In 1995, architect Barton Myers bought 38 acres at 949 Toro Canyon Road for $500,000, choosing the site for the first of his trademark steel-and-glass houses, which he and his wife, Victoria, lived in. After she died last year, he told Mansion Global, he decided to put the property on the market. If it sells for anywhere near the $8.2 million asking price, it will prove to have been quite the investment—especially when you factor in that the construction cost was under $200 per square foot.
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Bedrooms: Four.
Bathrooms: Four and a half.
Size/Acreage: 5,200 square feet / 38.68 acres.
Price: $8.2 million.
Last sold: 1995.
Listing agent: Vivienne Leebosh and Caroline Santandrea of Sotheby’s.
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“Every building he creates is an original work of art,” says the listing, but while Myers’s properties are obviously striking, they’re not as original as they used to be. The other two around here—770 Ladera Lane (listed for $7.5 million) and Natalie Portman’s place—are similar to this one; the open-plan communal area has big roll-up windows in front and clerestory windows in back, with bedrooms tucked behind. And the Myers house in the works at 875 Toro Canyon Road is presumably designed along similar lines.
Like Portman’s house (which she bought in 2017 for $6.5 million), and unlike the Ladera one, Myers’s property has a sweeping ocean view. And it comprises four structures: the 2,800-square-foot, three-bedroom, three-bath main house; a 1,400-square-foot studio with kitchenette and bath; a 1,000-square-foot guesthouse; and a three-car garage.
The vibe is industrial, with concrete floors, 16-foot-high ceilings, and a lot of bare steel. There’s room for quirk, too: note the tub in the first photo below.
“In addition to being constructed almost completely out of noncombustible materials, all of the glass openings contain rolling steel shutters so that the compound can be sealed within 30 minutes,” says the Mansion Global article. And what looks like a funky swimming pool is actually, per the listing, “a shallow layer of recirculating water, on two of the flat roofs, [that] is a brilliant insulation and fire resistant feature.” There’s also an adjacent 45-foot lap pool.
As for the land, six of the 38 acres are cultivated with gardens, a citrus orchard, an olive grove, and a vineyard, all of which is irrigated by a well. The rest is wild buffer.
Contact Vivienne Leebosh and Caroline Santandrea of Sotheby’s for a showing. Be sure to tell her Siteline sent you.
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