When you have the requisite means, there are no obstacles. Only creative solutions.
A creative solution was precisely what was required for the dilemma faced by renowned architect Steven Harris and husband Lucien Rees-Roberts, a successful interior designer in his own right. Their Donald Wexler-designed, mid-century modern home in Rancho Mirage, California, was “missing”:
- a skylit studio for Rees-Roberts (a third-generation painter) to create his art in, and
- an underground garage for the impressive collection of 911 RS models (produced between 1974 to 2024) owned by the Porsche-obsessive Harris.
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Ordinarily, you’d draw up plans for a renovation, dial up some contractors, and wait it out elsewhere while the job was completed (the couple notably spend most weeknights in their Manhattan loft; in addition to owning a weekender in Kinderhook, New York, and a vacation compound in Croatia). But given the Rancho Mirage pad’s historical significance, such modifications were out of the question.
So what were they to do?
As it so happens, back in 2016, a single-acre lot directly across the road came up for sale. According to The Wall Street Journal, they snapped it up for US$800,000 with no plan other than preventing someone else “from building something hideous.”
Years later, it would prove to be a worthwhile investment.
“We really didn’t need this house,” Harris admitted to the WSJ.
“My biggest fear is that we would like the old house better.”
Several million dollars later – the extensive landscaping alone cost US$300,000 while US$1 million was spent just on windows – that fear thankfully hasn’t come to fruition. To the point that Steven Harris and Lucien Rees-Roberts have since moved into the new Porsche-filled abode, and reserve the original Rancho Mirage house for their consistent stream of guests.
Harris added: “Our lifestyle is simple and about loving where we are and spending time with friends.”
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“The new house owes a lot to the old one, but it works much better for us.”
At ground level, it’s spread across approximately 5,000 square feet, with an additional 5,000 square feet added from the garage-basement. This is where Harris parks his collection – including a 1984 911 SCRS that he’s turned down US$3 million-plus offers for – and can now feasibly store over 50 of his prized rides in California. Plus, it features a US$85,000 lift that carries said rides to the surface (and vice versa).
These aren’t the kind of cars that sit and collect dust out of vanity, either. The architect takes each and every one of his Porsches out for “early morning jaunts” and even participates in endurance car rallies. True to the age-old adage that you should spend your money where you spend your time.
Read the original feature written by Fred A. Bernstein (offering a more detailed examination of the property’s actual design) via The Wall Street Journal.
