Wave House was designed by architect

Harry Gesner Harry Harmer Gesner (April 28, 1925 – June 10, 2022) was an American architect from California. Gesner principally designed houses in the Los Angeles area, especially along the coast in Malibu. Following service in the US Army during World ...

for old friends and fellow surfers Gerry and Glenn Cooper. Located on the beach in

Malibu, California Malibu ( ; ; ) is a beach city in the Santa Monica Mountains region of Los Angeles County, California, about west of downtown Los Angeles. It is known for its Mediterranean climate, its strip of beaches stretching along the Pacific Ocean coa ...

, the house is Gesner's most famous work. The design was highly regarded by

Jørn Utzon Jørn Oberg Utzon (; 9 April 191829 November 2008) was a Danish architect. In 1957, he won an international design competition for his design of the Sydney Opera House in Australia. Utzon's revised design, which he completed in 1961, was the b ...

, architect of the

Sydney Opera House The Sydney Opera House is a multi-venue Performing arts center, performing arts centre in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Located on the foreshore of Sydney Harbour, it is widely regarded as one of the world's most famous and distinctive b ...

. Though denied by Gesner, the house is often cited as an influence on Utzon's design for the opera house.

History

In 1956 Gesner was contacted by friends from his post-war time at Lake Arrowhead, Glenn and Gerry Cooper. The couple asked for his assistance in finding a coastal site in Malibu. They found a site with good surfing, and Gesner camped at the location. According to Gesner, he paddled offshore on his surfboard and sketched the house's design in grease pencil on his surfboard, looking back at the site. Gesner wanted a shape like those found in the ocean, and used curved glue-laminated beams for the roof structure, with a shingled roof surface resembling fish scales. The Wave House was designed in two parts, with the dramatic projecting beachfront living area surrounded by circular balconies, and a much plainer rectangular children's wing to the rear, against the hillside. The two sections enclose a landscaped interior court. Arrival was via a stairway and an underpass under the children's section to the courtyard, which serve as the formal entry.Germany, pp. 64, 66, 68 Gesner designed the house to extend into the surf at high tide.Germany, pp. 51-52 It was designed with projecting rooflines resembling breaking waves, cantilevered over the circular balconies. The interior focused on a central

conversation pit A conversation pit is an architectural feature that incorporates built-in seating into a depressed section of flooring within a larger room. This area often has a table in the center as well. The seats typically face each other in a centrally fo ...

and fireplace overlooking the ocean.Germany, pp. 64-65 Wave House was later owned in the 1970s by

Rod Stewart Sir Roderick David Stewart (born 10 January 1945) is a British singer and songwriter. Known for his distinctive raspy singing voice, Stewart is among the List of best-selling music artists, best-selling music artists of all time, having sold ...

, who commissioned Gesner to design railings for the initially rail-less balconies.Germany, p. 73 The house was further altered with the installation of large concrete piers to support it, since the retreat of the beachfront left it more exposed to ocean waves.Germany, p. 61 Stewart sold the house in 1987 to

Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (WBEI), commonly known as Warner Bros. (WB), is an American filmed entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California and the main namesake subsidiary of Warner Bro ...

executive

Mo Ostin Mo Ostin (born Morris Meyer Ostrofsky; March 27, 1927 – July 31, 2022) was an American record executive. The chairman and CEO of Warner Bros. Records from 1972 to 1994 and co-founder of DreamWorks Records, he was inducted into the Rock an ...

.Jack Flemming (1 June 2023)
The ‘Wave House,’ Harry Gesner’s Malibu masterpiece, lists for $49.5 million
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Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...

''. Ostin swapped the pebble roof for copper shingles, which have since taken on a natural patina that matches the coastal color palette. After Ostin's death in 2022, his family listed the house for $49.5 million. The property was purchased by

Joshua Kushner Joshua Kushner (born June 12, 1985) is an American businessman and investor. He is the founder and managing partner of the venture capital firm Thrive Capital, co-founder and vice-chairman of Oscar Health, and the youngest son of the real estate ...

and

Karlie Kloss Karlie Elizabeth Kloss (born August 3, 1992) is an American model. She was a Victoria's Secret Angel from 2013 until 2015, when she resigned to study at New York University. By 2019, Kloss had appeared on 40 international ''Vogue (magazine), V ...

for $29.5 million in August 2024. Gesner's residence, the Sandcastle House, is next door.

Recognition

The Wave House has received widespread attention. When Danish architect

submitted his concept for the

design competition, with sail or wave-like forms, his design was compared to Gesner's, and in the early 1960s Utzon called Gesner to express his appreciation for Gesner's work. Neither architect felt that the Opera House design was influenced by Wave House, but both acknowledged each other's work.Germany, pp. 70-71 In 2024, Gesner's son told ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'' that Utzon had personally phoned his father and told him that "in a lot of ways, my father's wave house design inspired him." The house was featured in the 2019 movie '' Yesterday.''

References

{{Coord, 34, 02, 31.58, N, 118, 54, 27.08, W, type:landmark_region:US, display=title Harry Gesner buildings Houses in Los Angeles County, California Malibu, California Houses completed in 1956