Kappe, who died in 2019, co-founded the Southern California Institute of Architecture (SCI-Arc) and used the house as both family home and creative studio.
The Pacific Palisades residence designed and occupied by architect Ray Kappe has been listed for sale at $11.5 million, marking the first time the property has been offered publicly.
The 4,157-square-foot home, completed in 1967, sits on a hillside in Rustic Canyon and is elevated on six concrete columns sunk 30 feet into the ground above a natural spring. The five-bedroom, five-bathroom structure spans seven split levels with extensive redwood detailing, massive skylights and glass walls comprising roughly half the floor plan. Cantilevered decks overlook a lap pool, spa, sauna and cabana surrounded by eucalyptus, sycamore, oak and bamboo.
Kappe, who died in 2019, co-founded the Southern California Institute of Architecture (SCI-Arc) and used the house as both family home and creative studio. His wife, architectural historian Shelly Kappe, who also helped establish SCI-Arc, died in 2025. The property is now being sold by their family trust.
The home was designated a Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument in 1996. Former American Institute of Architects Los Angeles chapter president Stephen Kanner once described it as “possibly the greatest house in Southern California.” It appeared on the Los Angeles Times’ 2008 list of the 10 best houses in the city, alongside works by Richard Neutra, Frank Lloyd Wright and Pierre Koenig.
