No second act in recent memory is as astonishing as this: a dramatically sited 4,100-square-foot house f great power and originality that Lautner designed nearly 40 years ago and was invited back to recreate as perfectly as he knew how. It was commissioned by Paul and Helen Sheats, whose enthusiasm for the architect was constrained by their limited means; they stayed only a few years. New owners abused the house, but it quickly found its white knight in James Goldstein, a investor who grew up in Wisconsin and developed a passion for the buildings of Wright. "It was in horrendous condition, but the lines were magnificent,: he recalls. " I decided to wait until I could afford to make improvements in the best possible way-though never dreamed how much I would end up doing."

The house clings to a precipitous slope, looking west to the ocean. A single-story wedge of bedrooms for the Sheat's five children (now remodeled as an office and guest suite) and a kitchen-dining area lead into a living room that begins as a womblike enclosure, then soars within an angular canopy. The owners loved to camp out under the stars, so the architect set 750 water glasses into the waffle-grid concrete vault to admit splashes of sunlight. The interior was left open to the pool terrace protected only by a curtain of forced air, but this proved impractical and was soon replaced with windows.

Goldstein's first request to Lautner, in 1981, was to replace the house's heavy steel mullions, which cut into the view, and substitute half-inch sheets of tempered glass, butted together. Until then, the owner had been working by himself sandblasting gaudy paint from the exposed concrete walls and replacing green shag carpet with textured rugs that enhance the concrete aggregate floors. At this point, he began to work closely with Lautner and Helene Arahuete, who took over his office after his death in 1994. " Each step led logically to the next and established a standard to follow," Goldstein explains. "I wanted to remake the house exactly as John would have wanted it, and to introduce technology that didn't exist 30 years ago. It took a long time to achieve perfection, allowing for sketches, models, and mock-ups of each stage.

Plaster ceilings and terrace canopies were recovered in redwood. A wall of rocks around the living room fireplace was stripped away, and a low concrete bookcase was constructed along the south wall. New kitchen cabinets of stainless steel and bubinga wood, topped with polished concrete, replaced Formica. Skylights were enlarged and motorized. A tiny skylit guest bathroom was enlarged to infinity by covering the walls with mirror glass. Plaster walls at the front of the house were rebuilt in concrete, its rough texture playing off the mitered glass and oiled wood. Lautner installed concrete tables and leather cushioned seating in the living room and den to complement the built-in glass and concrete dining table. The most dazzling transformation had come earlier in the master suite, which is tucked into the hillside, looking into the pool through portholes. Unframed walls of glass roll back to either side of the wedge-shaped bedroom, turning the cantilevered floor into a giant open springboard.

Invention and craft are fused in this house-from the geometry of the steel entry gate, to the angular concrete blocks that step across a pool, past walls of glass, to the peaked vault that frames the sky and distant towers. There is a sense of ceremony as the vista unfolds. Look back, and the four natural elements come together: fire from a corner hearth, water splashing from a rocky hillside, a current of air from the ocean wafting through spaces that obliterate the divide between indoors and out. The house is filled with light, and every few steps bring a fresh perspective.

The sense of discovery continues as one descends into Eric Nagelman's luxuriant hillside garden, with its winding path, tropical plantings, and environmental sculptures. Duncan Nicholson, who also worked with Lautner, will supervise construction of a tennis court and guest pavilion, linked to the house by an enlarged south terrace. Uncompromisingly, modern architecture embraces nature, fulfilling the dreams of the pioneers, pointing forward to even bolder experiments.

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