Nope. That’s not a typo. It’s a real place, it’s really interesting, and you can almost visit it. It’s so interesting that the owners have had to implement measures so that overzealous spelunkers and just your average curious tourists do not burst through the trees and start to take selfies. So what is it, then?
The Chemosphere is a modernist house in Los Angeles, California, designed by John Lautner in 1960. The building, which the Encyclopædia Britannica once called “the most modern home built in the world” is admired both for the ingenuity of its solution to the problem of the site and for its unique octagonal design.
The building stands on the San Fernando Valley side of the Hollywood Hills, just off Mulholland Drive. It is a one-story octagon with around 2,200 square feet (200 m2) of living space. Most distinctively, the house is perched atop a 5-foot-wide (1.5 m) concrete column nearly 30 feet (9 m) high. This innovative design was Lautner’s solution to a site that, with a slope of 45 degrees, was thought to be practically unbuildable. Because of a concrete pedestal, almost 20 feet (6 m) in diameter, buried under the earth and supporting the column, the house has survived earthquakes and heavy rains.[1] The house is reached by a funicular. Click here to read all about it. It’s fascinating.
Luxury villa with incredible views, not far from Chemosphere House. Click here to book.
Tripadvisor has lots for you to do in the San Fernando valley. Click here.
It’s the USA. You’ll need a car. Hertz have what you need. Click here to book.