From here the Chemosphere (also known as the Malin house) was born. The land was too steep to build a normal house on, so Lautner designed … ... 99% of tour companies can't go in because Beverly Hills Cop (not Eddie Murphy) started cracking down on over-weight tour vans. The Chemosphere House in Los Angeles. and see the beautiful Houdini Estate. Chemosphere house seen in the movie Body Double & recreated 4 Charlie's Angels. Malin Residence – section During the drive, you will be able to gaze upon some of the most famous homes designed by modernist architects John Lautner, such as the Chemosphere House and the Garcia House. To overcome the slope Lautner designed the house to stand on a 30 foot high, 5 foot wide concrete column that has as its base a 20 foot wide concrete pedestal buried deep into the ground. Wikimedia Commons. Plan a DIY architecture tour of L.A., stopping by these eleven modernist materpiece homes around the region, all of which are open to the public The Malin House, better known as the "Chemosphere," is another one of L.A.'s iconic mid-century modern residences. It hovers near Justin Timberlake and Jessica Biel's house! Through those 40 years, John de la Vaux built seven John Lautner designs; the most famous (throughout the world) is the Chemosphere house which is still known as the most modern house ever built. Los Angeles architect John Lautner (1911-1994) built the futuristic, octagonal house in 1960 for a young engineer named Leonard Malin who inherited a small plot of land just off of Mulholland Drive. The Chemosphere is one of the most unusual and distinctive houses in the Los Angeles area and its unique design has led to it being featured in numerous films and media productions. Then traverse through Laurel Canyon Blvd. Browse through 10 famous homes beyond Frank Lloyd Wright's Fallingwater on TravelChannel.com. Designed by architect John Lautner in 1960, this ultra modern home in the Hollywood Hills looks like it's right out of a Jetsons episode. We view the chemosphere from the outside and below, and see James ride up the lift, but a set is used for the inside that in no way resembles the actual interior. “Chemosphere” (Malin house) is residence of scientist who assists James in stealing alien creature, the “Megasoid”. Home Tours Neighborhoods ... a gala at Lautner's Harpel Residence with the clients for two of Lautner's most famous houses--the Hollywood Hills Chemosphere and Silver Lake's Silvertop- … We go! Of course, one can book tours and this seems to be the only way to actually visit the premises, I mean, at least we tried. The two Johns were introduced, and a liaison of 40 years was sealed. The first architectural sight we've really seen is John Lautner's Chemosphere house, a beautiful ufo-like structure resting on a single concrete pole, located just off Mulholland Drive in the Hollywood Hills.