The Walker Guesthouse, a mid-century structure designed by architect Paul Rudolph, is now on the market for a cool $2 million, if the right buyer has the space for it.
Brown Harris Stevens has listed the one-bedroom, one-bathroom modernist structure, describing the guesthouse as “a monumental work of radical design and masterful skill,” “one of the most important architectural designs of the twentieth century (by one of its most influential architects),” and a “ground-breaking work of art.”
The 24-foot cube was built in 1952 on Sanibel Island, Florida. The lightweight pavilion is made of wood, steel, and glass. Its iconic feature consisted of a rigging system of pulleys and seven red counterweights. These controlled a dozen giant shutters and gave the home an adjustable, multifunctional exterior.
The Walker Guesthouse was commissioned by Walter W. Walker, the grandson of the Minnesota lumber baron T.B. Walker and the art collector who established the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis.
The home stayed within the Walker family until 2019, when it sold in a Sotheby’s design auction for $920,000 including fees to an undisclosed buyer near Palm Springs. Listing agent Christ Pomeroy told the New York Post that the guesthouse has been in storage ever since and called it a “work of architectural art.”
While the current location of the Walker Guesthouse is in the village of Rhinebeck, New York, Brown Harris Stevens notes the new owner will be able to place it “in almost any setting in the world.” The sale also includes multiple pieces of furniture designed by Rudolph specifically for the Guesthouse.
The New York Post reported these additional items include a desk, coffee table, director’s chairs, and a bookshelf, as well as the architectural plans for the structure and additional drawings.
However, listing agent Christ Pomeroy told the New York Post the cost of shipping is not included in the $2 million asking price.
Rudolph would rise to become a “starchitect” with images of his Brutalist concrete buildings and mega-structures of the 1950s and ’60s. In 1957, Rudolph was appointed chair of Yale University’s famed architecture department. He died in 1997.
The Walker Guesthouse been featured in Progressive Architecture, Architectural Forum, and Architectural Record. According to the New York Post, which first reported on the sale, a photograph of the guesthouse has been included in “Materialized Space,” the Rudolph retrospective on view at the Metropolitan Museum of Art until March 16.
Editor’s Note: February 13, 2024: A previous version of this story misspelled the architect’s name. It is Paul Rudolph, not Randolph. ARTnews regrets the error.
