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50 Years of Evolution—Completion of the Iconic Sheats-Goldstein Residence's New Addition, "Club James"
Conner + Perry Architects, based in Los Angeles, have unveiled the latest phase of their ongoing work at the Sheats-Goldstein Residence. The newly completed addition, "Club James," is an annex that was originally conceived by mid-century master architect John Lautner and the estate’s current owner, James Goldstein, over fifty years ago. The project was realized through a collaboration spanning three generations of architects and reflects Goldstein’s long-term vision of a modern entertainment space.
Club James: The newly completed accessory complex, Club James, emerges from the lush jungle landscape, its crystalline geometries playing against the surrounding wild flora and bright blue southern California skies. The infinity tennis court roof sits atop the canted glass enclosure of the office, which floats effortlessly above the lower terrace and pool.
Photo credit: Joe Fletcher Photography
A Fusion of Architectural Heritage and Modern Innovation
The Sheats-Goldstein Residence is one of Los Angeles's most iconic mid-century homes, rivaling the Hollywood sign itself in cultural significance. It has appeared countless times in films, television, fashion, and music videos, gaining international acclaim among architecture enthusiasts and the broader design community. Originally built by John Lautner and the Sheats family in 1962, the house was later acquired by James Goldstein in 1972. Since then, the estate has undergone numerous renovations and expansions, first under Lautner and then with Duncan Nicholson, one of Lautner’s protégés, before finally transitioning to Conner + Perry Architects in 2015.
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- Club James Nightclub: Concrete seating with custom upholstered silver leather cushions surrounds the stainless-steel dance floor. The cantilevered DJ booth in the background is the control center for state-of-the-art sound and lighting systems that give the space a fully immersive nightclub experience. A portrait of owner Jim Goldstein in his iconic couture, shot by photographer Mikael Jansson, watches over the space near the main entry. Photo credit: Joe Fletcher Photography
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- Club James Nightclub: Concrete entry into Club James looking back at the main entry stair. Here you can see the interplay of light and shadow with the complex geometries and the versatility and subtlety that the various treatments of the concrete surfaces bring to the space. Photo credit: Joe Fletcher Photography
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- Nightclub Bar: The club’s one-of-a-kind concrete bar cantilevers dramatically at one end pointing toward the hidden entry to the VIP Room/Library and Restrooms. In this image one can see the various treatments of each concrete surface. The floors are a pebble finish, matching the walking surfaces throughout the property both inside and out. The walls and vertical surfaces are board-formed with a 1-1/2” wide plank, a subtle variation of the wider plank utilized more sparingly in the original residence. The countertop is highly polished and waxed, as are all the other horizontal utility and seating surfaces. And the ceilings are board-formed but have been sand blasted to provide a subtler texture and expose more of the aggregate. Photo credit: Joe Fletcher Photography
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- Nightclub: Below the court is a fully functioning private nightclub. This facility includes a full concrete and stainless-steel bar, state-of-the-art sound and light systems controlled from a cantilevered stainless-steel DJ booth, stainless-steel dance floor, a 26-foot-long LED display wall, and operable glass façade framing the panoramic view of the city. Photo credit: Joe Fletcher Photography
The New "Club James"
Located adjacent to the original residence, "Club James" was initially intended to house a hillside tennis court. As construction plans evolved, the concept expanded to include a multi-purpose entertainment space complete with a VIP room, library, offices, a movie screening room, and a pool with a spa and outdoor terrace. Conner + Perry Architects carefully designed this new structure to harmonize with the original Lautner-designed residence while incorporating contemporary elements. The design philosophy of Conner + Perry Architects seeks to honor the legacy of John Lautner by preserving the architectural DNA of the main house and adapting it for the new facility.
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- Club James: The unique custom stainless steel entry signage mounted on the project’s elegant board-formed concrete, announces your arrival as you walk down the stairs into the nightclub. Photo credit: Joe Fletcher Photography
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- Offices: Goldstein’s office is located at the southwest corner of the building and features a unique canted frameless glass enclosure that heightens the dramatic sense of the space pushing out into the view beyond. A custom cantilevered concrete desk dominates the room providing a spectacular perch from which to look out on the city. Custom stainless-steel shelves and built-in concrete and leather cabinetry house basketball memorabilia and photographs of Goldstein with a variety of celebrity friends. Behind (Off-Camera, Right) are the offices of Goldstein’s assistants, featuring glass clerestories and custom built-in concrete and leather office furniture. Photo credit: Joe Fletcher Photography
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- Club James Office: Behind the striking cantilevered concrete and stainless-steel desk of James Goldstein one looks out over the garden to the panoramic views of Los Angeles beyond as day breaks on the city. Photo credit: Joe Fletcher Photography
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- Club James Office: View from inside the dynamic canted glass enclosure of the office looking east along the nightclub façade toward the lower terrace pool and lush vegetation surrounding the original residence beyond. Here you can see how the geometry and minimal frameless glass details give the sense of the interior pushing out into the open space beyond. Photo credit: Joe Fletcher Photography
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- Club James Office: Looking out through the canted frameless glass enclosure of Goldstein’s office at dawn, the dynamic angles and minimal custom fittings create a crystalline form that pushes out into the space over the terrace and pool. Featuring the “Tetra Chair” by Jude Chaaban and Aya Elmokadam. Photo credit: Joe Fletcher Photography
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- Club James Office Detail: This all-glass detail is a modification of the door pulls in the original Lautner-designed residence, illustrating the new project’s ties to the adjacent home. It is a prime example of how the organic philosophy’s holistic approach permeates the entire design at every scale, and materials are expressed in their purest forms. Photo credit: Joe Fletcher Photography
Extending the Architectural Legacy
Conner + Perry Architects are not only responsible for this latest expansion but also for the maintenance and restoration of the original Sheats-Goldstein Residence, as well as overseeing upgrades to the James Turrell Skyspace installation, "Above Horizon." Adhering to the philosophy of Organic Architecture, which traces its roots back to Frank Lloyd Wright, the team works to blend innovation with tradition, crafting new details and spaces that reflect the freedom and creativity of human spirit.
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- Lower Terrace Stair: Elevation view of the main entertainment terrace cantilevered concrete stair; with a bar and lounge area behind, and leading up to the office and nightclub second level. The stair is an excellent example of the intense collaborative design process between the architects and owner James Goldstein: after the lounge area was completed Goldstein requested that the stair be redesigned to preserve the views as much as possible. In response Conner + Perry cantilevered the entire structure from a single point, and following Goldstein’s suggestion added the triangular opening in the stair stringer, a detail which references similar motifs found in the original Lautner-designed residence. Photo credit: Joe Fletcher Photography
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- Lower Terrace Stair Detail: The stainless-steel handrail seems to delicately hover in mid-air, supported only by the frameless glass guardrails. The project’s characteristic board-formed concrete provides a substantive yet refined backdrop for their dramatic angular geometries. Photo credit: Joe Fletcher Photography
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- Lower Terrace Lounge: Built-in concrete seating with custom upholstered cushions wrapping around a cantilevered concrete table. The composition is emblematic of the firm’s design approach, adapting the visual language established on the project to new functions and contexts, continuing to blur the line between architecture and furniture. Photo credit: Joe Fletcher Photography
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- Lower Terrace Formal Dining: Below the club and offices is the outdoor entertainment terrace, which features multiple dining areas each with dramatic concrete tables. The table in the formal dining area is an engineering marvel, its slender profile cantilevering approximately 11 feet in both directions from a single tapered center support. Photo credit: Joe Fletcher Photography
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- Lower Terrace Restroom: Water cascades from the custom-fabricated cantilevering stainless-steel faucet into the all-glass sink as it is carried down the inside edge of the glass guardrail to a drain in the pebble finished concrete slab below. The sink is an homage to the Lautner-designed glass sink in the original residence’s primary bathroom, providing an unobstructed view into the lush tropical landscape beyond. Photo credit: Joe Fletcher Photography
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- Lower Terrace Infinity Pool: The pebble concrete deck becomes the pool as a striking glass shard defines the corner overlooking the pool spillway, gardens, and views of the city and Pacific Ocean beyond. Photo credit: Joe Fletcher Photography
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- Lower Terrace: The newly completed lowest level of Club James. In the foreground, the new pool reflects the upper levels of the office and tennis court above in the dwindling evening sunlight. The outdoor entertainment terrace features multiple dining areas with dramatically cantilevered concrete tables, a lounge area, full bar, and a fully functioning catering kitchen with a custom concrete and stainless-steel bar-b-que. Bordering the terrace on the south edge lies a pool with a 100-foot-long infinity edge. At the cantilevered western end of the pool is a triangular spa separated from the pool by a nearly invisible acrylic wall. Adjacent to the spa is a fire pit and cantilevered concrete bench. A restroom with outdoor glass sink and a changing room were also added. Photo credit: Joe Fletcher Photography
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- Lower Terrace Stair: A concrete cantilevered stair winds from the terrace level down into the lush gardens below. As the architecture reaches out into the landscape it becomes more dynamic responding to the topography and wild fauna. The angular stainless-steel handrail floats above the structure supported only by frameless glass stanchions. Photo credit: Joe Fletcher Photography
A Gift for the Future
James Goldstein has committed to bequeathing the entire estate, along with his extensive art and fashion collections, to the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA). This extraordinary gesture ensures that the Sheats-Goldstein Residence will be preserved and shared with the public, inspiring future generations of architects and designers.
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- Sheats-Goldstein Residence: View of the operable frameless corner windows of the primary bedroom suite looking out to the view of Century City and beyond. The built-in concrete and leather lounge with swiveling cantilevered stainless steel and triangular glass cocktail tables, the exotic Bubinga wood floors, frameless glass, and exposed concrete were all part of the improvements to the original residence undertaken with Lautner and Goldstein between 1979 and 1994. Photo credit: Joe Fletcher Photography
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- Sheats-Goldstein Residence: View of the original Lautner-designed residence’s main entrance vestibule with a koi pond garden featuring a waterfall and glass and concrete foot bridge. The entire entry procession and secondary spaces of the main floor are covered by a low-slung redwood ceiling that compresses the space giving it a more intimate scale and emphasizing the dramatic transition into the iconic living room space beyond. Photo credit: Joe Fletcher Photography
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- Sheats-Goldstein Residence: The living room, the focal point of the home, immortalized in film and an icon of modern architecture. It is one of Lautner’s truest expressions of his interpretation of organic philosophy. The famous concrete triangle coffered ceiling with hundreds of tiny round skylights is at once massive and light. The frameless glass wall and continuity of the building with the landscape blurs the boundaries between the indoor and outdoor space. Photo credit: Joe Fletcher Photography
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- Sheats-Goldstein Residence: View stepping out from the living room onto the pool deck wrapped in pebble finished concrete. The powerful yet light triangulated concrete coffered roof structure hangs overhead, punctuated with tiny skylights that allow the sunlight to dapple through. The zero edge of the pool sits flush to the surface of the deck and was the first of its kind in the United States. Photo credit: Joe Fletcher Photography
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- ’Above Horizon’ Turrell Skyspace: The Skyspace oculus and window are opened up during the day, framing the brilliant azure sky. The artwork was originally intended by Goldstein to be a collaboration between James Turrell and John Lautner, however Lautner passed away before the design process could begin in earnest. The installation was completed in 2004 under the direction of architect Duncan Nicholson. Most recently the lighting and programming have been upgraded by Turrell’s studio in consultation with Conner + Perry. Photo credit: Joe Fletcher Photography
About Conner + Perry Architects
Conner + Perry Architects was founded in 2015 by partners Kristopher Conner and James Perry in Santa Monica, California. Both worked under the mentorship of Duncan Nicholson, who was an apprentice to John Lautner. Their practice is rooted in the Organic Architecture philosophy passed down from Lautner, through his predecessors Frank Lloyd Wright and Louis Sullivan. Conner + Perry Architects strive to apply this timeless design philosophy to contemporary challenges and the diverse needs of modern clients, creating architecture that is both meaningful and enduring.
