bottom and peering down into it gives one the sense of looking
into a kelp garden through a glass-bottom boat. As weird
as it sounds, given that we’re high up in the hills, the entire
environment has the feel of looking into an aquarium or being
submerged in an underwater observatory.
“It didn’t start out as an ecosystem, but I think it ended up
that way,” says Goldstein.
We go down to the master bedroom. It features a pieshaped leather couch with two raised, pie-shaped glass
end tables on either side. The couch points out towards the
northwest, an ideal spot from which to watch the sunset or the
fog roll in. Windows above the bed offer a view into the pool.
Goldstein stops to adjust some books and pictures that only he
would notice were out of place and apologizes for the mess,
explaining that he’s been away for a while. He opens the closet
next to the bed and pushes some buttons and racks of clothes
start marching past us on a rotating wardrobe.
“Here’s the closet that probably houses one of the great men’s
collections in the world because I buy very special pieces,” he
says. Anyone who has tuned into a Lakers game and wondered
who is the silver-haired gent in the green and purple and red
snakeskin suits would have to agree.
Goldstein tells me his favorite designers are John Galliano
and Roberto Cavalli. “Every season, I buy a new collection of
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clothes and this most recent season my favorite pieces are from
Balmain. I’ve found that men’s clothes are very boring at the
moment. Balmain makes some amazing jackets for women that
have no real sexual connotation of any kind because they are
motorcycle jackets. I’ve bought a couple of them.”
While his clothes collection is flamboyant and flashy, and a
Lautner house is almost flashy by definition because of the
bold designs, Goldstein’s taste when it comes to the property
is pretty refined. Even the large sculptures on the grounds, one
of wood, the other concrete, are masterfully integrated into the
space. I ask him about the dichotomy.
“One is meant to last forever, the other is meant to last six
months,” he quips.
We descend further into the man made jungle, Goldstein
bounding about like a mountain goat, me panting to keep up.
Everywhere there are diversions—pathways leading to vistas
of either the inner space he’s created or the outer space that
surrounds it—the city, the basin, the sky, the sea, appearing for
seconds, then vanishing as you snake through more canopy’s.
Then, as if from a Disney movie, the trees part and give way to
an open area in which is nestled the Goldstein Skyspace, also
known as “Above Horizon.” The structure was intended to be
an arranged marriage between renowned light and space artist
James Turrell and Lautner.
Photo: Elizabeth Daniels
construction of the multi-use facility
goldstein is buidling next door. will
include a theater complex, nightclub, a
guesthouse & rooftop tennis court.