Pierre Koenig’s Steel-and-Glass Schwartz House Hits the Market for the First Time at $4.4M

A mesmerizing piece of architectural history is now up for grabs in Santa Monica, California. Perched on the tree-lined Sycamore Road, the 2,380-square-foot structure, known as the Schwartz House, was built in 1994 by late Case Study architect Pierre Koenig. Held aloft by four steel columns, which minimizes the impact on the site, the home represents Koenig’s more mature and expressive work—specifically, his mastery of materials and harmonious relationship with nature.

The Schwartz House was commissioned by Martin Schwartz and his partner, Melrose Cunanan-Schwartz, who first visited Koenig at his home in 1990 to discuss the possibility of the project. The couple, who were looking to be actively involved in the preliminary design, arrived at the meeting with a short list of requirements: They wanted at least a two-bedroom house with good cross ventilation and ample privacy from the street level. According to Pierre Koenig: A View From the Archive by Neil Jackson (Getty Research Institute, 2019), their initial budget, excluding fees and interest, was $250,000.

Right away, the couple and Koenig hit it off. "I interviewed many architects for this job, including some names you would recognize," states Martin. "[Koenig] was the only one who ran out to take a look at the site—he was old-school that way. I believe he wanted to confirm that the site had the proper orientation to accommodate passive cooling, or maybe he wanted to see if the design percolating in his head would work. I’m not exactly sure, but his old-fashioned approach impressed us."