The historic Rudolph Schindler-designed Fitzpatrick-Leland House in the Hollywood Hills of Los Angeles has been converted into a preview and fitting location for the “luxury essentials” clothing brand Co.
T Magazine reports that the recent change in use for the MAK Center-owned and operated home came about after the owners of the clothing brand initially inquired about using the hillside complex for a photo shoot.
Eventually, a deal was worked out by the MAK Center and Co, and the center has been working hand-in-hand with the company to continue restoration efforts for the property started last fall, according to Priscilla Fraser, director of the MAK Center.
In an email, Fraser explained that MAK considers Co as its current designers in residence, while adding that the installation is “a temporary arrangement while we go through the city process of altering the house’s use from residential to ‘public benefit’ so we can officially run it as a small museum.”
The home, which was marketed as a potential AirBnB site a few years ago, has also been outfitted for its new use with abstract artworks on loan from L.A.’s Maccarone Gallery by artists Rosy Keyser and Marco Perego.
Images accompanying the T article also showcased International Style furniture pieces on loan from L.A. dealer Joel Chen, a custom teak folding screen commissioned for the store, and a new kitchen table designed by Jed Lind, formerly of Commune Design.
With the arrangement, Co, a clothing brand known for contemporary riffs on classic luxury designs, will occupy one of L.A.’s most quintessentially modernist homes. The L-shaped building was designed in 1936 and features a complex arrangement of interlocking interior and indoor-outdoor spaces, including terraces that overlook a swimming pool. The stucco house also features Schindler’s characteristic thickened, abstracted floor plates as well as floor-to-ceiling glass walls and a series of walkways that project into the surrounding eucalyptus tree canopy.
The Fitzpatrick-Leland House was previously used as a base for the MAK Center’s Urban Future Initiative, a fellowship program supported by the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs of the US Department of State with a $410,000 grant benefitting international cultural thinkers, according to the MAK website.
Given the multifaceted history of the house and the outside-the-box approach Fraser has taken with MAK’s properties since being appointed in 2016, it will likely not be the last new use envisioned for the historic home.
For images from Co’s photoshoot at the home, see The New York Times website.
