How Austin Butler landed Brad Pitt’s iconic midcentury pad
In Los Feliz, a piece of Hollywood history has changed hands. Austin Butler, fresh off critical acclaim and rising box-office presence, has purchased Brad Pitt’s celebrated midcentury modern home. Known as the Steel House, the 1960 residence is more than just another celebrity transaction. It is an architectural statement that ties Los Angeles’ design heritage to the present moment.
The story of the Steel House as an architectural landmark
The Steel House was designed in 1960 by Neil Johnson, a Los Angeles architect influenced by the Case Study House program. Like its better-known contemporaries, the residence demonstrates what happens when glass, steel, and landscape merge into one living environment. Its L-shaped footprint hugs the hillside site, framing a pool terrace that serves as the outdoor center of gravity.
Walls of glass erase boundaries between interior and exterior. Terrazzo floors, exposed beams, and a freestanding fireplace root the home in its midcentury lineage, while wide cantilevered eaves extend the roofline and shade the interiors. In its restoration by Mark Haddawy, a specialist in architectural conservation, many original details were preserved. Modern conveniences were added, yet the residence maintains its midcentury integrity.
Unlike larger estates in Los Angeles, the three-bedroom, two-bath house does not trade on scale. Instead, its value lies in its rare authenticity. In real estate circles, it has been described as one of the few intact hillside modernist homes left in Los Feliz.
The celebrity dimension of the sale
Brad Pitt acquired the Steel House in 2023 through a high-profile swap with Aileen Getty, trading his Hollywood Hills property for this compact but distinguished residence. Reports indicate Pitt paid around $5.5 million at the time. While he has long been a collector of architectural properties, his tenure in the Steel House was brief.
The home was burglarized in mid-2025, raising questions about security and privacy. Shortly after, it was offered quietly off-market, ultimately selling to Butler for $5.2 million. The deal links two actors whose careers intersected on screen in Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. Now they are connected through architecture as well.
Butler’s move into the Steel House reflects a different kind of celebrity aspiration. Rather than a sprawling mansion, the purchase suggests an appreciation for architectural pedigree and design precision.
Midcentury modern homes and the celebrity market
In the Los Angeles luxury market, celebrity purchases often double as endorsements of architectural styles. Midcentury modern has proven resilient, with stars favoring homes that highlight design history over square footage. The Steel House follows in the lineage of well-known celebrity properties such as Richard Neutra’s Lovell Health House or John Lautner’s Chemosphere, each of which has gained cultural stature through high-profile ownership.
Yet preservation is never guaranteed. The demolition of the Zimmerman House in Brentwood in 2024 reminded observers that even landmark modernist works can be lost. Butler’s acquisition places the Steel House in safer hands, at least for now. The purchase underscores how celebrity attention can act as an informal safeguard for endangered design.
Transactions like this reveal the ways architecture and celebrity intersect to shape market value. A relatively modest three-bedroom home sells for more than $5 million not solely because of location but because of its design lineage and its celebrity connections. When preserved, these homes become cultural assets as much as real estate holdings. Butler now joins a line of owners who have carried forward the Steel House’s legacy.
Sources:
Architectural Digest