Although now a single
residence with a total
of 1,500 square feet of
interior space, the houses
are not twins. The larger,
euphemistically
referred
to as "the big house,"
was erected in 1917
as a sculptor's studio;
the smaller, in 1919, as
a Lilliputian abode. Initially,
a brace of wooden shacks
occupied the wedgeshape site, one a carriage
house, the other possibly
an artist's lair. The present
owners
of
the
two
Plans showing 'the big house' and
houses, architects Anne
the smaller adjacent building.
Fairfax
and
Richard
Sammons,
business
partners as well as husband and wife, acquired the property
in 2000 from the estate of Armand Hammer, who joined
the houses after acquiring them in 1961.
Remodeling the houses "was a three-year process," says
Fairfax. "We phased it, doing the small house first. The big
house was more involved. Hammer's renovations in the
1960s were pretty grim."
"It's always difficult dealing with joined houses, especially
these, which are so different from each other," notes
Sammons. "Doing the little house was relatively easy. The
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