Topanga, CA (May 14, 2018)—Every artist needs a place to retreat from the world and recharge; some wind up turning those sacred spaces into their workplaces as well. That was the case with Neil Young’s former Topanga Canyon home, where he built a studio 50 years ago. Today, that retreat is now up for sale with a decidedly 2018 price tag of $1,800,000.
The inspiring view. Photo: www.realtor.com
More of the former studio space. Photo: www.realtor.com
Built in 1965, the art-moderne building at 611 Sky Line Trl sports three bedrooms and is a mere 1,532 square feet. However, it’s built for those who prefer to be outside anyway, with a copious number of windows throughout and multiple outdoor decks for taking in the view. The current owners, who purchased the 5,067 square-foot lot in 2007 for $780,000, still maintain a two-room studio onsite. Additionally, many parts of the house, particularly the kitchen, appear to date back to when Young lived there.
Inspired by the setting, Young used the house as a recording studio, with many of those resulting recordings collected up in 2009’s Neil Young: The Archives, Vol. 1 1963-1972 box set, with three of its nine CDs reserved for output from the house, one of which—Topanga 1 (1968-1969)—sports the edifice on its cover.
In his 2012 autobiography, Waging Heavy Peace, Young reminisced about the house, recalling, “Morning on the deck began with coffee overlooking the canyon, watching everything start to move below as the day unfolded.”
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He added, “The scene in there was always stimulating, full of the color of the canyon, with the artists and other local characters, rug dealers and beautiful hippie girls….”
When Young moved out, the building’s musical adventures weren’t over, however—eventually Bernie Leadon of the Eagles owned the house and lived there with President Ronald Regan’s daughter, Patti Davis, who recalled the home in her own book, offering, “There are so many windows in this house, it’s like living outside.”
