The house was originally built as a private residence for
Helen Carolyn (née Johnson) Taylor Sheats (1910-1999), and Paul Henry Sheats (1907-1984) and their three children. Helen, an architectural designer and Neo-
Fauvist painter, and Paul, Dean of University Extension and Professor in the UCLA Graduate School of Education, had previously commissioned Lautner for their 1948–1949
Sheats Apartments project located in
Westwood, a neighborhood adjacent to the
University of California, Los Angeles. The Sheats–Goldstein Residence is one of John Lautner's most well-known and completely unspoiled works. In addition to the house, Lautner designed the interiors, windows, lighting, rugs, furniture, and operable features as components of the home. Lautner’s comprehensive design of both the house and the forms within resulted in a cohesive and symbiotic design relationship: the materials and aesthetics of the forms enhance, complement, and tie the rooms together as individual but related design elements of the house as a whole. The extensive range of Lautner's design work is visible throughout the project. Originally constructed with wood, steel, and
poured-in-place concrete, the house has five bedrooms, four bathrooms, and one half-bathroom (sink and toilet). Lautner designed the living room completely open to the terrace, and protected by a
forced-air curtain. Lautner's unique design took advantage of
Southern California's temperate
Mediterranean climate and the Santa Monica Mountains' warm canyon winds to create a natural, zesty environment with a seamless transition between the home's interior and exterior. One of the home's most distinct features is the living room's coffered ceiling, the surface of which has over 750
cast drinking glass skylights. The home is cooled with
cross-ventilation, while the floors and pool are warmed with copper-pipe
radiant heating. Exterior pathways lead to guest bedrooms and the primary bedroom, and exterior features include a tennis court and nightclub. The primary bedroom and the studio have windows looking into the pool, designed so Helen Sheats could watch her children as she worked in her art studio. In 1972, businessman
James Goldstein purchased the residence from its third owners, and began a partnership with Lautner to renovate, upgrade, and improve the house. For the following two decades, Goldstein and Lautner worked together "perfecting" the house until Lautner's death in 1994. One of Goldstein's additions to the home is
Above Horizon, an art installation designed by light artist
James Turrell. Located on a steep slope below the residence,
Above Horizon was built with the same construction materials as the home. James Goldstein originally envisioned the installation as a collaboration between John Lautner and James Turrell, but Lautner died before being able to work extensively on the project. Completed in 2004, the room features two folding carbon-fiber portals and a built-in concrete lounge for viewing thousands of hidden
LEDs lighting the room every evening. In 2016, James Goldstein entrusted the home and estate to the
Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) as a promised gift to the institution. The endowment includes Goldstein's extensive art collection, Lautner's architectural models, and a 1961
Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud parked on the property. The collection is the first of its kind for LACMA and the endowment preserves the home's legacy, Lautner's work as an urban achievement, and its significance in Los Angeles architectural history. File:USA CA Sheats-Goldstein 10.jpg|Scale site model File:USA CA Sheats-Goldstein 01.jpg|Tennis court File:GOLDSTEIN skylights.JPG|Concrete roof with cast-drinking glass skylights, exterior view File:USA CA Sheats-Goldstein 11.jpg|Kitchen bar File:USA CA Sheats-Goldstein 16.jpg|Dining area File:USA CA Sheats-Goldstein 05.jpg|View from living room to terrace, pool File:USA CA Sheats-Goldstein 14.jpg|Bedroom File:USA CA Club James 1.jpg|Club James ==In popular culture==