NewChina's elite drawn to Malibu architect
Los Angeles-based Richard Landry is wowing high-end clients with houses boasting an open Californian sensibility or grand European style
About four years ago, a couple in Shanghai decided to build a house in the style of a French chateau and began interviewing architects in China, all of whom pulled out a copy of Richard Landry's 2006 book, Modern to Classic, and pointed to a similar home he had completed.
"After five architects showed them the same picture, they bought the book and called me directly," said Landry. The couple flew to Los Angeles to meet him and hired him on the spot. The result is a home three years into construction, with one more to go, that Landry understatedly describes as "quite large".
Around the same time, he got a call from a businessman in Beijing, who had bought a translated copy of Landry's book at the airport.
"I didn't know the book was sold in China, or even that it was published in Chinese," said Landry.
That cold call led to Landry being retained to design a sprawling residential development in Qingdao - 40 homes of 25,000 square feet each, in 10 varying styles, incorporating French limestone, stone from Santa Barbara and slate from Vermont. The Phoenix Island residences are still under construction.
And more recently, a client in Kuala Lumpur envisaged a home with a smooth stucco finish, reminiscent of Andalusian architecture, which he had seen on a similar home in Los Angeles. So Landry sent a craftsman from Los Angeles to Malaysia, with bags of a special cement, to show local workers how to create that distinctive southern Spanish effect.