Built in 1840 and renovated to its current fanciful Queen Ann/Tudor mash up in 1878 by Charles Luce, the Sunflower Castle was home to artists Gertrude Beals Bourne and her husband Frank Bourne from 1904 to 1962. The house gets its name from the carved sunflower on the exterior and from the painting “Artist’s Studio: Sunflower Castle” by Gertrude painted around 1910.

The artist’s homes that I’ve been in are some of the most personal, cultivated spaces—developed over time and with intention. You can’t pick them out of a catalog or label them as any specific design trend because they don’t align to any trend; these homes are reflections of the people that live in them. The Eames’ house in the Pacific Palisades, Carl and Karin Larsson’s Lilla Hyttnäs in Sweden, homes of dear artist friends, and the image we have from Gertrude Beals Bourne’s painting are all unique, personal expressions of “home”.

See more interior shots from the ~2012 real estate listing here.

A bit more history of the house and area here.

More about Gertrude Beals Bourne painting here.