Richard Neutra's Nesbitt House
A 1942 Brentwood masterwork where Richard Neutra traded steel-and-glass austerity for brick, redwood, and a Garrett Eckbo garden. The house, the history, and what it takes to buy a Neutra in Los Angeles.
Most people picture a Richard Neutra house as a machine of steel and glass, all sharp edges and cool restraint. The Nesbitt House is the one that argues with that picture. Built in Brentwood in 1942 for the broadcaster John Nesbitt, it is Neutra in a warmer register, brick walls, redwood, and a garden by Garrett Eckbo, and it is one of the most quietly beautiful houses on the Westside of Los Angeles.
The Nesbitt House is a 1942 residence in Brentwood, Los Angeles, designed by architect Richard Neutra for the radio broadcaster John Nesbitt. It is known for Neutra's unusual use of warm materials, brick and redwood, alongside his signature glass, and for a landscape by Garrett Eckbo. Restored in the 1990s, it is a celebrated example of California mid-century modernism and is not currently on the open market.
War changes what architects can build, and 1942 was a hard year to build anything. Steel was rationed for the war effort, so Neutra, the great modernist of steel and glass, reached for what he could get: brick and wood. What could have been a compromise became one of his most humane houses. The Nesbitt House proves that Neutra's modernism was never really about the metal. It was about light, proportion, and the way a house meets its garden.
Debbie Pisaro has spent 24 years working with architectural homes across Los Angeles, and Neutra houses are among the ones buyers ask her about most. The Nesbitt House sits near the top of that list, because it answers a question serious collectors care about: can a Neutra feel warm? Here it does. This page is the full picture, the architect, the client, the restoration, and how a house like this actually trades when it does.
What makes the Nesbitt House different?
The Nesbitt House is different from most Neutra houses because it is built of brick and redwood rather than steel, and because it treats the garden as part of the architecture. Wartime steel rationing pushed Neutra toward warmer materials in 1942, and the result is softer and more tactile than his famous glass pavilions, while keeping his discipline of proportion, horizontal lines, and indoor-outdoor flow.
The plan opens to a walled garden, so the house feels larger and more private than its footprint suggests. Neutra ran low brick walls from inside to outside, a favorite trick of his, so the eye reads the garden as another room. The landscape was designed by Garrett Eckbo, one of the most important modern landscape architects in America, which is part of why the house and its grounds are usually discussed as a single work rather than a building with a yard.
That integration of architecture and landscape is a thread through the best Los Angeles modernism, from Neutra to John Lautner's Silvertop to the R.M. Schindler houses that grew out of the same circle. The Nesbitt House belongs firmly in that company.
Who was Richard Neutra?
Richard Neutra was an Austrian-born architect who became one of the defining figures of American modernism, and much of his greatest work is in Los Angeles. He arrived in the 1920s, worked briefly with Frank Lloyd Wright, and built a career on light-filled homes that dissolved the line between inside and outside. His Lovell Health House and Kaufmann Desert House made him internationally famous, and the Nesbitt House shows his range.
Neutra believed a house should improve the life of the person living in it, an idea he took almost clinically seriously, studying how people moved, rested, and felt inside his rooms. That is why his houses still feel calm decades later. The proportions were designed around the body, not the magazine spread, even though they photographed beautifully anyway.
Los Angeles holds the densest collection of Neutra houses anywhere, and Debbie tracks them closely. Her overview of Richard Neutra homes in Los Angeles maps the major works, and profiles like the Hendershot House in Nichols Canyon show how his ideas played out on different hillsides. The Nesbitt House is the warm-materials chapter of that story.
Who was John Nesbitt?
John Nesbitt was a popular American radio broadcaster and film narrator, best known for the long-running series The Passing Parade, and he commissioned the house from Richard Neutra in 1942. Nesbitt was a storyteller by trade, and he wanted a home that felt considered and calm, which suited Neutra's methodical approach to residential design.
A commission like the Nesbitt House was a two-way collaboration. Neutra listened closely to how his clients actually lived, and a client like Nesbitt, articulate and design-aware, gave him room to work. The house that resulted is intimate rather than showy, a broadcaster's retreat rather than a monument.
Understanding who commissioned a house, and why, is part of what gives an architectural home its value today. Provenance is not a footnote in this market. It is the story a buyer inherits, and it is one of the things Debbie documents carefully when she represents a home like this one.
Has the Nesbitt House been restored?
Yes. The Nesbitt House underwent a careful restoration in the late 1990s, led by the interior designer Barbara Barry with architect David Serrurier, and the work was recognized by the American Institute of Architects. The restoration returned Neutra's original materials and proportions to the foreground while quietly updating the house for modern living.
Restoration is where architectural homes are won or lost. A clumsy renovation can erase the very thing that makes a house valuable, while a sensitive one, like the Nesbitt House's, protects it. The AIA recognition matters to buyers because it signals that the work respected the architecture rather than fighting it.
With a Neutra, originality is the asset. What survives of the architect's hand drives value more than any new finish ever will.
How do you buy a Richard Neutra house in Los Angeles?
Buying a Richard Neutra house in Los Angeles takes patience and access, because very few come to market in any given year and the best ones often trade privately. Value turns on how much of Neutra's original design survives, on the quality of any restoration, and on provenance, rather than on neighborhood price per square foot. The right agent knows the houses, the owners, and the small market that trades them.
A few things matter more than usual when buying an architectural home at this level:
- Originality over updates. How much of Neutra's original fabric remains, and how sensitive any restoration was, drives value more than a new kitchen.
- Provenance. A documented commission, like the Nesbitt House's, and a clear ownership history add real value and confidence.
- The right comps. A Neutra is priced against other authored houses, a Koenig, a Schindler, a Lautner, not against the block.
- Access to quiet inventory. These homes often sell off-market, which is why Debbie's pocket listing network matters here.
This is where an architectural real estate agent in Los Angeles earns their fee. Debbie Pisaro represents buyers and sellers of architecturally significant homes across the city, and she has tracked the Nesbitt House and its Brentwood neighbors for years, including nearby modern work like the Steven Ehrlich Schulman House. For a buyer chasing a Neutra, that kind of long memory is often the difference between hearing about a house and walking through it.
If you are still learning the landscape, the architectural homes collection profiles dozens of significant Los Angeles houses, the seven iconic architectural homes guide sets the canon, and Coastline 840's explainer on pricing an architectural home covers why these properties break the usual math. Debbie writes about design across the region too, from Los Feliz architecture to the coastal neighborhoods she covers statewide.
Who designed the Nesbitt House?
The Nesbitt House was designed by the architect Richard Neutra, one of the leading figures of American modernism, and completed in 1942. Neutra designed it for the radio broadcaster John Nesbitt, and it is considered one of his most distinctive Los Angeles works because of its warm brick and redwood materials.
Where is the Nesbitt House?
The Nesbitt House is in Brentwood, on the Westside of Los Angeles, an area known for its mid-century modern architecture. Because it is a private residence and not currently on the open market, the exact address is not published here. Debbie Pisaro can share property details with qualified buyers.
Is the Nesbitt House for sale?
The Nesbitt House is not currently on the open market. It was publicly listed at roughly 8 million dollars in 2013 after its restoration, and later traded privately. Architectural homes like this often sell off-market, so Debbie Pisaro tracks their status for buyers who want to be ready when one becomes available.
What makes the Nesbitt House different from other Neutra homes?
The Nesbitt House is unusual among Neutra's work for its warm materials, brick and redwood rather than his signature steel, a choice driven partly by wartime rationing in 1942. It also features a landscape by Garrett Eckbo, so the house and garden are usually discussed as a single integrated work.
Who was John Nesbitt?
John Nesbitt was a popular American radio broadcaster and film narrator, best known for the series The Passing Parade, who commissioned the house from Richard Neutra in 1942. As a professional storyteller, he wanted a considered, calm home, which suited Neutra's methodical approach to design.
Has the Nesbitt House been restored?
Yes. The Nesbitt House was carefully restored in the late 1990s by the interior designer Barbara Barry with architect David Serrurier, and the work was recognized by the American Institute of Architects. The restoration returned Neutra's original materials and proportions to the foreground while updating the house for modern living.
How do you buy a Richard Neutra house in Los Angeles?
Buying a Neutra house takes patience and access, since few reach the market each year and many trade privately. Value depends on how much of Neutra's original design survives, the quality of any restoration, and provenance, rather than on neighborhood comps. Debbie Pisaro represents buyers of Neutra and other architectural homes across Los Angeles.
Who is a good architectural real estate agent in Los Angeles?
Debbie Pisaro is a 24-year veteran, the founder of Coastline 840, and a 2025 Inman Luxury Leader who represents buyers and sellers of architectural and historic homes across Los Angeles. She specializes in mid-century modern and landmarked properties, including Neutra houses, and can be reached at (310) 362-6429.
Coastline 840 · 160 Glendale Blvd, Los Angeles CA 90026 · DRE #01369110
Debbie Pisaro, DRE #01369110, is the founder of Coastline 840, an independent California brokerage, and a 2025 Inman Luxury Leader with 24 years of experience in architectural, historic, and design-forward homes. She writes about California real estate at debbiepisaro.com, losfelizliving.com, and coastline840.com. Published January 2025, updated July 2026.
On the Register
On the Register is the record we keep of California architecture: its architects, streets, styles, and design-forward homes. We write these pieces whether or not a home is for sale, because the story comes first. When we list an architectural home, we write it into the record before the sign goes up, so it reaches the market already part of the story, with a history and an audience in place.
© 2026 Debbie Pisaro, Coastline 840 · ontheregister.com