Stylist Jeanne Yang Lists Her 1962 Richard Neutra Home in Woodland Hills for $3.3 Million
Stylist Jeanne Yang—whose client list of stylish actors includes Robert Downey Jr., Anthony Mackie, Jason Momoa, Jamie Dornan, Simu Liu, Christian Bale and Regé-Jean Page—has discerning taste in home design as well as clothing.
Twenty-two years ago, she and her husband, Scott Cort, bought an architecturally significant home in Woodland Hills, California, designed by the influential architect Richard Neutra.
More from Robb Report
Ozzy and Sharon Osbourne's Stylish LA Estate Hits the Market for $18 Million
The Co-Founder of Honey Lists His Mega-Mansion in Bel Air for $150 Million
Something Fishy? A Black-Market Caviar Ring Was Just Busted Outside of San Francisco
Now, the couple has decided to list the house (with Allen Roth of Sotheby’s International Realty), putting it on the market for $3.3 million. The four-bedroom residence—known as the J.N. Baldwin House and located in the western San Fernando Valley—was built in 1962. Among the details that have been faithfully preserved are an original built-in wall clock, sconces and light switches, all chosen by Neutra. Original chalk drawings by Neutra, plus blueprints and a construction book, also are included in the listing.
Yang tells The Hollywood Reporter that she and Cort originally found the 3,062-square-foot home via a classified ad in the Los Angeles Times that misspelled the name of the famed architect, who was known for his pioneering embrace of indoor/outdoor living. “It was listed as a Richard Neuter,” says Yang.
Anthony Barcelo
The couple had been on the hunt for an architecturally significant home in Los Angeles. “We had just lost a house and I said, ‘We’re never going to find another one like this.’ I was so sad. And on a Sunday morning we went to the newsstand. Remember those things? And I picked up the L.A. Times and in the real estate section—this was before Realtor.com and Zillow—I saw this picture. I said, ‘That’s got to be a Richard Neutra.’”
Yang’s eye had been trained after having gone on a number of tours of Neutra houses around Southern California including the Kaufmann Desert House in Palm Springs and VDL Research House in Silver Lake (which had been the architect’s own home).
Yang implored her husband to drive out to take a peek at the Woodland Hills property at 7 a.m. that very morning. “I said, ‘This is going to be my house.’” The couple won a bidding war for the home in 2000, paying (per public records) $659,000.
The property, Yang says, was “in very excellent shape.” Over the years, she estimates that she and her husband spent “probably over a million” on renovations (which included redoing the kitchen twice and remodeling all three bathrooms), plus new landscaping. “We’ve done so many different things to make it really livable but keeping the integrity,” says Yang. “We consulted with a few different architects and amazing contractors to make sure that we did things in keeping with the integrity of the design.”
Anthony Barcelo
Those renos mean that the kitchen now has Sub-Zero, Wolf, Miele and Gaggenau appliances, a Julien sink, Dornbracht hardware and quartz counters (“I didn’t want to have formica,” says Yang) and there’s a new Toto Washlet in the primary bathroom. The outdoors includes a pool, mature orange and lemon trees, new bamboo deck and new exterior lighting.
Yang says that the best part of the house to her mind—in addition to Neutra’s signature ribbon windows (meaning windows that go across the length of an entire façade)—is the way that is sited up a long driveway and on a hilltop among mature trees.
Anthony Barcelo
“The individuals who had the house constructed had written a letter to Neutra saying, ‘We don’t know if you’d be interested in making a very humble home for us, but we love your work.’ This was in 1961. He answered their letter and he said, ‘I would do it if I could site the property.’ He was really particular about where he sited everything. So they drove around the neighborhood and picked this spot on a little bit of a hill. One of the most amazing things [today] is that when you are in the living room, you don’t see any houses around. The fact that Neutra knew that 60 years later you’d be able to feel like you were in a treehouse is one example of someone who was a fantastic architect.”
Anthony Barcelo
Yang, who last year joined Anonymous Content as a manager and producer (while keeping her styling business), says she is looking to move. “With my new career being in town and with our daughters being in college, we realized that we want to downsize.” Her husband, Cort, is a luxury residential real estate adviser with Sotheby’s in Beverly Hills.
Adds Yang, “I think it’s time for somebody else to have the opportunity to live in what I consider a piece of art.”
Scroll further for additional images of the Richard Neutra house.
Anthony Barcelo
Anthony Barcelo
Anthony Barcelo
Anthony Barcelo
Anthony Barcelo
Anthony Barcelo
Anthony Barcelo
Anthony Barcelo
Anthony Barcelo
Anthony Barcelo
Anthony Barcelo
Best of Robb Report
Sign up for Robb Report's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
