can be seen from the poolside of the house.

I remembered the name William Levitt as the developer of the first real post-war suburb, Levittown. However, he is a two "t" Levitt and has a different middle initial. Although in an interesting coincidence, Richard Neutra did submit designs for Levittown, but they were rejected. 

This Beverly Hills house was designed for William H. Levit, a lawyer and judge who sat on the Los Angeles County Superior Court from 1962 to 1976 and his wife Barbara. They had two children (who both became attorneys). I found articles mentioning that the Levits would host gatherings at the house for community organizations they belonged to. 

I believe they lived in the house until it was sold in 1983. The Levits were still living at the time. It's interesting that Neutra wasn't even mentioned in this ad.  BTW, It' now has 4-bedrooms and 4-bathrooms.

Besides this sales listing and whatever is out there about the current sale, there is not much published about the Levit house. Even the goto on Neutra, Barbara Mac Lamprecht's Neutra : Complete Works only has the name and year of the project. There isn't a single photo or drawing. 

The exception to this is a book from 2022, Selection: Art, Architecture and Design from the Collection of Ronnie Sassoon. My friend Dung Ngo of August Editions published it. In addition to the Levit House, the book shows off Ronnie's art and design collection in the Stillman II House by Marcel Breuer and the Dean/Ceglic Loft in New York.

Ronnie bought the Neutra in 2012 and put it up for sale last year. She and her late husband, Vidal Sassoon, previously owned two other houses by Neutra.