Germany buys Thomas Mann's LA home for $13.25M
The German government has purchased the former Los Angeles residence of Nobel Prize-winning author Thomas Mann for $13.25 million. The house, designed by German émigré architect JR Davidson in 1941, features five bedrooms, six bathrooms, and a private pool. It was at risk of demolition before a petition signed by nearly 3,200 people, led by academics and literary figures, prompted the acquisition. Mann lived in the Pacific Palisades villa from 1942 to 1952 during his exile from Nazi Germany, but returned to Europe in 1952, settling in Switzerland until his death in 1955. The purchase is part of Germany's broader modernist heritage preservation efforts, which include two museums, a European Modernism Route, and a German Grand Tour, now extending to the United States. The property will be used for a new writers' residency program.
Key facts
- Germany purchased Thomas Mann's Los Angeles home for $13.25 million.
- The house was designed by architect JR Davidson in 1941.
- It has five bedrooms, six bathrooms, and a private pool.
- A petition with nearly 3,200 signatures helped save it from demolition.
- Thomas Mann lived there from 1942 to 1952.
- Mann won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1929.
- The house will become a writers' residency.
- The purchase extends Germany's modernist heritage preservation to the US.
Entities
Artists
- Thomas Mann
- JR Davidson
Institutions
- German government
Locations
- Los Angeles
- California
- United States
- Germany
- Switzerland
- Pacific Palisades