The San Marino midcentury-modern home of the late SpongeBob SquarePants creator Stephen Hillenburg is on the market for $4 million.
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| The San Marino home of the late “SpongeBob SquarePants” creator Stephen Hillenburg is listed at $4 million. (Composite by Sandra Barrera, Southern California News Group; Inset: Craig Matthew/Nickelodeon; House: Cameron Carothers) |
Located at 030 Canon Drive, San Marino, CA, 91108, the house is was designed by Case Study architectural firm Buff, Straub and Hensman in 1959. Later remodeled, the 3,795-square-foot post and beam known as the Thompson-Moseley House has four bedrooms and bathrooms, a walk-in bar hideaway and vast expanses of glass.
Floor-to-ceiling glass walls, clerestory windows and skylights flood the interior with light. Despite all of the glass, the house sits on a slight knoll on a half-plus-acre lot secluded from the neighbors by mature trees.
A lap pool and a detached guesthouse and art studio fit the backyard.
Inside the main residence, a large brick fireplace with a raised hearth anchors the living room. There’s a smaller fireplace in the den.
The home is one of the hundreds designed by the Pasadena-based partnership of Conrad Buff III, Calvin C. Straub and Donald Hensman, whose most famous design is Case Study House #20B (the Saul Bass House) in Altadena, built in 1958.
Hillenburg and his wife, Karen, bought the house in 2006 for $2.5 million, property records show. They then brought in L.A.-based architectural firm Space International for a 21st-century update to the property.
Improvements included a new open kitchen and an expanded master suite, which encapsulates an entire wing of the house and offers garden views from the bedroom and spa-like bathroom.
The addition of light grey stone, reclaimed end-block oak flooring and white oak built-ins keep with the original mid-century design.
George Penner of Deasy Penner Podley holds the listing. The properties official website, http://1030canon.com offers a virtual walkthrough of the home, with an option to view the tour in Virtual Reality (VR) mode (Oculus Quest recommended). Interested parties can schedule a viewing at http://1030canon.com.
Below is the property's official listing:
"1030 Canon Drive, San Marino
For Sale $4,000,000 4 Bedrooms 4 Bathrooms 3795 Sqft 23247 Lot
The Thompson Moseley House | Quintessential 1959 Buff, Straub & Hensman Post and Beam
Gently sited on more than half an acre on a slight knoll, The Thompson Moseley House, built in 1959 - represents the pivotal and seminal early pitched roof “post and beam” work by Buff, Straub & Hensman. Exceptional restoration, true to its original design and modernized by Space Int’l, it capitalizes on today’s desired style of living - with added light, generous and open public entertaining spaces, a captivating master suite, chefs kitchen and walk-in bar hideaway. Materials include dovetailed white oak built-ins, light grey stone and reclaimed “end-block” oak flooring. The primary residence includes three bedrooms and baths. Integration with the outdoors, including multiple lounge areas and picturesque landscaping in both the front and back yards, is seamless. The home’s glass expanses offer both vignettes and access points—many directed towards the swimmer’s pool. The two ancillary structures include a guest house with bath, and separate studio. Recipient of numerous AIA awards. Landscape design by Kathleen Ferguson. Pasadena and DTLA proximity. Blue Ribbon San Marino school system."
Hillenburg, who died from the neurodegenerative condition known as Lou Gehrig’s disease, or ALS, in 2018 at 57, was an animator and former marine biology teacher. He created The Intertidal Zone, a comic book to teach kids about tide pools while working at the Ocean Institute in Dana Point. It later became the hit Nickelodeon series SpongeBob SquarePants.
Since its launch July 17, 1999, SpongeBob SquarePants has reigned as the number-one kids’ animated series on TV for the last 17 years, while generating a universe of beloved characters, pop culture catchphrases and memes, theatrical releases, consumer products, a Tony Award®-winning Broadway musical, spin-offs and a global fan base. SpongeBob SquarePants is the most widely distributed property in ViacomCBS Networks history, seen in more than 170 countries and territories, translated in 30+ languages, and averaging more than 100 million total viewers every month. SpongeBob SquarePants was created by the late Stephen Hillenburg and produced by Nickelodeon in Burbank. The character-driven cartoon chronicles the nautical and sometimes nonsensical adventures of SpongeBob, an incurable optimist and earnest sea sponge, and his undersea friends.
