Reconstructed Thornton Abell Modern in Santa Monica Canyon Seeks $10.5 Million

It’s often said, “Those who can, do, while those who can’t, teach,” but that certainly wouldn’t be the case for Case Study architect Thornton M. Abell. Throughout the 1940s and 1950s, in addition to heading his busy solo practice, Abell taught architecture at USC, his alma mater, and design at the Chouinard Art Institute, where one of his fellow instructors was Richard Haines, a WPA muralist who later went on to head the painting department at the Otis Art Institute.

In 1951, Haines commissioned Abell to design a home for himself, his wife Leonora, and their two sons, in Santa Monica Canyon, the bucolic neighborhood where Abell’s own family lived, and where he produced a number of other residences. Built in stages, the Haines residence eventually consisted of a main house, a detached art studio, and a guest house above the garage. It remained the family’s home for nearly half a century, appearing on the market for the first time in 1997, following Leonora’s death.

In 2014, it was purchased by its current owners, entrepreneur Adam Mizel and architect Taunya van der Steen-Mizel, who rebuilt the house from the ground up over a four-year period, extrapolating on the original footprint and Abell’s plans, and enhancing the home with 21st-century materials and upgraded modern conveniences.

Previously 2,200 square feet, the main house has been beefed up to 3,450 square feet with the addition of a great room, laundry, and mud room on the lower level and expansion of the upper-level primary suite. Two additional bedrooms, separated by a movable wall for flexibility of usage, are located on the main level, as is the open-plan kitchen, which has been outfitted with Miele appliances, a Sub-Zero wine fridge, and custom bronze sink.

The home also features ample walls of high-UV-protection glass, lofty beamed ceilings, clerestory windows, board-formed indoor/outdoor concrete walls, built-in oak cabinetry throughout, an original wood-burning fireplace, designer tile and light fixtures, and radiant heated floors. The high-end upgrades extend to the 700-square-foot guest apartment above the garage and the detached studio. Other notable attributes include an elevator that connects from the two-car garage to the guest apartment and the main house, a solar panel system that supports the entire property, new landscaping with built-in automatic watering system, garden planter boxes, and a “live roof” with sky deck.

Sited on a street-to-street lot of one-third of an acre, the property is listed with Frank Langen of Deasy Penner Podley at an asking price of $10.5 million.