Gehry House
Santa Monica
This is the kitchen of Frank Gehry's own house in Santa Monica as it was first built: he bought a 1920 Dutch colonial house and, between 1977 and 1979, built a new house around it, keeping the old one intact inside. The floor is the old driveway's asphalt, left in place; the roof is wire glass on a timber frame that folds down into the front wall; and the butcher's block islands stand on castors so they can be wheeled about the room.
Gehry's own summing up of the place was "a dumb little house with charm", and of the idea behind it: "I was interested in making the old house appear intact inside the new house". The kitchen has since been remade with white cabinets and tiles, the islands gone and the asphalt tiled over, so the picture is the record of a room that no longer exists.
Frank Gehry
Frank Gehry established his practice in Los Angeles in 1962; the partnership Gehry Partners came much later, in 2001. This house, shared with his wife Berta, was his own, and it was remodelled again in 1991.
Architecture Frank Gehry. Photography Tim Street-Porter (@timstreetporter) and @dwellmagazine. Seen via @permanentcollection.
The picture comes from this post on Instagram.
Researched September 2026. I credit each piece as carefully as I can; if you know more about this one, message me on Instagram.