Don't Be Square: Two Harry Gesner Round Houses on 200 California Acres List at $2.2 Million

Harry Gesner — the self-taught California architect whose Wave House in Malibu is cited as a possible inspiration for the Sydney Opera House, and who died in 2022 at 97 — celebrated the circular form for what he called its inherent simplicity, efficiency, and strength. Two of his round designs now sit on 200-plus acres of California foothills near Porterville, listed together at $2,200,000. Reddit titled the post "Don't be square, man." Reddit also called it the beige aesthetic final boss, which the OP defended by invoking the round shower in second house on a sunny California morning. Both positions are defensible.

The Architect

Gesner was born in Oxnard in 1925 and never earned a formal architecture degree — he audited classes at Yale after World War II, worked archaeological digs in Mexico and Ecuador, and learned construction working for his uncle's building company before designing homes by instinct, observation, and an extraordinary feel for site. He was a decorated veteran, a competitive surfer, a pilot since age 14, and a man who once sketched the Wave House concept directly onto his surfboard while bobbing in the ocean at Malibu. His work was being compared to the Sydney Opera House before he was well-known. His Beverly Hills Erenhault House listed for $28 million just this past April. Two of his round residential designs on 200 foothills acres outside Porterville, priced at $2.2 million, represent an extraordinarily different market context for the same architect — and, per at least one Reddit commenter, a genuinely fair price for the land and the work.

The Property

The main house is a three-bedroom, three-bath round retreat with natural materials, light that shifts beautifully throughout the day, and a round private pool. The second residence is a one-bedroom, one-bath showcase built around an unforgettable fireplace described as functional art, with an outdoor kitchen and — the detail the OP was prepared to die on — a round shower that earns its own defense on a sunny California morning. A guest studio with bathroom sits nearby. The 200-plus acres include former orange and lemon groves, open cattle land, Sierra Nevada views, water shares in the South Tule Independent Ditch Company, and remaining Washington navel orange trees for personal use. A shop, covered storage, a building pad with infrastructure, and trail access round out the working ranch infrastructure. Two miles from Lake Success and near the gateway to Sequoia National Forest, the setting is genuinely private at a scale that is genuinely rare.

The Internet Has Thoughts

Naturally, this listing caught the attention of Reddit's r/zillowgonewild community. See what people are saying about it here.

Two Harry Gesner round houses, 200 foothills acres, a round pool, former citrus groves, and Sierra Nevada views. $2,200,000. Take a look →