
It’s no secret that I am a fan of Modernist architecture and of all the great architects of this movement, I have to say that John Lautner is one of my favourites. It is something of a dream to live in one of his creations, all sweeping concrete and majestic views. So, which of his homes would I choose, if I could? The iconic Elrod House, perhaps? The fluid Arango Residence? Or the beautiful Beyer House?
Well, the answer is none of them, because my dream house is actually a Lautner inspired creation that, sadly, doesn’t actually exist: The Stark Residence from the movie Iron Man.
The home was the creation of conceptual artist Phil Saunders. His brief from the production designer, Michael Riva, was to design a billionaire’s Malibu cliffside residence in the vein of John Lautner’s organic cast concrete and glass homes.
Several existing buildings were scouted with the idea of adding to their scale and design in post production, however, none were deemed appropriate. So Saunders designed one from scratch, even down to the location, choosing to place the home on the bluff of Point Dume, a California State Park. His final design, extremely reminiscent of the Arango Residence, is sublime.
“The garage under the cantilevered livingroom I really liked, looking out over the ocean between the buttresses. Since that’s where Tony really lives, it should still have a nice view. The actual garage set is three times the size of the living room and would never fit in that space below, but thanks to the magic of movie geography, it’s never apparent.” – Phil Saunders.
Saunders was also responsible for the interior designs of the building. Here the Lautner references are extremely apparent. The fireplace and the sweeping floor to ceiling window are straight from the Beyer House, although this never feels like like anything other than reverent homage. Here the Lautner inspired stylistic touches are beautifully incorporated into the design of the Stark Residence.
One of the great assets of the Stark Residence is that it benefits from being a thoroughly modern, actually futuristic, home. The computer, Jarvis, is integrated into all the systems of the house. One imagines that the climate control and energy efficiency of the building are minutely balanced and computer controlled. Indeed, in a deleted scene from the film, the living room glass overlooking the ocean becomes a transparent and interactive computer interface, allowing Tony Stark, amongst other things, to check his ‘phone messages.
Iron Man deleted scene, featuring the interactivity of the house.
Of course, the building is pure fantasy and a home like this could only ever exist in the movies. But then isn’t the point of the house of your dreams that it should be just that?
Dublo.
Thanks to Phil Saunders & Marvel for the images.
AS ALWAYS, IF YOU ENJOYED THE ARTICLE, PLEASE FEEL FREE TO COMMENT AND VOTE.
Emerson
September 20, 2010
Excellent post, dublo! Stark’s house was certainly on of the movie highlights, and it’s great to know what level of detail went into making that a fitting homage to Lautner.
dublo
September 20, 2010
Thanks Emerson,
Yes, I found Stark’s house to be quite the most beautiful thing in either film.
Lautner’s one of my favourite architects, so it was quite thrilling to see such a respectful homage.
I wonder if they make a budget version?
Daniel
January 22, 2011
Amazing post! I really wanted to know the real history about the house.
dublo
January 22, 2011
Thank you, Daniel.
I really wanted to know myself, so that’s why I wrote the article!
Anyway, I’m glad you liked it. It seems to be one of my most popular posts.
I’ll be taking a look at Kevin and Sam Flynn’s apartments from Tron: Legacy soon, so look out for that one.
Dublo.
ArchiTexan
May 27, 2011
Good post and nice images… I really enjoyed watching Iron Man and seeing that Tony Stark’s house was a Lautner inspired work, but there’s nothing like the real McCoy.
ken
October 18, 2011
Check out the gurus house in Malibu:
http://www.ex-premie.org
Gina
January 28, 2013
What is the address of the house?
Dublo
January 28, 2013
Hey Gina,
If you’d have read the post (and, indeed, several of the comments) you’ll have noticed that this house does not exist. It isn’t real. Therefore, it has no address.
If you are interested in its fictional location, then it sits atop Point Dume in Malibu, California. In fact, Malibu is where you’ll also find the Beyer House that strongly influenced the design.
Before you go, have a read through the article. It isn’t long and you might find it informative.
Dublo.
Heather aka She Dork
March 14, 2013
Nice! I love articles that connect fandom with real life…ie not just about Tony Stark, but about the interior design and architecture as well.
Saiyami
May 6, 2013
I totally totally adore the house of Tony Stark. The house has been one of the main reasons why I have watched the movie over and over again. I was actually expecting the house to be a real one (like the interiors as well) anyways kudos to Saunders for the amount of extent to which he went for getting such an amazing detailing.
Jonathan Watson
May 31, 2013
Try to find the blueprint for this even if its not real and I will gladly build it
Also waiting the one from tron
navi
September 19, 2014
hi there, uhm I’m a civil engineering student here in Philippines and we’re asked to bulid a house and i want to create a house based on tony stark’s mansion. can you show me the floor plan of the mansion?? thank you
Dublo
September 19, 2014
Hi Navi,
Thanks for commenting.
I believe that there have been one or two people who have created a floor plan for the Stark Mansion, but do bear in mind that the house is a set. Because of this, there would be some discrepancy between what you see on paper and what you see on film.
However, if you scan the net I’m sure you’ll find something.
Good luck with your degree and if you do end up building a model of this house, please do let me know.