On a Friday afternoon in the spring, a small group wandered below a canopy of towering eucalyptus trees in an idyllic and sun dappled Southern California yard. The Pacific Ocean below sparkled a dazzling shade of blue, birds chirped and sang overhead, and cheerful bright orange poppies blanketed a nearby hillside embankment.



The crowd was here to take a self-guided tour of the Eames House, an architectural marvel of glass and steel, built by Charles Eames and his wife, Ray, in the late-1940s. The couple moved into the property on Christmas Eve 1949, and continued to live and work there for more than a quarter century until their deaths. In 2004, the couple’s step-daughter, who then owned the house, gave it as a gift to the non-profit Eames Foundation, which she founded in part to protect it. In 2006, it was declared a National Historic Landmark.



The house, situated on a Pacific Palisades bluff, north of Santa Monica and south of Malibu, is “unselfconscious,” “created in its own little world, screened all around by trees, foliage and hills,” which serve as a “shock absorber,” according to the description of the property in the December 1945 issue of Arts & Architecture magazine. It was here that the Eames House was introduced as part of the magazine’s famed Case Study Houses program, for which publisher John Entenza commissioned major architects of the day to design and build affordable and efficient model homes meant to address the mid-century housing boom and serve as a template for how returning GIs and their families wanted to live after World War II.



Between 1945 and 1966, 36 homes were designed and 25 were built—most of them in Los Angeles. The Eames House—Case Study House #8—is one of two that has nonprofit status, and is eagerly toured by architecture buffs from around the world. The other is Pierre Koening’s iconic Stahl House—Case Study House #22—which overlooks the city’s expanse from a point of remove in the Hollywood Hills.

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Of the 23 homes that remain, three were demolished over the years, and another four were renovated past the point of recognition. The 16 Case Study Houses that remain in close-to or in their original forms, designed by architecture greats including Craig Ellwood and Richard Neutra, are owned and lived in by private individuals, and traded at a premium every time they change hands.



But why are these homes that were meant to be affordable, and cater to an average American family, now worth millions? The answer to that question is multi-layered.

There’s the architecture itself, and the style that was introduced as part of the Case Study program—modest in scale, modern and easy to live in, with a harmony between indoor and outdoor spaces, an abundance of natural light, and a type of open-floor plan that’s still in demand today.



Floor to ceiling windows in Case Study House #18. David Archer

Then there’s the land, handpicked decades ago because it was so good, with views of the ocean or mountains, flat lots, with a connection to nature, that is now near-impossible to find in an increasingly dense and urban L.A.



And finally, more than anything, they’re traded at a premium because over time, they have been elevated to become exceedingly rare classic works of art.

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“This limited edition of homes will never be expanded—and will, in fact, likely diminish—because one will be destroyed somehow,” said Billy Rose, president of the L.A.-based real estate firm The Agency, who sold Case Study House #20A for $12.5 million in 2016. “There is some intrinsic value to that.”



And unlike in Europe or other parts of the world, where such rare and valued art might stay in a family for generations, in California, where the average person moves every four years, that isn’t the case, said Frank Langen, a realtor with Deasy Penner Podley, who listed Case Study House #18 in April 2018 for $10 million. “Everything is for sale in Southern California,” Mr. Langen said, "even the architecture.”

Art You Can Live In

One Case Study property that is considered functional art, not shelter, according to Mr. Rose, is Case Study House #21B, which sold in February for $3.26 million. Situated on an “A” lot in a Hollywood Hills canyon, the experimental and minimalist Pierre Koenig-designed property, which is also known as the “Walter Bailey House,” was originally designed for a childless couple, and is just 1,280 square feet.



Case Study House #21 was designed by American architect Pierre Koenig. Matthew Momberger

Added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2013, the property was bought by film producer Allison Sarofim from art gallerist P.J. Park in February. During the 12 years that Mr. Park owned the house, he occasionally used it as an outpost for his Seomi International Gallery, hosting art shows and exhibitions in the space, said Andy Butler, marketing director for Compass Realty’s Aaron Kirman Partners group, who represented the seller in this sale.



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At that price—over $3 million and close to $3,000 per square foot for what is essentially a one-bedroom apartment—“it’s almost like buying a Picasso,” Mr. Butler said. “Buyers of this type of home typically have tens of millions of dollars’ worth of art in their private collection, of which this home is now part.”



As part of an art collection, owners of Case Study Homes don’t often live full-time in the property, but rather reside in a much larger space. Or if they do choose to live in it full time, it is “for a moment in their life,” Mr. Butler said. “People want to live in the art—to have parties there, and other architects come through—but they probably wouldn’t do that for any length of time because they are used to and can afford much more space.”



The Case Study Premium

Once it’s clear why Case Study Homes are worth so much, the question becomes: Are they worth more than other similar mid-century homes designed by Case Study architects because of that label? Mr. Langen, who sold a non-Case Study home designed by Craig Ellwood, would say yes—pointing to #21B as a reason why.



Known as “The Smith House,” the property that he sold this summer, was completed in 1958, and is located in the architecturally significant Brentwood community of Crestwood Hills. At 1,500 square feet, with an additional 530 square feet of outdoor deck space, it is larger than the Koenig house, yet, at $2.3 million, sold for almost $1 million less. “Mine was arguably a better house,” he said, “in a better location.” While the market did go down in the six months between the sales, at least part of the premium, he said, is based on the Case Study name.

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Mr. Butler agreed. “The Case Study Program name definitely adds something extra,” he said.



But sometimes, that price premium can be made less clear by outside factors, like the addition of a second home to a Case Study lot.



This happened to two of the three Case Study Homes that are located on lots adjacent to the Eames House on that Pacific Palisades bluff. For the first—Case Study House #20A, which was designed by Richard Neutra and previously owned by the late-“Simpsons” TV series co-creator, Sam Simon—there is a second, much larger (almost 9,000-square-foot) house on the lot. Mr. Rose sold the pair together in 2016 for $12.5 million, and notes that the high price wasn’t for the Neutra home alone. But the second property may have negatively impacted a price-per-square-foot premium. “The other house kind of saddled the Case Study program home,” Mr. Rose said, adding that he thinks they would have gotten a larger premium if they could have separated #20A out. “The other house just wasn’t as sympathetic, or harmonious, with the land.”



The second Pacific Palisades home with an additional much larger house on the lot is #9, which was designed by Charles Eames and Eero Saarinen, and is known as the “Entenza House.” As you walk up a long driveway to the Eames House, you can see the Entenza House to your left, and the two-story Barry Berkus behemoth that was built on the lot and blocks the Case Study Home’s view. Together, the pair sold for $15.95 million in 2012.

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“If you’re studying architecture, you learn about the Eames House, which is timeless, and perfectly integrates the home with nature,” Mr. Langen said. “But then right next to it is the Berkus house, which is the only home on that plot that you can see from down on the beach. It serves as a sort of antithesis to the Case Study program.”



The final Pacific Palisades lot houses Case Study House #18. This Rodney Walker-designer property, known as “West House,” was listed in April 2018 for $10 million, and is currently being leased by a long-term renter for $20,000 per month.



Case Study House #18 was listed for $10 million. David Archer

At just over 1,700 square feet, #18 is somewhat larger than the other Case Study Homes. But the current $20,000 per month lease price is significantly higher than what it is worth, Mr. Langen said, adding that, “if it wasn't a Case Study house, there is no reason it should rent for more than $7,000 per month.” Even if you tack on an extra $5,000 per month for the exquisite ocean views, that still leaves $8,000 per month left of value that in part can be attributed in part to the Case Study name.



When it was listed for $10 million, Mr. Langen said much of that cost was for the land, as there is plenty of room to build on the half-acre lot. But because #18 is landmarked and can’t be torn down, Mr. Langen said he has to wait for the right buyer. “Design sensibility and money don’t always go hand in hand,” he said. “It’s definitely a small market.”

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Case Study House #18's current lease price is significantly higher than what it is worth, according to the property's listing agent. David Archer

An Enduring Legacy



While Case Study Homes are rare, and the ones that remain no longer cater to the “average American,” for which they were intended, their impact on affordable housing, private buildings and public community spaces is clear, said architect Michael Bohn, senior principal and design director at Studio One Eleven, a Southern California-based firm known for progressive, urbanist architecture.



“That first group of Case Study architects established the outdoors as being important on both a city-scale and an individual building-scale,” he said, “which has been embraced by architects everywhere.”



When trying to address the affordable housing problem in Southern California by building more dense, mixed-use projects, architects know that it’s important to have, “ample daylight and connectivity to the outdoors—if not through a private yard, then through a private courtyard, that a lot of people can use at one time,” he said. “All of our projects embrace the ideas of community and authenticity and indoor-outdoor harmony.”



Additionally, as was the impetus of the Case Study Homes, affordability is often pursued by using new materials and new construction technologies, such as shipping containers, modular housing and new types of timber construction, as glass and steel were first used in residential design as part of the post-World War II program.

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Beyond affordable housing, the principles of modernism introduced by the Case Study program, including the push to strip away the unnecessary and ornamental, including baseboards and moldings that you might find in “Old World” homes, like Tudors, and Mediterraneans, and focus on building homes that are functional and utilitarian, has also endured at all price points.



“If you drive through Palm Springs or the Bird Streets in Beverly Hills today, you see the effect of the Case Study Houses everywhere,” Mr. Butler said.



Mr. Rose agreed. “I typically get three to six calls every year from real estate agents who say, ‘I’ve got a client looking for a Case Study Home. Do you know anyone building one?’” he said, with a laugh. “But what their client is really looking for is a contemporary or modern home with indoor-outdoor harmony.”



Seventy years after their introduction, “Case Study” is now shorthand for that, Mr. Rose said, and for good reason. “They introduced us to a better way of living,” he said, “and a much better lifestyle.”

