Quirky 1970s House Brings a Bit of Barcelona to Beverly Glen

New to market in the bucolic Beverly Glen neighborhood, which winds up a canyon through Beverly Hills and Bel Air, is an artifact from the days when a more freewheelin’ sensibility held sway in Los Angeles, or at least in certain pockets of it. Located near the end of a narrow lane in Beverly Glen Canyon, the unconventional residence is one of a few on the cul-de-sac designed and built by Byron Vreeland, a native Angeleno with quite an eclectic background.

Born in 1936, Vreeland began training as a blacksmith in his uncle’s shop at the age of 14. Two years later, his father, then studio chief of Hal Roach Studios, put Vreeland to work building movie sets. While working as a studio carpenter, Vreeland put himself through college at UCLA and then went to dental school.

Early on in his dental career, the cueball-bald Vreeland was walking to lunch and happened to pass by the window of a casting agent in need of an actor to play the role of Mr. Clean, the nowadays iconic mascot for an all-purpose cleaner. That chance encounter led to the launch of yet another sideline career, this one in show business. Also a collector of antique pottery and Tiffany lamps, Vreeland later went on to work as an associate for two Beverly Hills antiques dealers, and penned a book on Art Nouveau pottery.

The eccentric dilettante’s affinity for Art Nouveau and the Catalan Modernism style pioneered by innovative Spanish architect Antoni Gaudí, whose flamboyant creations are sprinkled throughout Barcelona, was also expressed in the numerous homes he built, which sport a profusion of curves, waves, and irregular shapes hand-carved in plaster and cement.

The idiosyncratic Vreeland-designed home in Beverly Glen currently for sale is, as its listing acknowledges, in need of serious TLC and updating. And while there are plenty of whimsical swoops and unexpected cut-outs characteristic of Gaudí, some of the more recent renovations are comparatively pedestrian.

Measuring 2,603 square feet, it contains four bedrooms and three and a half baths within three stories. Three of the bedrooms, including the primary bedroom, with its en-suite bath and walk-in closet, are on the top floor, with the fourth bedroom and a bath on the lowest level. In between, on the second floor, are the kitchen, dining room, and living room, which features a hand-carved plaster fireplace and three-quarter-inch oak floors. Other details of note include custom-designed leaded glass casement windows, original oak cabinetry, and copper plumbing.

On a 5,005-square-foot lot, the one-of-a-kind property is listed with Marlee Sherwin and Stephanie Carchia of eXp Realty at an asking price of $1.6 million.