With his house in the Hollywood Hills, David Lynch combined living and working for decades. The compound of houses, studios, and workshops reflects his artistic practice and, at the same time, the history of Californian modernism. Designed by Lloyd Wright and complemented by Eric Lloyd Wright, it represents a cohesive example of architectural continuity in Los Angeles. Following Lynch’s death in 2024, the entire property is now being sold as a whole.
Serving as the center of the Lynch compound, consisting of several separate buildings, is the Beverly Johnson House from 1963, designed by Lloyd Wright, son of Frank Lloyd Wright. With its clear lines, cantilevered surfaces, and a shift between transparency and retreat, it architecturally anchors the property. For Lynch, it was both his center of life and workplace. Sketches, paintings, sound works were created here, and films were edited here. The fact that the house remained functional for decades is due to its simple, robust construction, which focused neither on superficial effect nor short-term trends.
The house was complemented by a pool and poolhouse, designed by Eric Lloyd Wright. This continued the architectural family lineage: Lloyd Wright with the rigor of the residence, Eric Lloyd Wright with the landscape-oriented expansion. The pool area is more than just an amenity: it integrates the outdoor space as a place to stay and demonstrates how architecture can be excitingly embedded into the sparse topography.
Another building on the property, often described as brutalist, provides a contrast. Its raw presence, sharply cut openings, and angular rhythm make it a counterpart to the organic Wright structures. In »Lost Highway«, it became a cinematic character itself, a house that generates tension without needing a plot. For »Mulholland Drive«, the compound also served as a production environment, with editing and screening rooms where the film was finalized. For Lynch, architecture was never just a backdrop, but an instrument for controlling perception.
The choice of materials also underscores this—mineral plasters, wood with visible grain, and concrete with discernible formwork joints characterize the surfaces. Metalwork, partly crafted by Lynch himself, marks furniture and lighting. The rooms appear robust yet flexible enough to accommodate various forms of work, from painting to film editing, from music to photography.
The hillside location dictates the arrangement of the buildings. Terraced structures follow the topography, sightlines are guided like camera movements, paths open and close. The sequence of light and dark, narrow and wide, bottom and top not only structures the daily routine but also gives the area its own dramaturgy. Landscape and architecture are inextricably intertwined, and the place thrives on this tension.
At the same time, the property is consistently marked by a personal signature. For Lynch, house and studio merged. Many elements bear traces of his interventions: improvised workshop solutions, seemingly provisional constructions, yet precisely placed colors and surfaces. This mixture explains why the ensemble feels »Lynchian« without being stylized. It is a place that sharpens attention and fosters productivity.
The fact that the compound is now being offered for sale as a complete entity—by real etsate agent Marc Silver of The Agency—points to its special status. It is not being treated as an empty property, but as a developed landscape for living and working. Whoever takes it over will receive not just land and buildings, but a functional structure that has enabled artistic work for decades.
The property demonstrates how architecture can be understood as a working environment—not as a mere object, but as an artistically conceived framework for life and production. And it is a document of how closely architecture, film, and art were intertwined in Lynch’s life. The approximately 3,600 square meter David Lynch compound in the Hollywood Hills, with living and working spaces, studios, and workshops, is currently being offered at a »listing price« of 15 million dollars. However, the intangible value of a place where such a formative body of work was created over decades cannot, of course, be quantified. Nevertheless, a figure had to be named, and so there is now a sum that marks the market value, but not the cultural significance of the iconic Lynch-compound. [Red.]
