Thomas Mann House

The architectural design of the house proved to be difficult. Although Thomas Mann knew the architect Richard Neutra personally (Neutra had accompanied Mann on an architectural tour of Los Angeles in 1938 and shown him some of his buildings) he decided not to work with him. Mann did not like Neutra's modernist architecture, which he called, in his diary, "[c]ubist glass-box style".[5] At a party given by Vicki Baum in April 1938, which was also attended by Neutra, Mann tried to get rid of the architect by remarking to another guest: "Get that Neutra off my back."[6] Thomas Mann also failed to reach an agreement with the architect Paul László, and in October 1940 he rejected the designs by architect Frank Meline. Erika Mann's suggestion to hire the architect Paul Lester Wiener too was soon abandoned.[7]

In late 1940, Mann hired the architect Julius Ralph Davidson, who submitted the first designs on January 4, 1941. The construction was made possible by Mann's profitable honorary post as "Consultant in Germanic Literature" at the Library of Congress – an appointment that he had received in 1941 thanks to his long-term correspondent and sponsor Agnes E. Meyer – as well as by his lucrative lecture tours. Meyer also acted as surety for the mortgage.[8]

The two-story villa was built between June 1941 and February 1942 at a cost of US$30,000.[9] The sum is a matter of controversy, since Mann, in April 1941, had thought Davidson's plans for a 30,000-dollar house to be too expensive. Reviewing the construction bills, Francis Nenik calculated the total construction cost to amount to about US$26,000.[10]

The actual construction work was done by the German émigré Ernst Moritz Schlesinger. The building plans were revised several times; the house was made smaller and plans to build an annex above the garage and a chimney in Thomas Mann's study were dropped.[11] Eventually, the elongated building's living space was just under 4,300 sq. ft., designed in the so-called International Style. The interior was designed by the interior architect Paul Huldschinsky who had emigrated from Berlin. Rooms on the ground floor included Thomas Mann's study, whose wood paneling and book shelves are still preserved, and the living room with its glass-fronted view to the garden. On the first floor, several smaller rooms served as bedrooms for Thomas and Katia Mann and their children.[12] Since 1948, their daughter Erika Mann also lived in the house.[13]

Thomas Mann named the house and the entire property "Seven Palms" after the seven palms planted on the grounds.[14] The Manns also worked with an émigré when it came to designing the garden. In 1942, Theodor Löwenstein, born in Battenfeld and emigrated to the United States in 1931, designed the garden for US$1,100. Besides working as a gardener, Löwenstein also served as president of the German Jewish Club of 1933 between 1936 and 1938.[15]

Thomas Mann wrote some of this most important works while living at the house, including his novel Doctor Faustus, large parts of the fourth volume of his tetralogy Joseph and His Brothers, and numerous political speeches and writings expressing his opposition to the German National Socialist regime, including most of his radio broadcasts Deutsche Hörer! (Listen, Germany!).

Disappointed by American post-war politics and McCarthyism, Thomas and Katia Mann, together with their daughter Erika, left the house in July 1952 and returned to Switzerland where they had previously lived in exile between 1933 and 1938. Worried about his reputation in the United States, Mann on November 7, 1952, wrote to Agnes E. Meyer from Zurich that he wanted to sell the house in California; he did not want to leave the impression, however, that he turned his back on America. He would remain an "American citizen", he wrote.[16] Living in Erlenbach, Switzerland, under cramped circumstances, complaining that the study would not even accommodate a sofa, he wrote to Agnes E. Meyer in September 1953 that he missed his Californian house.[17] He never again saw the villa, "that home which I have come to love".[18]

In September 1953, the American lawyer Chet Lappen and his wife Jon bought the house for US$50,000.[19][20] The family added additions and an outdoor swimming pool and lived at the property until 2010.[21] After that, the house was rented for several years, but remained in the possession of the Lappen family.

In the summer of 2016, the building was put up for sale, without any mention of its prominent former owners. The villa was in danger of being demolished. Herta Müller, fellow Nobel Laureate in Literature, and other writers warned of the potential loss of an important place of German exile literature.[22] Politicians, including State Minister for Culture Monika Grütters and Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier, embraced the idea to transform the residence into a place of remembrance and encounter.[23] In November 2016, the German federal government bought the house for approx. US$13 million.[24]

The reconstruction, which cost some US$5 million, began in 2017. The building was fully refurbished. The floor plan remained the same, as did Thomas Mann's study. In July 2018, the German news magazine Der Spiegel reported about behind-the-scenes trouble in connection with the house and the academic program.[25] This resulted in a controversy regarding the renovation and the internal structures of the Villa Aurora & Thomas Mann e.V. association — executive director Annette Rupp left the association at the same time.

On June 18, 2018, the Thomas Mann House was opened by Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier. The opening took place during the presidency of Donald Trump, a time of tensions in U.S.-German relations. In his inauguration speech, Steinmeier said: “The struggle for democracy and for a free and open society is what will continue to unite us, the United States and Germany.”[26] The opening was also attended by Katia and Thomas Mann's grandchild Frido Mann who had spent parts of his childhood at the house.[27]