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For reference, that's approximately the same
size as Terminal 2 at LAX—concourses and
baggage areas included.
McClean homes are known—written about,
filmed and photographed. Yet interestingly,
the man himself did not set out to be the maker
of uber-grand homes in Los Angeles, and
increasingly elsewhere.
An Early Calling
"My goal was to design houses for families."
McClean explains. "And we're fortunate that
we still get to do that. But now we have this
very broad range. I think the smallest house
that we're working on right now is about 3,000
square feet. And the largest house we're
here is a collection of dreamlike,
sprawling estates sprinkled through
the hills and canyons of Los Angeles—
the calling cards of architect Paul
McClean and his namesake firm.
Sharply geometric and clean-cut in
profile, they are Contemporary Modernist to
the core, distinguished by glass as a central
material and water features as elusive as
mirages.
Size is the standout feature of these super-
indicators of blockbuster success, and are
typically loaded with one-percenter extras:
the helipad and bulletproof glass of a Bel
Air mansion; an aerial bridge transporting
you into the home's interior; a subterranean
swimming pool illuminated by sun cascading
via an enormous skylight.
The largest so far is the impossibly massed
105,000-square-foot spread dubbed "The
One," which sold in 2022 for $126 million.
P H O T O B Y J I M B A R T S C H I N S E T P H O T O B Y S T E P H A N I E K E E N A N
