Chris Pratt and Katherine Schwarzenegger demolished a famous mid-century home designed by the late architect Craig Ellwood to make way for a new, modern mansion.
That's not how Erin Ellwood, Craig Ellwood's daughter, said she would have done it.
“I think it would have been great to keep it and do something… add something really interesting and innovative to it,” Ellwood told The Times on Monday. “But you know, maybe this isn't his style. I mean, it clearly isn't if they're building a farm.”
Ellwood, an Ojai-based interior designer, spoke to The Times about her father's late-1940s Brentwood commission, known among locals as the Zimmerman House after original owners Martin and Eva Zimmerman. The property, which she described as a “time capsule” because of its mid-century modern aesthetic, was purchased last year and ready for demolition for seemingly no reason. In recent weeks, several reports revealed that the Marvel star and Schwarzenegger purchased the lot for $12.5 million and that their new mansion, which will be designed by Ken Ungar, was the reason for the demolition.
On X (formerly Twitter), the celebrity couple quickly faced the ire of architecture enthusiasts and other critics. “Wow,” wrote a user who shared an Architectural Digest article. “Wow, this is really bad.”
“Chris Pratt bought a BEAUTIFUL 1950s mid-century modern home designed by Craig Ellwood and tore it down to build it as a…McMansion,” said one X user. wrote on Friday. “My mid-century modernist heart is broken.”
“Imagine tearing down this historic house to build a 'modern farmhouse' McMansion,” said a second user he wrote on Saturday.
As more reports emerged about the destruction of Ellwood, a handful of social media users also revived “Worst Chris”, an insinuation that arose from a viral tweet about the Chrises of Hollywood (Chris Hemsworth, Pratt, Chris Pine and Chris Evans).
Representatives for Pratt and Schwarzenegger did not immediately respond to The Times' request for comment on Monday.
Like Pratt's online critics, Erin Ellwood said she only learned about the reason for the demolition earlier this month. But she told the Times that she understands that “it comes with the territory.”
Throughout his decades-long career, Craig Ellwood brought his approach to indoor-outdoor living to several properties throughout Southern California, including his beachfront Hunt House in Malibu. The Zimmerman house, with its floor-to-ceiling windows and open floor plans, was designed early in his father's career and was not the best representation of his work, Ellwood said.
“It doesn't break my heart,” he added of the devastation.
Still, the house, sold to “The Man from UNCLE” creator Sam Rolfe and his wife Hilda Rolfe in 1975, represents a timeless architectural movement. Erin compares her father's enduring mid-century designs to “the Chanel of architecture.”
“There are certain trends that will never go away. They will always stay strong,” she said.
The couple's modern farmhouse aesthetic may not be Erin's preferred style, but she said she understands why Pratt and Schwarzenegger would want the Zimmerman House plot: the proximity to Schwarzenegger's mother, Maria Shriver. The former first lady of California reportedly lives across the street from the property.
“I don't feel bitter. I understand the love of family, I understand the desire to be close to my mother or my mother-in-law,” said Ellwood, whose late mother, actress Gloria Henry, also lived in Shriver. “I understand being a billionaire and wanting to build exactly what I want and keep my family together. I understand all that. “Unfortunately, it involved tearing something down.”
Tearing down the Zimmerman House is not only “so brutal,” it is wasteful in many ways, Ellwood added. He lamented that the house did not have some kind of ceremonious farewell (final visits for architecture students, a celebratory cocktail party, donation of materials for architectural studies) before being demolished.
“Is there anything more creative that could have been done in the process of removing it that could have given it some honor?” Ellwood asks.
He was speaking to The Times on what would have been his father's 102nd birthday. She says Craig Ellwood “championed innovation and a new way of life in California.”
“I think what people are responding to is [the home] “It’s like this time capsule,” he said. “I think that's what hurts people so much: that there aren't that many good ones.”
Now that the Zimmerman House is a pile of rubble and Pratt and Schwarzenegger's new mansion is still under construction, Ellwood said he hopes the couple will consider contributing to the architecture community amid the backlash.
“They have money,” he said. “It would behoove them to do something kind to the world of architecture.”
