A three-bedroom loft inside a six-unit building that Frank Gehry designed and built alongside artist Charles Arnoldi in Santa Monica has hit the market for $2.39 million, arriving less than a year after the Pritzker Prize-winning architect's death. The 2,565-square-foot triplex at 1643 12th St. still carries the marks of its original purpose as an artist studio, including wall paintings residents made directly on the surfaces rather than on canvas.
According to the New York Post, the loft units in the gated building were originally designed as artist studios for Gehry, Arnoldi, and their friends when the complex was built in 1992. The current sellers, who purchased their unit for $1.33 million in 2014, are relocating to New York for work and told the outlet that, given the choice, they would never leave the loft.
Unit 2 in the same complex, currently listed separately at a comparable price point, was selected and reserved by Arnoldi himself as his personal studio space when he and Gehry co-developed the property, according to Dwell. That unit's listing also notes that original Gehry-designed furniture, cabinets, and shelving remain built into the property, a detail that underscores how much of the complex's original architectural character has survived intact across more than three decades.
Inside the Live-Work Layout
The listed loft is laid out as a minimalist triplex that resembles a townhouse more than a typical condo, per the Post. The main floor carries 17-foot ceilings and includes an open living room, dining area, and custom chef's kitchen finished with millwork, concrete countertops, and stainless steel appliances. A mezzanine level and third floor with 15-foot ceilings sit above, while the second floor has 12-foot ceilings.
The main bedroom occupies the entire upper floor and features panoramic Pacific vistas, a large walk-in closet, and a spa-like bath finished in marble slabs, the Post reports. Industrial-scale windows and oversized skylights flood the interior with natural light, and the large open wall spaces that once displayed artwork remain a defining feature. The building includes two parking spaces in an underground garage and additional storage.
The property is currently configured as an art gallery and private residence, though the Post notes the next owner can reconfigure the space according to their preferred use. Residents over the years transitioned the units into live-work spaces, and the loft's public records show only one sale since 2014, which closed in 2024.
A Complex Born From Friendship and a Pritzker Prize
Gehry designed the six-unit building in collaboration with Arnoldi shortly after receiving the Pritzker Architecture Prize in 1989, according to The Spaces. The pair were part of a Westside Los Angeles art and design community in the 1970s and 1980s that also included Ed Ruscha, Larry Bell, and Ed Moses, per the Guggenheim. Gehry's other notable Santa Monica-area works from that era include his own Deconstructivist home, which the Post notes he lived in at 1002 22nd St., and the Chiat/Day Binoculars Building.
Gehry died in December 2025, and gehry-designed residences remain in high demand, according to the Post. Hoodline previously covered the architect's death, and separately reported on the demand for his work in a piece on the passing of the Pritzker Pavilion's designer.
Gehry's designs have fetched striking sums elsewhere on the market. Actor Patrick Dempsey owned a corrugated-metal Gehry design from the 1960s known as the Tin House at 29715 Cuthbert Road in Malibu, buying it for $7 million in 2009 before selling it in 2015 for $15 million, exceeding its asking price by $500,000, the Post reports.
Density Rising Around a Boutique 1990s Building
The listing broker on the Santa Monica loft is Brandon Assanti of The Agency, according to the Post. The building sits about twelve blocks from the Pacific Ocean in Santa Monica's Mid-City area, near the Metro E Line Expo station and the Bergamot Station arts district, per Dwell.
That location places the boutique, six-unit complex squarely inside a neighborhood now facing major change. Santa Monica's Bergamot and Mid-City corridors are undergoing significant transit-oriented redevelopment in 2026, including an eight-story, 353-unit project proposed at 1633 26th Street, as Hoodline has reported on that housing push. The contrast leaves Gehry and Arnoldi's low-slung 1992 artist studios standing as a quiet holdout amid the neighborhood's push toward high-density housing near transit.
