Oscar Niemeyer’s Santa Monica Masterpiece: The Brazilian Modernist’s Only U.S. Home

1911 La Mesa Drive
Santa Monica, 90402

$12,995,000 | 5 Beds | 6 Baths | 5,153 Sq. Ft. | $2,522 Price/Sq.Ft. | 0.61 Acres | Built in 1965

Oscar Niemeyer (1907–2012) was a pioneering Brazilian architect celebrated for his bold, curvaceous approach to modernism. A central figure in 20th-century architecture, he helped shape the identity of Brasília, Brazil’s futuristic capital city, and collaborated with Le Corbusier on the United Nations headquarters in New York.

Rejecting the rigid geometry of his mid-century modern contemporaries, Niemeyer favored sweeping forms inspired by nature, sensuality, and the human body.

Over his prolific career, he designed hundreds of civic and cultural landmarks across Brazil and the world, earning the Pritzker Architecture Prize in 1988. Politically outspoken and unapologetically leftist, Niemeyer believed architecture should serve both beauty and humanity—a philosophy that made him one of modernism’s most distinctive and poetic voices.

The Strick House sits on La Mesa Drive, a serene, tree-lined street shaded by towering Moreton Bay figs that parallels San Vicente Boulevard. Many of its distinguished homes date to the 1920s and ’30s, designed by noted architects including John Byers, Paul Williams, Palmer Sabin, and the firm Marston, Van Pelt & Maybury. La Mesa Drive also hosts two other International Style landmarks: J. R. Davidson’s Stothart-Phillips House (1937–38) and Lloyd Wright’s Nables House (1949).

Unlike Niemeyer’s sweeping civic monuments in Brasília, the Strick House feels restrained, intimate, and deeply Californian.

The design features a flat roof, slender columns, and expansive glass walls that dissolve the boundary between indoors and out, framing views of the Riviera Country Club and the ocean light beyond.

Here, Niemeyer trades his trademark curves for a rectilinear language that still carries his sculptural sensibility—luxury expressed not in ornament, but in proportion, openness, and connection to nature.

The T-shaped pavilion offers five bedrooms and six baths across more than 5,150 square feet of elegant, single-level living, its interiors wrapped in warm palm wood floors and bathed in natural light.

Set on nearly three-quarters of an acre atop a coveted La Mesa Drive bluff, the home feels both secluded and cinematic—a true hidden modernist retreat.

Clad in white brick, glass, and stucco, the residence seems to float above the landscape. It’s a masterpiece of understated glamour, where mid-century purity meets coastal serenity in perfect harmony.

In 2005, the home faced the threat of demolition, sparking an outcry from preservationists who recognized its rarity and significance.

The Strick House was swiftly designated a Santa Monica landmark and later restored by new owners committed to preserving Niemeyer’s vision.

Today, the Strick House stands as a singular expression of mid-century modernism—a quietly radical collaboration that transcended borders, politics, and the limits of possibility.

On the market now for just the third time ever, The Strick House is awaiting its next chapter, ready to be rediscovered by a new owner who appreciates both the poetry of Niemeyer’s modernist vision and the serenity of its blufftop setting. An exceptional advantage: the home carries a coveted Mills Act designation, offering significant property tax savings to owners committed to the restoration and preservation of its historic integrity.

Interested in purchasing this fantastic home? I would love to get you a private tour of The Strick House in Santa Monica. Call me today at (323) 697-3040 or email me at jacqueline.tager@sothebyshomes.com.

Listing provided courtesy of Aaron Kirman and Dalton Gomez, Christie’s International Real Estate SoCal.

Jacqueline Tager | DRE# 1476997
jacqueline.tager@sothebyshomes.com | (323) 697-3040
Sotheby’s International Realty – Los Feliz Brokerage
1801 N Hillhurst Avenue Los Angeles, CA 90027

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