Carmel-by-the-Sea’s iconic Butterfly House could be yours for $40 million
Midcentury architect Frank Wynkoop created several stunning oceanfront properties in Carmel-by-the-Sea, California. The most famous, the Butterfly House, dates to circa 1951 and gets its nickname from its wing-shaped roof, and also because it looks like it is perched to take flight on a granite outcropping overlooking the Pacific.
Wynkoop reportedly built the house for his own family, but the death of his wife and father only a few years later forced him to sell it at a fraction of the cost.
Venture capitalist Kevin Comolli and wife Hannah purchased the Butterfly House in 2014 for $16.5 million. Moving from London, they wanted to raise their children away from the hustle and bustle of the urban life “in an area that feels both invigorating and nurturing,” Hannah told AD in 2018. “There is something about the particularly golden light and blue sky and the smell of the ocean and cypress trees that just fills my soul,” she added. Though born in the UK, “California—and in particular Carmel—feels like my true spiritual home.”
The couple spent two and a half years completing major renovations with architect and designer Jamie Bush. “It’s a magical house in a magical spot,” Bush told AD previously. “When you’re in the living room, you feel like you’re standing on the prow of a ship, with fog rolling in, seals swimming by, whales breaching, and pelicans alighting on the rocks. It’s mesmerizing.”
Inside the 3,700-square-foot house are three proper bedrooms, four-and-a-half baths, an office, a media room, and a sunken viewing area, all done in midcentury-modern vernacular. Outside in the courtyard is a kidney-shaped pool and a hot tub, while a private beach and swimming cove lie further off, on about 280 feet of ocean frontage.
Now that the kids are older, the Comollis are relocating to a renovated 1920s Tudor in Beverly Hills, Hannah told The Wall Street Journal. Their new home was designed by beloved California architect Gerard Colcord.
The Comollis have listed the lepidopteran abode for $40 million with Shelly Mitchell Lynch of Carmel Realty Company. If it gets anywhere near that asking price, it will be one of the most expensive properties in Carmel—up there with 1918 Arthurian castle designed by Arts and Crafts architect Charles Greene that Brad Pitt shelled out $40 million for earlier this year.
Film captured by Goldeneye Media:
https://vimeo.com/735290362