Featured image credit: BakedintheHole
When we did our series of Los Angeles Architecture 101 blogs, we didn’t skip brutalism so much as we just didn’t consider that there was enough brutalist architecture in the city to warrant the spotlight. However, if you’re in search of a brutalist house in LA, you can find one (with a little patience). Brutalist homes tend to appear unfinished, with naked concrete, sharp angles, monumental structure, and absolutely no ornamentation. Obviously, this stark minimalism has a polarizing effect. But when a buyer wants a brutalist house, it can be hard to find a substitute. And in this lies a financial advantage.
The Contrast of Brutalism and Life in LA
In the wake of World War II, when design flourishes were being pushed aside for functionality, brutalism arose as a simple yet intense pivot to raw materials, particularly concrete. It helps that concrete was just becoming a more widely available building material. Even outside of brutalist designs, concrete contributed strongly to LA’s construction strides throughout the 20th century. And contrary to what our opening paragraph may imply, Los Angeles actually embraced the style – at least in its commercial buildings, particularly in tech and aerospace facilities. Brutalist homes remain a niche rarity.
Brutalism pulls its name from the French phrase “bréton brut” (“raw concrete”), a name as direct as the style itself. These structures often appear as looming, monolithic sculptures. It contributes to their harsh, uncompromising distinction, often making them popular subjects for photography. Love or hate a brutalist house, you’ll notice it either way.
Homes in LA excel at signaling wealth, and a brutalist house is no exception. But brutalism also integrates a certain degree of intellectualism that can be difficult to convey in luxury architecture – especially residential luxury architecture. When you see a brutalist home, you get a distinct impression of sophistication and cultural appreciation that transcends decadence. These properties are purposeful enough to attract driven buyers, and high-brow enough to appeal to the price-insensitive.
Finding the Right Angle to Market a Brutalist House
The capability for a brutalist house to turn heads can easily translate into market attention. In this way, brutalism is a design form happily at home in the age of social media marketing. This goes double for brutalist buildings in Los Angeles, since their stark, militant facades contrast against the city’s languidly waving palm trees and radiant sunshine.
Brutalism even makes its way into the headlines occasionally. In 2024, Zillow listed brutalism in its list of annual trends, focusing specifically on raw concrete floors, blackened steel casement windows, and bronze fixtures with patinated distressing. More recently, legendary director David Lynch’s brutalist house, the same one featured in his film Lost Highway, sold just a little over a year after his passing.
In most cases, any brutalist home you find for sale in Los Angeles will be of note. This means they often command high listing prices with bidding wars to follow. In 2024, the Borghei-Cookston House, a 1984 brutalist home designed by Ray Kuppe, was listed for $4.99 million. And, after a short stay on the market this year, Lynch’s Lloyd Wright-designed brutalist house sold for $13 million. Needless to say, the right brutalist house can handily command a premium.
The Growing Favor for Brutalist Architecture
Outside of the U.S., brutalism tends to inspire more devotion. In Europe, for example, the design style has garnered faithful patronage for years. But, with a modern fascination with minimalism, America’s buyer of today is becoming more open to this bold design choice as less an artistic mood and more a legitimate residential architecture style.
Though it’s still a divisive style today, brutalism is en vogue in LA compared to how it’s been viewed in the past. At one point, brutalist commercial buildings that had fallen out of use were threatened with demolition. This wasn’t just aesthetic spite. The impression of brutalist structures as costly to maintain partially fueled these destructive solutions. But, as preservation efforts have grown all across the board over the years, brutalist constructions have found a growing number of vocal guardian angels advocating for protection, at least for examples exhibiting cultural or historic significance.
Good News: A Brutalist House Isn’t for Everyone
There’s nothing middle-of-the-road about a brutalist house. And, ultimately, that’s what works in its favor. When a strong example of brutalist architecture hits the market, it seems to build social media buzz just by existing. And buyers are attracted to the rarity and distinction, lending to a highly motivated buyer pool. It’s why, though often overlooked, brutalist homes offer some of the most compelling long-term value plays in the LA market.
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Having spent over a decade in creative roles across a variety of industries, Seth brings with him vast experience in SEO practices, digital marketing, and all manner of professional writing with particular strength in blogging, content creation, and brand building. Gratitude, passion, and sincerity remain core tenets of his unwavering work ethic. The landscape of the industry changes daily, paralleling JohnHart’s efforts to {re}define real estate, but Seth works to maintain the company’s consistent message while offering both agents and clients a new echelon of service.
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