Architect Conrad Buff’s Los Angeles Home Is on the Market for $2M

The Buff & Hensman cofounder built hundreds of houses across Southern California—and his personal residence is an ’80s gem with a geometric facade and a lofted primary suite.

Location: 480 Glen Holly Drive, Pasadena, California

Price: $1,980,000

Year Built: 1988

Architect: Conrad Buff and Donald Hensman

Footprint: 2,244 square feet (2 bedrooms, 3 baths)

Lot Size: 0.16 Acres

From the Agent: “There were few architects that so deftly handled the building code changes of the late seventies as did Buff & Hensman. They created an entirely new aesthetic to expand upon the principles their work was celebrated for: dramatic spatial experiences, expertise in siting, and a mastery of scale and proportion. Conrad Buff III’s last home, designed for himself and his wife, Libby, is one of the firm’s most sophisticated examples of this period. As is often the case with the homes that architects create for themselves, it displays a daring and uncompromising example of his design philosophy. An open-plan living area and dining room, kitchen, and an unexpectedly large outdoor space are able to flourish, with indoor and outdoor ‘rooms’ allowed to flow into one another, while still providing exceptional privacy from the street. At the east facade, a floor-to-ceiling window wall and sliding door connect the living area to a spacious patio with a spa and sculptural water feature. It’s a meticulously cared-for and important example of Southern California modernism, located in one of Pasadena’s finest and most picturesque neighborhoods.”