Interview with James Goldstein owner of Sheats Goldstein Residence

photo from DIGS article

Tucked high on a crest in Beverly Hills, more than just a home awaits—it is an architectural manifesto. Designed by John Lautner in 1963 and evolved over decades by its enigmatic owner, James Goldstein, the Sheats-Goldstein Residence is arguably the most important home in Los Angeles. Set on four lushly landscaped acres, the 4,500 square foot residence commands the city with its organic angular architecture, iconic coffered skylight ceiling, and unbroken views of the LA basin.

From Movie Set to Museum

You've likely seen this house before. Its sharp, angular concrete and iconic 750-skylight coffered ceiling have served as the ultimate backdrop for Hollywood and fashion alike. Goldstein has been remarkably open with the residence over the years—welcoming photographers, artists, and filmmakers to work against this singular backdrop.

• Film: Most famously as the lair of Jackie Treehorn in The Big Lebowski—which, as Goldstein notes, "keeps getting reruns and more reruns."
• Music: A rotating fixture in music videos. "When one music video stops running, there's a new one to replace it," Goldstein has observed.
• Fashion: A perennial subject in international fashion magazines the world over.

But the house is transitioning from private playground to public legacy. In 2016, Goldstein announced he would gift the entire estate to LACMA—the Los Angeles County Museum of Art—ensuring this masterpiece remains open to inspire future architects rather than disappearing behind private gates. The decision had been brewing for roughly a decade. As Goldstein explained: the goal was always to donate to an institution that would preserve it and make it open to the public, "hoping to inspire good architecture in the future."

James Goldstein interview via DIGS TV

The "Total Rebuild" Philosophy

Goldstein didn't just renovate the home—he perfected it. Through a total rebuild alongside Lautner, the original 1960s plaster was stripped away and replaced with raw, natural materials. The original floor plan was preserved throughout. The transformation was comprehensive, touching every room:

• No Plaster, No Paint: When Goldstein purchased the house it was a plaster house. There is now no plaster at all, and no paint anywhere. The palette is strictly concrete, steel, and wood—all natural, all exposed.
• Frameless Glass: The bulky steel mullion framing around the windows was replaced entirely with frameless glass. The effect is the erasure of the boundary between interior and the LA skyline—enhancing what Goldstein calls "the indoor-outdoor continuity that is such an important facet of this house."
• Minimalist Rigor: Minimalism was a core Lautner principle that Goldstein embraced fully—very little clutter, no unnecessary details. Every surface and material earns its place.

"The exclusion of painting in the house—everything is natural. The wood, the concrete, the steel."
— James Goldstein

A Vision for a Modern Los Angeles

Goldstein isn't just a preservationist—he's a sharp critic of the architectural status quo. He has long been troubled by a tendency in Los Angeles toward historicist imitation: "people build homes trying to copy something from the 19th century." His counterpoint is cities like Dubai, which he holds up as an example of architecture that embraces the future rather than retreating from it. Los Angeles, he argues, should be moving forward, not backward.

To that end, Goldstein has kept the home actively engaged with the next generation. Architectural students have been welcomed for tours on a regular basis—the residence functioning not just as a private collection, but as a working argument for what a building can be.

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