Back in 2001, after living in cities his entire life and intent on having a connection with nature, doled out $131,000 for a remote 60-acre plot of land near , , in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada Mountains. The L.A.-based filmmaker, graphic designer, and artist, whose movies include Thumbsucker (2005) and 20th Century Women (2016), then enlisted the avant-garde firm to craft a home in the middle of it all where he could write, make art, and bring people together. Completed in 2008, it is the Tokyo-based architecture studio’s first and only residential project in the U.S.

“My goals of this whole thing was to have a retreat and to have a connection with nature,” Mills said in a . “I’ve always lived in cities, and I knew I wanted to do something more than that in my life. So, th

See Full Page