About this home

A rare piece of livable art with hillside charm and panoramic views by architect Frank Gehry. Completed in 1981, The Benson House belongs to a pivotal chapter in Gehry's early Los Angeles period, when his residential work became a laboratory for the ideas, materials and spatial experiments that would later transform contemporary architecture. Designed for law professor Robert "Bob" Benson, who famously told Gehry, "Whatever you want to do, we will go for," the house emerged from an extraordinary level of creative trust and became one of Gehry's favorite projects and most personal residential works. Set into a slope, the architecture separates from the hillside to create a moat-like negative space, allowing two distinct vertical volumes to emerge. A vertebrae-like wooden walkway connects the bedroom wing with the living and gathering spaces, creating a daily experience of movement, sequence and spatial discovery. Gehry described the composition as "almost touching," like two stones in a Japanese sculpture. Clad in humble asphalt shingles and grounded by concrete floors, exposed rafters and raw material contrasts, the home reflects Gehry's early language of recontextualized vernacular, California modernism and architecture as sculpture. The residence offers two bedrooms, three bathrooms, a loft workspace and panoramic San Fernando Valley views. Located within the Las Virgenes Unified School District (public school system). Sited on four contiguous lots, each with its own APN, The Benson House is Calabasas Historical Landmark No. 2 and an important early Gehry residence archived at the Getty Research Institute. Early Gehry homes rarely come to market, making this a singular opportunity to own a formative work by one of the most influential architects of our time.

Facts and features

Schools

• Calabasas High School

  high · 9-12 · 1.1 mi

  9

• Chaparral Elementary School

  elementary · K-5 · 1.7 mi

  8

• Alice C. Stelle Middle School

  middle · 6-8 · 2.1 mi

  8

• Viewpoint School

  elementary · 0.4 mi

• Bay Laurel Elementary School

  elementary · K-5 · 0.8 mi

  9

• Manzanita School and Institute

  elementary · K-12 · 1.3 mi

Price history

• Sep 16, 2026 · Price Changed$1,399,000
• Aug 21, 2026 · Listed$1,599,000
• Aug 19, 2026 · Listing Removed—
• Jun 13, 2026 · Listed$1,745,000
• Jun 28, 2013 · Sold$790,000
• Jun 28, 2013 · Listing Removed$795,000
• Apr 23, 2013 · Price Changed$795,000
• Mar 13, 2013 · Price Changed$875,000

Tax history

• 2025$7,507 tax · $615,453 assessed
• 2024$7,043 tax · $603,387 assessed
• 2023$6,871 tax · $579,958 assessed
• 2022$6,615 tax · $568,587 assessed
• 2021$6,603 tax · $557,439 assessed
• 2020$6,531 tax · $551,724 assessed
• 2019$6,371 tax · $540,907 assessed
• 2018$6,310 tax · $530,302 assessed

Home value

$1,336,675

• Quantarium$1,336,675
• Collateral Analytics$1,385,000
• Cotality$1,336,600

Where it is