Wallace Neff

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Wallace Neff (1895 - 1982), was an architect based in Southern California and was largely responsible for developing the region's distinct architectural style.

Neff primarily drew from the architectural tradition of both Spain and the Mediterranean as a whole, gaining extensive recognition from the number of celebrity commissions, notably Pickfair, the mansion belonging originally to Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks.

Neff also designed the airform house, a distinctive form of inexpensive housing, in the late 1930s. It was a dome-shaped construction made of reinforced concrete that was cast in position over an inflatable balloon. Though the design did not gain support in the U.S. it was used for large housing projects in Egypt, Brazil, and West Africa, and during the 1940’s and 50’s.

In 2001, Hollywood aristocrats Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston supposedly paid $14 million for a Neff house once owned by actor Fredric March, in addition to the philanthropist and USC trustee Wallis Annenberg. In 1998, actress Diana Keaton, an avid Wallace Neff fan, purchased a low-slung Neff house in Beverly Hills (featured in Architectural Digest July 1999) with the front lawn covered in lavender, for an undisclosed sum. This home was later purchased by Madonna and Guy Ritchie, and is still in their possession as of 2007.